Closest Access Point: Basin Lake (Access Point # 19)
Distance To Access Point: 0.8 KM
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy.
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date of Visit: June, 2021
This site is in Basin’s north east corner. It looks promising from the water, it’s fronted by a nice beach area, but the rest of the site is mediocre at best. It’s not the worst Basin has to offer, but it’s not the best either.
Terrain: Hilly. The shoreline is sand. This leads to a heavily greened strip between the water and the rest of the site. Lots of brush and short bushes. The site itself is up a hill, about fifty feet back in the woods. Like most of the sites on Basin it’s dominated/dotted by pine trees. This means the site feels kind of open, despite being very much enclosed on pretty much every side. Ground cover is, as you might expect, mostly pine needles with the occasional protruding root.
Canoe Landing: There’s a nice, wide (mostly underwater) beach across the front of the site. This makes for an ideal landing area. No underwater obstacles to speak of and it’s quite easy to load/unload.
Fire Pit: This is a pretty basic pit. It’s a circle of rocks in the middle of the site. It’s well situated in the site, in that it’s pretty central, but the views out from it are obstructed at best. If you’re hoping to relax over the fire and keep an eye on the sunset, this probably isn’t the pit for you.
Swimability: The beach makes for a pretty nice swimming spot. Of the five sites I saw on Basin (I didn’t get to Site 1 because it was occupied) this is the one I’d want to swim from. The sandy beach area goes a good distance underwater, making for a nice spot to wade out.
Tent Sites: There’s room for a couple of tents on this site, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by what I saw. As I mentioned, this site is a bit uneven, and the tent spots keep to that theme. That being said, you don’t go camping expecting a night at the Ritz. You could certainly sleep here if need be.
Thunderbox: There’s a short path out the back of the site that takes you to the box. This particular thunderbox doesn’t look like it’s seen a ton of use, which to me is a good thing. As long as you can find it under the camouflage of pine needles and green stuff growing on it, you’ll be in good shape.
Accessories: Minimal. There’s a log bench that is just one log balanced on two others. Apart from that, I don’t recall any sitting counters or even a stand up grill.
Views: This site is well into the woods, meaning the views are fairly obstructed once you’re on the site proper. Down by the canoe landing you’ve got a nice view down Basin. I wonder how comfortable it would be to sit there though during the early summer. I found the site to be pretty buggy in that spot, probably thanks to the mix of green stuff and nearby water.
Notes: This would probably be tied for my third choice site on Basin with Site 5. If neither of Site 1 or 4 are available, this is an okay fallback.
Related Trip Report: Basin Lake
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