Camping: Big Lake!

To go with my end of summer theme this week, let's talk camping. My favorite summer camping spot is Big Lake. I grew up camping in this area, and I love returning. We try to head here for a few days each summer.

Getting There

It is a bit of a hike to get there, about 4.5 hours, so at least 4 nights is needed.


It's a beautiful area, though, and worth it. We like to stay at the Apache Trout campground. It's a very nice campground. We like to get a double spot and share it with my parents. There are other campgrounds nearby, and I know my brother prefers to boon dock nearby. Greer isn't that far either- and that's another fun spot.

What We Do

Big Lake itself is the main star. We head down probably once a day and fish.

This year we rented a boat which you can do through their store. 
Sometimes the fishing is good, sometimes it's not (this year not one fish was caught!). But it's pretty either way. I personally don't fish, but it's fun to sit and watch the lake. If you do fish, make sure to get a license! Kids 10 and over need their own license (younger kids can fish off an adult license). Heading down just to catch the sunset is pretty awesome too.

There are geocaches in the area if that's your thing. We've had fun with the kids finding those.

The Big Lake store is always a hit.

We hit that up a couple times each trip. I did the same thing as a kid, and I love those memories so much. I'm glad to recreate them with my kids. Searching for animals each night is always fun- and you'll always spot some right around sunset.

Having a fire and s'mores is a must each night.

This year was a wet winter and spring, so thankfully we were able to have a wood burning fire this year. Sometimes, though, you'll have to rely on a gas fire pit- so bring one if no wood fires are allowed. Our family camping tradition is playing marbles- so of course that's going to happen a few times each trip.

Horseshoes are a fun pasttime too.

Now, there is not internet service around here, so you can't depend on streaming anything for bored kids. We set up a TV with DVD player for those cold or boring times.

We also like to take a little drive to the East or West Fork of the Black River. This is the spot I grew up camping at.


It's beautiful, makes for fun river fishing, and you can often (if the water is warm enough) catch crawdads. 

Big Lake holds a piece of my heart and I highly recommend this spot for a summer getaway.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Page, AZ

Image
I am a born and raised AZ native. And this state is quite beautiful with lots to offer. I've made it a point of late to see more of it. So for spring break this year, I planned a trip up to Page. It's a great base for lots of sights- Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon. You can even tack on the Grand Canyon and go look at dinosaur tracks too (which I'm kicking myself for since I didn't add it to our drive)! We kept this trip to a minimum, but I'd definitely head up there again and explore more than we did this time.   Itinerary   Remember how I've mentioned I'm a true believer in itineraries? Well, here's a classic Stacy Itinerary.    The one I shared in the Girls' Trip was extra fancy since we were celebrating an occasion. Typically, I just create one in Google Docs so that I can access it anywhere with my phone. Next to the dates you'll notice some numbers in parentheses. These are the high/low temps for the day. Helps me with plann
Read more

NYC at Christmas

Image
New York City at Christmas time is magical. When a friend's 50th birthday celebration took us to Cape Cod in December, we couldn't resist tacking on a NYC trip to it. Getting There We added NYC to the end of our Cape Cod trip- which was awesome too by the way: My parents flew in just ahead of us and we met up with them upon our arrival. We flew into LaGuardia from Boston and grabbed an Uber to our hotel (there is SO MUCH honking in NYC!). Flying out, we flew out of JFK. Both flights were with American Airlines. Where We Stayed We stayed at the Radisson Hotel New York Midtown-Fifth Avenue. I think it is now a DoubleTree by Hilton . I thought it was the perfect location. It was very busy at check in. We dropped off our luggage to start walking around- after all, we only had 2 days here! The location was close to all the main spots. We had a great view from our hotel room. That's Rockefeller Plaza right there! One morning we heard Alicia Key
Read more

unBelizeable!

Image
For my birthday this year, I decided I wanted a passport stamp. A passport stamp from Belize, specifically. Last year for my big 4-0, I stayed home and partied 80s prom style with family and friends. I loved being able to celebrate with all those I love, but this year, I felt the need for a trip. Getting There We flew into BZE (Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport) from PHX. We used airline miles and flew American there, and I don't think you can find a direct flight. We had a short layover in Dallas on the way there, and Houston on the way back (we paid money and took United on the way back). The flights didn't seem too long and the quick layovers helped break it up.  Once we arrived in BZE, we took a 15 minute island hopper flight with Maya airlines to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye (the other airline that flies there is Tropic; just make sure you book to/from BZE and not the city airport).  Our flight getting into BZE was delayed, and we technically missed our flig
Read more