This Memorial Day weekend trip was made in conjunction with a couple other families from my children's school. Two of us stayed in the cabin colony, the other in a pull-behind camper in the Hilltop camping area. As background info, we enjoy both cabin and tent camping but we NEED there to be some degree of privacy. We have 2 acres at home and don't go camping so we can be piled on top of other people. I'm slightly neurotic about this and do a lot of campground research online, use the "best in camping" books, and often end up making several calls to the park asking lots of questions prior to booking.

We booked a cabin for this trip because my mother was supposed to join us (couldn't, unfortunately, due to emergency surgery) and she was worried it would get cold at night. We pulled up and I couldn't believe it - it was BEAUTIFUL! It was a 6-person cabin with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen with full size frig and little stove, a living room with heating stove and dining table, a screened porch, and an enclosed toilet. My youngest (4 years old) was very confused and kept saying "I thought we were going camping." Each cabin has its own decent-sized yard with fire ring, barbecue, and picnic table. Many of them are set back from the road, and there are a lot of trees and privacy shrubs. From the cabin colony, it was also a super quick 5-10 minute walk to the beach area, boat rental area, and playground area (all of which, BTW, were HUGE hits with all of the children). Our cabin was also historically renovated and the furniture was lovely.

I ventured down to the regular campsites to check out the area for possible future stays. I was MORTIFIED. The sites were SO close together I couldn't believe it. There were no privacy hedges, the roads through the loops were super narrow, fire rings were literally just a few feet off from the road, chairs were set up all along the roadside (because the sites were so small and that's were the fire pits were). At one site, someone even had living room furniture sitting in their circle by the road - literally, an upholstered sitting chair and a loveseat. Passing through the area caused my entire body to tense up and filled me with anxiety. When my husband saw it later, he said "yah, if we came here to camp, we'd just drive right through and go back home". To make it even worse, it was a LONG walk to the beach area. From Hilltop, it was probably a 20 minute walk and from the other camping area, it must take at least an hour so you'd likely need to drive over.

I think the camping area of this park might appeal to those who live in a city and just don't get out of it much or those who are really into "community camping", but for the rest of us, this park doesn't offer a quality camping experience at all. I just found it bizarre.

The cabins, however, I would return to in a heartbeat. Just note that staying in a cabin here can't really be considered camping. It's certainly not roughing it. We still cooked all of food out on the fire ring because that's what we like to do when we camp (it's an important part of the experience for us), but you could cook everything inside on the stove if you wanted to. They also have very nice trails that were peaceful to walk on and pretty well maintained. We had our dog with us and it was nice taking him out on the trails.

My boyfriend and I stayed here for Memorial Day weekend (so your experience may be different if you're camping during off-peak times). Our campsite was very small, and there was no foliage or distance between neighbors. We camp very simply, with a tent and not much else, and we found ourselves surrounded by RVs and very large groups with many children and dogs. The playground atmosphere lasted well into the night and we had noisy neighbors who didn't settle down until around midnight. The hiking trails were nice and quiet, leading to a few small ponds, and getting out on a boat took us away from the noise for a bit. The bathroom facilities were also clean and well-maintained, and we found the rangers to be both friendly and helpful. However, I can't recommend this park to anyone who's looking for a little quiet and privacy out of their campsite. If you're a large family/group traveling with pets, this spot is perfect for you. It should also be noted that alcohol is supposedly prohibited in the park.