Maple Lake – Campsite #4 2022

I camped on this island in 2015 and fell in love with it. I hadn’t seen every campsite on Maple Lake but when I was set to return in 2022, I knew that if this island was available again I would take it. This campsite has so much to offer I don’t even know where to begin. Ok I guess I’ll start at the most logical spot, where you land your canoe. Maple Lake is dominated by large boulders everywhere, especially near the shorelines, and this island campsite is no exception. Among the large boulders are a few flatter pieces of rock, along with a patch of pebble beach tucked away at the side, making it surprisingly easy to land and unload. The area also offers amazing swimming. There’s a bit of a climb to the main site, but that’s because the site sits atop some epic cliffs that span across the perimeter of the site from west to south. The cliffs aren’t to be played on though, they have a seriously abrupt and steep drop into the bouldery water below. But on those cliffs sits an incredible fire pit with a 10/10 view into the west end of Maple Lake. The saying ‘dinner with a view’ was just taken to a whole other level. The fire pit itself is very well built and has one flat bench directly in front of it, but it’s worth noting that the bench is extremely close to the fire pit so a large fire wouldn’t be ideal. Also the bench would only comfortably sit two or three people. For me as a solo traveler it was perfect, but for larger groups having a few chairs would come in handy. The rest of the campsite is an island worth exploring, with tent spots scattered throughout wherever you can find a patch of flat ground (there are about three obvious choices). The island is definitely different than the last time I visited in 2015. It’s way more overgrown, but that’s not a bad thing. And the fire pit on the cliff used to be a smaller secondary fire pit, but now the old main one has been decommissioned and moved to the cliff as the sole fire pit. This is an all around amazing, scenic campsite if you’re fortunate enough to snag it and have good weather. However, in bad weather conditions I’d probably recommend something with a bit more shelter.

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