Trapper Springs Campground

Campground is nice and well kept. Beware - if you want to stay more than one night, I would suggest reserving a site. Per the website it was first come first served, however, that's only if there are unreserved spots available. We were lucky to pick a spot that no one had reserved from Weds through Sunday and weren't forced to find somewhere else to camp after driving 2.5+ hours.

Fees are $24/night, $2 per dog per night, $5 per extra car per night (1st car is free). We were able to fit 2 full sized trucks and 1 BMW station wagon in the parking spot at camp. Any more than that, they will have to park either at the lake (which I think is no overnight parking) or on the road somewhere.

There are water faucets all over camp which is nice to have for non-potable water. We didn't figure that out until we walked around the camp. You only need to worry about bringing cooking, drinking, and bathing water. Also note that the campsite does not have showers.

Even though the signs say courtesy hours are from 10pm to 8am, no one follows those rules and people were screaming and howling until the wee hours of the morning with no intervention from the camp host. I'm not a negative Nelly - but after setting up camp and wanting to rest, hearing people scream and yell and howl until 3am was kind of annoying.

The pit toilets are gross. I saw a maggot climbing out of one of the toilets. Do yourself a favor and bring some Febreeze spray and disinfectant wipes with you when you go.

TONS of mosquitoes this time of year - bring as many cans of OFF as you can handle. Bring 50 Citronella candles, OFF Camp Fogging Spray, long sleeves, and pants. If you have a hat with mosquito netting, bring that too. And if you bring your pet(s), make sure you have some kind of mosquito repellent for them too.

We were in campsite 59 which happens to have trails from the lake to the campground and tons of traffic walking around your stuff. We didn't have issues leaving out stuff out - but I can't say that will be the case for everyone.

Absolutely NO cell service anywhere - even down at Wishon. If you need to make a call you will have to use the $1 per call payphone at the store in Wishon - otherwise, be ready to drive back to Shaver for cell service.

Courtwright Lake is amazing. Crystal clear, the weather is amazing. Great for boating or water activities. Didn't seem like the fishing was any good. We fished for 4 days and not only did we not catch anything, the other folks around didn't appear to be reeling anything in either. Maybe just a bad weekend?

All in all it was a pleasant experience. It was just too crowded for that "mountain camping" experience. And kind of expensive. Next time we will just find some spot off the road or stick to beach camping.