We had plans to camp out the week prior, but unfortunately most of us came down with a 24-hour bug the day we were planning on leaving. Lucky for us, Darius had a window in his work schedule and we were able to make up for it.
Tuesday we headed up to Pineview Reservoir, 10 miles east of Ogden, to the Anderson Cove Campground. Darius had been to the reservoir and campground a couple weeks prior with the boys and was looking forward to a return trip to try out the campground and of course do some fishing.
We were fortunate to get an awesome site with lots of shade, so despite the hot day, we were comfortable. Our site was right next to the reservoir, and we had a very short walk down to the water's edge. After setting up camp and relaxing for a bit, we headed down to the water. Darius got his poles in the water, and the boys promptly started their work at scaring the fish away by launching handfuls of rocks in the water. Typical boy behavior.
There were several nicer beach type areas around the reservoir, but we were content to have a spot to ourselves. The boys and I found some trash to pick up along the shore, hunted for cool rocks, and they sat in the water and dug in the sand.
The boys were excited to roast their hot dogs for all of the minute that they had the patience to hold their roasting sticks, and promptly declared that they wouldn't eat their dogs because they had brown on them. Hopefully they'll learn to appreciate the flavor a little bit of charring gives food when they get older. Good thing Darius knows his boys so well and had the presence of mind to pack stuff for sandwiches.
So now that we had the opportunity to try out our gear and figure out what to bring/leave home the next time, we're excited to plan our next camping trip. Our plan will be to research camping spots within a 2-hr drive and hit as many as we can this summer. I'm going to start rating each area we visit. The things I'll take into consideration will include: value, amenities, campground/site conditions, surrounding area & available activities, noise, and location.
We'd rate the Anderson Cove Campground in the upper middle range. It was easy to get to, and we had two options to get there. We ended up coming home a different way than we came due to the closure of the Ogden Canyon. It took us less than an hour each way. The campground itself is right off of the highway, and the area is developed around the reservoir, so it loses some appeal as far as being less remote. We could definitely hear traffic noise, and I think there may have been a flight path overhead too, because I did hear quite a few airplanes.
The campground amenities were decent. There were vault toilets, toilet paper, and running water outside of them. There was a small general store at the entrance that Darius was impressed with. They offered bait (very important to D), ice, firewood, and groceries for prices that he said were very reasonable. Since the campground is right next to the reservoir, there were definitely a lot of water related amenities available such as boating, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, fishing, and swimming. If we had really sweet water toys...a boat, tubes, canoe :) we'd be coming back here more often.
The campground itself was very clean and well maintained. There was a noticeable presence of campground hosts that drove by regularly and checked with us upon our arrival to make sure our site was clean when we arrived. Our site was awesome and probably the best part of our experience. We stayed in site #78, and it offered lots of shade, plenty of level ground which is always good for tent sleeping, a paved pad equipped with a very large picnic table, a grill for charcoal, a deep fire pit with cooking grate, and plenty of parking. The site was a great size and it didn't feel like we were too close to campers in other sites near us. The value was very good considering what we paid for our stay, $14.
Since I didn't research before our trip, I can't comment on the surrounding area beyond the reservoir, but it was a beautiful area, and I'm sure there were more activities within a reasonable distance from our campground. In another year or so when Darius is able to get a boat, I'm sure this will be a spot we revisit often.
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...” ~ John Muir
