Review: Though the road to get here was rough in places, these were the nicest facilities we’ve seen in a national forest campground. Though our site wasn’t on the lakeside, the lakeside sites don’t really have a view anyway. Our site was a pull-through, parallel to the road, which gave us lots of room and privacy out our front door. The site is nicely cleared with grass, and the bushes and trees make you feel like you’re all by yourselves in the campground. The site was level and gravel.

We were a short distance from Ely, where we arranged our one-day canoe guide and rental (Ely Outfitters—excellent!), and where we visited the International Wolf Center (so-so). We also rented a canoe from the Fall Lake office ($10 for 12 hours—what a deal!) and paddled around Fall Lake on our own (before we did the guided trip in another section of the Boundary Waters). 

We did a hike to Stub Lake one evening, but it was incredibly tough, since the trail had not been fully cleared and there were TONS of mosquitoes. Even with head nets and bug spray, this was a miserable hike, so stick to the water when in this area.

We would definitely stay at this campground again if we were visiting the Boundary Waters / Ely area.