We arrived Sunday afternoon (June 14). A couple of campers were in line to check in ahead of us. In just a few minutes, we were backing into our home for the next 5 nights. The gravel pad was fairly level and just big enough for the bus and the car.
Our site was relatively small, but that was OK. Trees and brush surrounded our site, so we felt secluded even though the next camper was only 20 feet away. The ground was hard packed and covered with pine needles. There was a decent picnic table and a pretty nice fire ring with an adjustable grill that swung out from over the fire. Unfortunately, it had been pulled out of the ground and sat up high on three legs. I tried pounding it back into the hard earth with little luck. It was OK, but you could only see the base of the fire.
We were on one of two roads with electricity, ours being closest to the lake. The forest shielded us from being able to see the lake. The pines were so tall that we only had direct sun about five hours mid-day. Late day sun filtered through the trees and, along with a light breeze, kept us cool.
The site was near a loop at the end of the road, and inside the loop was one of the cleaner pit toilets I've seen. Park staff power-washed the inside roughly every three hours. Brightly lit, the white walls and grey floor looked like they had been painted recently. However, they could probably pump it out more frequently.
The shower house was a hundred yards or so up the road. It was newer and VERY CLEAN. Tile walls and nature-stone type floor. Roomy showers with benches and hooks. The ADA even had a hand-held shower.
I walked the Lake Trail from our loop to the spillway. For the most part it was wide and flat packed dirt surrounded by the most amazing forest that I had seen in years.
The trail emerged into a meadow that surrounds the spillway. The area was designed to handle a lot of water, but was dry during our visit.
Some water must get through as there was a nice size pond at the bottom, surrounded by lush, dense forest.
I wanted to hike to the dam, but spent too much time taking pictures and had to get back to camp.
Since this was only our second trip in Believeland (our schoolie), a lot of our time was spent tinkering with things and tweaking our construction plans.
We took a drive around the park on freshly blacktopped roads. Due to Covid-19, the concessions and boat rental were closed...
...as was the nature center, camp store and playground. The long sandy beach was open. Lots of canoes and kayaks on the lake. There were hiking trails everywhere. The Buckeye Trail passes through the south end of the park. There is also a mountain bike trail.
The dump station was perfect for RVs and campers, but proved to be a challenge to those of us using a porta-pottie. I had to hold the lid open with my foot while dumping the yuk down a hole. Hosing the area down afterward wasn't much easier.
An electric-only site is $29/night Sunday through Thursday nights. Our Golden Buckeye card got us a 50% discount on those nights, bringing the cost down to $14.50. Add the $6.50 online reservation fee, and our total was $79.00, or $15.80/ night. Not free, but WELL WORTH IT.
