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Submission
From Mellen, WI, take County Hwy. GG west for 8.2 miles to Mineral Lake Rd. (Forest Rt. 187). Turn right on Mineral Lake Rd. and go 3.2 miles to a "Y" intersection. Continue straight onto Clam Lake Rd. (Forest Rt. 198) and go 1.7 miles to campground sign. Turn right and proceed to campground.
We somehow got a space right on scenic Beaver Lake in the CNNF, despite only reserving just a couple weeks in advance. Clean site with path to Lake, fire ring, and level, soft tent pad. With no rain in the forecast, we were able to leave the screen wide open to admire the stars and let the cool summer evening breeze in, listening to a chorus of loons and green frogs, catching the first glimpse of fireflies in late June. Bathroom pit toilets are pretty gross, so be prepared. If you need water, fill up your jugs at the artesian well at the park in Ashland before you go. Please pack in/out garbage and recyclables to keep this place amazing. PS: The bridge is out on the road to Morgan Falls, so be prepared to detour if you go in the near future.
Nice campground, small but great for tents or pretty small trailers. Vault toilet and water available, no power or dump station. The north country national scenic trail passes right by this campground - so it would be good for hikers. We stayed here while we were driving the Trans-Wisconsin Adventure Trail. The lake is beautiful and there is very little traffic that passes by on the gravel road. The road is gravel for quite some way to get to this place so might not be optimal for some cars but there is nothing you’d need 4wd for to get here.
2 pit toilets. Water pump. Great sites, some right on the lake. Gravel road to get there, but we’ll maintained enough for a car.
A remote 10-site rustic campground with a hand pump for drinking water. A boat landing can be found across the lake from the campground, about a half mile down the road.
With Mineral Lake and Lake Three campgrounds now closed, this is the closest operating national forest campground to Copper Falls State Park. Though it’s a longer trek on gravel roads to get here from Mellen compared to the now-closed campgrounds, Beaver Lake remains a nice option for anyone looking to visit the many attractions in this region. St. Peter’s Dome is not a far drive from here and offers a scenic short day hike.
The campground doesn’t have any path or access to the lake aside from the lakefront campsites themselves; choose a lakefront site if lake access is important to you. Beaver Lake lacks a beach but appears swimmable at the lakefront campsites.
The North Country Trail crosses the campground entrance driveway. Lake Three and its now-idled campground are about a two mile hike to the east and other national forest attractions can be found a few miles west.
We had a lot of fun tent camping at Beaver Lake with our two daughters (4 and 6) and two dogs. Loons on the lake, and lots of frogs. The mosquitos were VERY heavy, but we managed with bug spray and campfires. We thought the outhouses were unexpectedly nice despite previous reviewer’s comment. Though, we often travel to the BWCA, so really depends on your level of camping and being in the woods!
Our biggest issue with the site was not having direct access to the water for the girls to swim, or to use the canoe (an issue for most of the sites at this campground because many are not on the water at all). There was 1 camp spot with direct water access and even had a small beach. There is a boat landing across the lake, but this was hard for us with the girls.
