willard bay state park

The attraction in the past was the Willard Bay itself. The water was high, the wide array of boats and their crews were very active... and interesting, the fish were plentiful... there was high water in the fresh water bay. the engineering feat was noteworthy to create this bay of fresh water. The salt lake is kept away from the mountain inflow, by a large barrier causeway approximately 20 miles long. Fishing in the past was great, with the laboratory hybrid bass known locally as 'Wiper'. They are sterile but afford great fishing. Several other types of fish are still in the now shallow lake, but only small boats can launch this year, with the docks high and dry. This is an irrigation lake, thus it is continually releasing water. Watercraft are still enjoying the shallow recreational aspect, but few camp in this state park facility close by. We did have electric, water and a dump site.With the last years being cyclical drought affected, the lake is very low at this time, some say about 18 feet low. The RV campground is sparse, but has trees for shade in many sites. A wildlife protected swampland area nearby affords periodic views/calls of hawks and migratory birds of every type, including Canadian Geese and Ducks. Relatively few hook-up RV sites, spaced well apart, are available. This State Park camping area, a long paved loop around a closely mowed grassy/weedy common area, is very basic and fills quickly in summer months, due to the nearby lake. We were in a shady perimeter site for the late afternoon, after a 100 mile 'corridor' drive north through very prosperous Salt Lake City and it's nearby, fast developing enclaves.My bike picked up many tiny flat yellow flowered, 'goathead' thorns in crossing the tent area, but I pulled them before they penetrated the slime protected tires. Hiking the trails up over the causeway is fairly easy, with a bridge to cross the canal (lots of small birds) and stairways to climb to the top road. Hiking the causeway would take time, lots of it. As the sun sets, the mosquitoes attack. The entrance gate was not occupied by a host or ranger when we arrived, but had the rules and fees for entrance posted. One camp host was overly zealous working the launch area and forced even the casually curious drive in visitors, inspecting the low water level, to buy a ten dollar day pass.Near the main highway entrance, a very large store that has everything imaginable, can eat up your time. Hours can pass, as you inspect every item, including surplus, clothing, weaponry of many types, ammo, outdoor gear of every type and hardware to repair anything. Even basic food stuffs for camping.

The park has well spaced paved sites, both back in and pull through. They have 30 amp service, water and sewer. My only complaint was the beach area was quite trashy with plastic bottles and even some cardboard boxes floating near shore. This may be partially a result of extremely low water but could easily be remedied with normal maintenance.

We stayed at the Cottonwood Campground last week-end. Our 2 day stay was enjoyable and we even caught catfish from the shore. The kids swam at the beach in the warm water(78 degrees), and the campground was clean and mowed. The restrooms and showers were clean.This year the water levels are very low. You are only allowed to dock your boats at your own risk and there are sand bars along the shoreline. The grass is dry and but you are still able to have a fire in the pits or grills. Even with the dryer than normal weather, our state and federal parks are a great treasure.

We spent one afternoon of our family reunion at Willard Bay. There were lots of nice pavilions (all full before noon) but we set up awnings closer to the water. The water is very low exposing a rocky, difficult to navigate beach line right now. The water is very murky. One final word: beware of Club Rec, the place that rents jet skis at Eagle Beach. Our group reserved 3 jet skis ahead of time. Only two were available when we got there, and one of those stopped working before we even got to the buoys. They finally replaced it after an hour (it was a four hour rental) but refused to comp us for the lost hour. And the guy 'serving' us was very unpleasant. Even if we had been pleased with the customer service, the jet skis were old and in poor condition--- ripped seats, cracked plastic, etc. We also rented a huge inflatable island/slide/trampoline that sits in the water. It was under-inflated and didn't have much bounce which really affected the fun factor. I just wouldn't recommend Club Rec at all and I'd skip Willard Bay until the water rises.

We stumbled upon Willard Bay state park on our transition from CA to MT. The camp host was very accommodating and friendly. Campsites are spaced apart from each other giving you ample privacy. We would definitely stay here again.