I visited this site in August, 2017. Despite it’s name, Bug Lake is actually a pretty nice lake to visit. It’s in between Little Cedar and Carl Wilson and is a pain in the ass to get to thanks to the fact that whether you’re coming from Little Cedar or Carl Wilson, you’re going to be going straight uphill to get to Bug. Still, if you’re looking for a private lake, Bug’s not a bad option. Maybe bring some bug spray though.
Canoe Landing/Terrain: The canoe landing for this site doubles as the start of the portage down to Little Cedar, so it’s a pretty good take out. The landing is easy to pull up to, with lots of room to load and unload. It’s a bit rocky, but nothing too canoe holey. The site terrain is quite flat. The site isn’t that large, there’s room for a couple of tents and the fire pit, but the good news is you won’t have any trouble getting around it.
Tent Sites: At least two decent flat areas to pitch a tent, and you could probably force another two if you needed to.
Fire Pit: It’s a small pit, simply built out of a few larger rocks, but it does the trick of showing you where to put your fire. Assuming you’re carrying fire. Otherwise, it shows you where to build your fire as well. The low pit walls wouldn’t be much help in a strong wind, but the pit is far enough inland, and well enough protected by trees, that wind might not be a huge factor. I didn’t see a grill. There are a couple of rough log benches around the pit. That’s about it as far as site accessories go.
Swimability: It’s easy slipping in and out of the water from the shoreline, but I can’t speak to how good the swimming is. My big fear with smaller sized lakes is leeches. That’s not to say that I know for sure there are lots of leeches there, it’s not called leech lake, but it’s still a worry. Great rocks for catching some sun though.
Thunderbox: A decent hike back from the site and in pretty good shape. You don’t have much of a view beyond a circle of small pines nearby, but at least that means people don’t have much of a view of you.
Views: The site is surrounded by trees, so it’s a semi-obstructed view of the water. If you go down to the shoreline though you get a nice view west that takes in both (small) arms of Bug Lake.
Drawbacks: The only one I can think of is that it’s on a portage, so you may have people traipsing very close to your campsite if you want to set up here. Otherwise, it seems like a decent option if you’re staying on Bug.
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