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Submission
Custer Cove is a moderately sized, heavily treed campground, which can be most easily accessed from I-25 by getting onto Glendo Park Road, heading south past the main fee booth, and turning left onto Lakeshore Drive. After about 1.5 miles, the campground will be on the right. A shelf of shale and clay surrounds the campground, but gives way to a gently sloped, sandy beach at the southwestern water line. The beach is extensive, and is a popular summer destination for swimmers and all kinds of water recreation. Most of the 20 campsites in Custer Cove have some tree cover, with the exception of sites 6, 9 and 20 which are entirely exposed. Sites 6 and 9 are also the largest, as both are pull-through sites, with a solid gravel base. The other campsites are fairly short and narrow, making them ideal for small RVS and campers, along with tent-camping. Usually, from mid-May to late July the water is high enough that campers at Custer Cove have easy walking access to the water’s edge. As the water level drops, the walk to the shoreline grows longer, but the campground remains one of the closer campgrounds to the water.
The park is open year-round for day use and camping. Day use permits are required from 6AM to 10PM, and camping permits are required from 10PM to 6AM. Fee booths are open Mon-Sun, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Otherwise, fees can be paid by cash or check, at canisters stationed at each park entrance, which are available 24/7.
Custer Cove is one of the more popular campgrounds in the park. All sites are by reservation only during the summer months, and are for single family units. In other words, only one RV and an accompanying tent are allowed per site. Most of the sites are near another, so check out a map of the campground to see which ones to reserve for groups to stay near each other. Also, be advised that the State Park is currently (as of 7-23-19) under a fire ban, so no campfires are allowed. This will probably last until the region gets its first snowfall of at least a couple inches. The lake water level is still fairly high, so boating is still quite popular. Fishing has not been as good as in years past, though.
Beautiful lake, and probably a nice area.
However, the maintenance in Custer Cove was severely lacking. As an Avid camper, we expected more from a State run park. Terrible signage, no one to check us in, and the fact that the numerous trash containers were full, and putrid, odor filling the area, and the fire ring had not been cleaned out from at least several visotors before us.
Overall, dissapointed and wont go back.
However, the deer did their part to make it a nicer stay.
