Atwood Lake Park Campground

We had heard so many great things about Atwood Lake and since it was only about an hour from our home we decided to give it a try in our recently purchased vintage camper. We were so relieved to find out our site was in an older section (Section 4) outside of the main campground. What a relief that was! There is a fantastic trail system that allowed us easy access to the Welcome Center, Campground Store and exploring other sections of the campground. Pretty much everything inside the campground is packed in tight with no shade. Section F is an older section on a peninsula. Sites are really packed in there and we found it difficult to drive our truck through that loop. Overall, the main campground feels overcrowded with a trailer park feel. If you want quiet, shade and some privacy, this is not the place. Our site (105), in the older section along Atwood Lake Road, was very private, along the lake and surrounded by mature trees. Many permanent sites in this section made it very quiet. The restrooms/shower were immaculate! The trails are incredible!

Level asphalt lot, 8 back in sites, FHU. Look at the lot before you pull in, there’s no driving thru it so if you can’t back up without unhooking (coach + tow car) don’t pull in. It’s a quiet street in a small town so now worries for creeping in or by. First come first served, key for access to power pole upon paying at convenience store one block away.
The city park is wonderful for young and old alike!

I camped at Atwood in 2015, when daily and weekly campers were interspersed with seasonal campers. This was not a great experience.

This time,, I camped at site 920 in section H, which is a new section of the park. The sites are concrete and I had a FHU site. Sites are landscaped and close to the water with some sites with unobstructed views of the lake.

The sites are not on top of each other but a little closer than I prefer. The trees are all young so there is only a little shade from the trees behind the site and virtually no privacy.

The park was 100% full when I visited.

Verizon signal was fairly strong.

I've stayed here many times and have made lots of wonderful memories over the years. This campground has a nice mix of options depending on what you like. The original older sites have more trees/privacy but are only electric (which we don't mind). There are water stations located throughout, but no water/sewer hookups. The newer sites right at the entrance and in the new section (H) are full hook up, and have level concrete pads, new facilities etc. They've planted shrubs and trees, but it'll take awhile for the trees to get big enough to provide shade. Though some sites in H are bordered on the West by mature trees/woods so those would be nice. There are sites right on the water in both section H and throughout the older loops. There are lots of permanent sites but they're kept clean and nice. Nothing run down or anything.
There's a beach just before section H that's nice for the kids. You can rent boats and Kayaks at the marina that's right before the campground entrance. And if you get a waterfront site, you can kayak and fish right from there. Also, the dump station is nice and new with tons of room to maneuver no matter which direction you enter from.
Pets are allowed basically everywhere except on the point. But our neighbors had their dog (off leash all weekend) and a permanent camper a few spots up had their dog too. We like dogs but it was kind of irritating that we paid a dog sitter to watch ours because we wanted that particular spot and we followed the rules when apparently no one else does. I'm sure if we had let the staff know then they would have handled it, but we would only have done that if there had been an issue (barking, biting, etc).
Do be aware that some sites would be difficult to maneuver a bigger rig into. Even our 26ft TT would not have been fun to get into sites 608-612 ish. Great for tents or small pop-ups though. Our site (632) was absolutely perfect. Huge and flat, right on the water, and just enough shade. Really any of the sites at the end of the point would be great as long as it's not wet at all, because that area floods easily.

I spent two nights at Atwood Lake at site 234 during the first weekend in May, 2015. This site is a corner site with full hook ups. I had decent Verizon signal while there (3-4 bars) but no TV reception with my inexpensive antenna.

It only takes a moment to realize that this campground is filled, almost entirely by permanent campers. These are almost all either big rigs or even regular residential type trailers. I found it difficult to find my loop, and since it was early season, there were no park staff personnel present to assist and no map. I had made my reservation via phone while en-route, so I did not have the luxury locating the site ahead of my arrival.

I chose Atwood for a few reasons. First, it was relatively close to the Pleasant Valley Factory, where I was picking up my T@b trailer after some warranty work. Second, it had full hook ups, making it easy to de-winterize. Lastly, I wanted to try the cellular connectivity to determine if I could work from my campsite at the Tearstock rally later this summer.

What I liked:

• Clean restrooms. I was probably the only one who used them. I did not use the showers.
• Pet friendly
• Friendly campers. It felt very safe.
• Lake view from my corner site
• Quiet - no loud campfires late at night.
• Price was very good for full hookup site.

What could have been better:

• Didn't feel like I was getting away from it all due to the trailer park feel and the close proximity to other campsites.
• It was not very user friendly for first time campers - no maps, instructions, etc.. This could have been due to the early season date.

Would I stay here again? Well, I am staying for the Tearstock rally in the group site, but I would stay here again, although this would not be my first choice.