Santeetlah Lake

All sites have shade and sun areas. Most sites are nicely shaded and not great when using solar. Road traffic is minimal to almost none overnight. Sites are fairly secluded, but close enough to hear other inconsiderate noisy campers. Several sites have a rather steep slope to pack into, with parking alongside the road. A few sites could accommodate small to mid-sized RVs. Lake access makes this place perfect for swimming or bringing your boat to tie off at your site (launch site is close to camp sites). Bring your camp toilet as there are no facilities. Going into the woods and not digging a hole first is not acceptable...

These sites are mostly made with 2 mid to large size tent pads, picnic table and fire ring. Perfect spot for motorcycle & tent camping with the Tail of the Dragon (11 miles of road with 318 curves) being close. Plenty of rafting, kayaking, zip lines, and fishing opportunities nearby.

Please leave the sites in as good or better condition than they were when you got there. Show good stewardship and keep free campsites like this one open!

This is truly a beautiful spot! Each sites (there are 7, I believe) is prime lakefront with an amazing view of the mountains. It was a little chilly in Jan of 2020 and the wind sure does whip right off the water (stake your tent down, lesson learned... again). I normally sleep in a hammock but didn’t feel like risking it in the low temps AND the wind.
I looked at 4 of the 7 sites and they all seem able to accommodate at least 2 medium sized tents. Some of them are much bigger than others. All had a picnic table and a nice fire ring with grate.
It felt like a safe area, that doesn’t mean a whole lot but as a female who camps alone I’ve learned to trust that feeling.
There are two downsides to this place. 1) it’s right off a small road that I didn’t expect to have much traffic but once I went to bed there were many cars up and down.
2) it’s close to a more main road and on clear nights the road noise is definitely heard.
All in all it was a great spot and one I’d like to go back too with a group.

Great spot for tent camping, clean, private wooded areas, bathroom by site #1. Good hiking behind designated sites. On your drive up coming from the east you’ll pass a few stores to grab last minute essentials if need be. Drive to and from camping is magnificent. The lake is incredibly clean, and in the summer I imagine it would be a great swim. We had an amazing time on Santeetlah Lake!

Pros: We stayed in site #11 (or something close). Sites 1-9ish are ideal for tent camping. They all have you park on the side of the road and walk a very short distance down to the campsite. The last few sites are ideal for RVs, you can drive all the way to the campsite. Each campsite has a leveled area for a tent, a fire pit (with grill), a charcoal grill, a picnic table and a lakefront view. The road the campsites are off of (Pine Ridge Rd) is quiet, the road is above that had cars more often. We could hear those cars from our site occasionally, but it was not bothersome. There were two other groups camping, and everyone was quiet and respectful. We could see their site from ours enough to know it was a site, but not enough to see much of anything. Every site is on the lake, some have a higher elevation than the lake, some are right on it. Would absolutely stay again.

Cons: There was trash everywhere! People are so disrespectful of the land.

Vault toilet by site 11. Decently clean.

Excellent private, large, wooded site on a lake across from a marina. Really beautiful and pretty quiet even though I know there were other campers nearby. I think there are 11 total sites. Some you would basically be parking on road, but this one as well as a couple others you pull off into clearing. Ours had fire pit and picnic table. Vault toilets are available but we didn't use. Would stay again if in area. We have a 21' class b. Travato.

The sites here are along the lake, which is crystal clear and was lovely for swimming. All campsites have a picnic table, fire ring, BBQs and lantern holder. Sites 9, 10 and 11 are close to the vault toilets are would be better for RVs, although if you have a class B site 6 is wonderful, though difficult to get level. Not much to do around, we cycled to a nearby dam. There's also a paid campsite down the road with hot showers if you want to sneak in. There's a small road above the campsite which had motorcycle traffic during the day, but it was few and far between.