I cant say enough about this absolutely incredible, breathtaking spot. Ive traveled all over the PNW exploring some of our most beautiful locations over the last 15mos and this place easily blew most of them out of the water and made it up to my top 3 🤯
first thing to mention .. it is NOT easy to get to. It's pretty far into the forest, about an hour. the last 30mins is pretty rough, all uphill, winding diry/rocky roads with big dips, potholes ect .. I have a Range Rover Sport on those silly fancy 22s so I took it very slow as i didn't wanna accidentally pop another tire like ive done previously 🤦♀️🤣 Please be careful and watch out for deer. i lost count how many i saw darting across the roads, drinking from the roadside puddles, stream and waterfalls ..
next, I was fortunate to be there the weekend before the campground officially opened on 7/1. I basically had the place to myself and it was fabulous, not to mention free to stay and the bugs that I hear are normally really bad, weren't an issue at all yet.
there are some fantastic campsites, i drove around to check em out, but the ones nearest the boatramp, where I stayed, had the best unobstructed views.
there is a very loud, extremely verbal eagle nesting right above the boat ramp. not sure if it was an adult or young one or there was a young one up there, causing all the screeching, but it was cool nonetheless. fish are jumping like crazy at sunset.. a man i met had caught 28 early that day. the frogs at night are outrageous too 😆 sounded like thousands of them congregate at the bridge and put on quite a show throughout the night. I stayed up most the night to work on my night and astrophotography. it was a night ill never forget! the stars and constellations are mesmerizing. its like you can see every single star in our galaxy 🤩🤯
walk the trail around the lake to take in all the great views. bring a paddle board or small non motorized boat to get out and cut through the glass like surface. there are also a ton of great hiking spots and other lakes to explore nearby. the challenging Blue Lake trail is worth the effort.
the reflective photographs of handsome Mt Adams are what Ive always dreamed of.. this place did not disappoint. i highly recommend checking it out.