Little Sand Bay Recreation Area

I don't have much good to say about this campground. The sites are so packed into a tiny space that you have no privacy at all. There are minimal trees in the campground. Showers cost $2. There were also a ton of barking dogs all around us. The coolest thing about the campsite was the view of the sunset on Lake Superior. $40/night is too much though we were grateful for a safe place to sleep.

Great location near Apostle Islands and northernmost WI Lk Superior shores. Lots to see walking the beach, and sites are well laid-out.

The problem comes into play when who owns or does what. The host was unavailable after Fri before Labor Day, on. That presents a problem when campers who are only supposed to have 2 cars per site have 4, plus tow a boat so the driveway for all to share becomes clogged OR they actually park a 5th car right on the grass on your campsite. Why are those folks allowed to stay again? No drive-by review of sites or adherence to quiet times at night for families after 10pm by either host or on-site / live-in park ranger, although tribal police coming through every once in a while are aware of who handles what issues. The park doesn't handle issues, instead just takes your $. Makes for a not great stay. Its pretty much wild west, but doesn't present itself as such up front.

Overall, we thought the campground was OK. However, there are many tenters all over the place. We came in on a Thursday and it was obvious many groups were here. This is the place to enter the water for sea kayaking so if you are a sea kayaker, this is the place for you. The weekend is very busy as the 3 companies in the town bring their kayakers to launch. Beginning on Tuesday, it calmed down and was not quite as busy. We would not recommend staying in slot 1 as it is right by the showers and the path to the restrooms.

Most views are obstructed by tents and trees but the lake and beach area is beautiful. The sunsets are amazing. There are plenty of tables and chairs to sit and watch the sunset, lots of great sand on the beach for walking. The water is about 40-50 degrees in August, so not much for swimming, although many kids didn't mind the cold.

Bayfield is about 10 miles away and is a great little place to shop, eat and take the Island cruises. If we were to come back we may try to stay a little closer to the town, but Little Sand Bay was not terrible. Stay 7 nights get one free. Also, no cell service or wifi, so we had to come to Bayfield every day to do work. Coffee shop is great, also you can go to Ashland (24 miles) to the public library or the 2nd street Bistro.

We camped here for a night after backpacking on the Apostle Islands out of Bayfield because it was close and we thought it was worth coming out here. In hindsight we should've stayed closer to Bayfield.

Not a whole lot to do, but its peaceful and the signal was decent once we boosted. We got a good 2-3 bars workable Verizon LTE with our Wilson booster. We were able to stream some Netflix and Sam got good work done.

The Visitor center had some cool exhibits for kids, and we enjoyed watching the video about building a traditional Ojibwe canoe. If it had been warmer, the beach looked pretty inviting as well. Lots of kayakers as Sand Island is a pretty close paddle.

Electric hookups only, but water spigots in the camp and a dump station.

We drove through miles of roads with dense trees lining both sides without seeing anyone and suddenly, we turned a corner and saw a clearing with kids riding bikes, adults grilling meats and frisbees and footballs being tossed around in the air. It was the perfect spot for us to settle for the weekend. The phone reception here is not great but it was nice to disconnect for a couple of days. A small rock piling created a jetty that protected this little marina in the bay from the unpredictable Lake Superior sat across from our campsite. On the other side, a nice stretch of sandy beach was just a short walk away from our site.For a lake that still had floating chunks of ice in it just two months ago, it was pleasantly warm. Next to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore visitor center is the former buildings for the Hokenson Brothers commercial fishery which the ranger will give you a private tour of if you ask.