Camping at Wellington Lake: A Guide
The first experience that comes to mind when heading to Castle Mountain Recreation at Wellington Lake is the long, long, semi-dangerous dirt road leading waaaaay back into the forest. The road has dips and blind curves, and there are no signs telling you if you’re headed in the correct direction. The adventurous side of me says, “Yes, this is the way that it’s supposed to be” but I would be lying if I didn’t worry about getting lost way back in the forest.
Once you finally arrive at the Wellington Lake office building & store, a completely different environment emerges. Well, not really the ‘environment’ in terms of the scenery, but the overall feel becomes something a little more… commercial. It would be like reaching the end of the day on a long day of backpacking and then finding a college party in the middle of nowhere. It feels like an off-the-highway campground, a little bit.
You start your experience by signing waivers and then being vaguely told where your campsite is. Then, you drive through a very crowded campground (granted, we did have reservations from the 3rd to the 4th of July) with lots of college-age kids shouting at each other from stand-up paddleboards and kayaks. And the shouting doesn’t stop until well after the sun goes down. I’m not a fan of listening to other people’s music when I’m camping, and this campsite violated me in that way.
However, it wasn’t all bad. The scenery is beautiful and the lake (when not covered in loud undergrads) is serene. The few short trails offer a welcome retreat from the relative hustle and bustle of the campgrounds, and the facilities were clean. You can see a pretty little waterfall that’s fairly unique, as well as some surprisingly interesting wildlife. Anna and I got to witness a bald eagle (see the photos below).
This is definitely a campground for people who like spending time swimming in or floating upon the water. It wasn’t really our style, though. If you plan on going, just know that the pretty pictures I took only tell half of the story. And try to go there when there will be less people around.
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