Cave Lake State Park — Attraction in Ely

I drove out from Las Vegas for my birthday on the 24th. Since Google maps specified it'll be a 4 hour drive (3.5 hrs coming home since you descend from a higher elevation), it would be a good idea to stay the night. And the fact in my 40 years I've never went camping.

The campsite with fire pits and picnic tables, has multiple areas for RV and tent style parking. Reservations are ideal for camp sites, especially in warmer months. The honor system is highly enforced when it comes to the pay station at the beginning of the camp entrance. Please note there isn't any form of credit or debit machines, so bring cash. Across the street, next to the lake, there's also plenty picnic tables with bbq stands, a couple of water pump stations to clean your catch. This lake is full of Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, and crawfish that come out at night.

The weather a few days ago during the day was a perfect 73f and got down to 40f. Make sure to bring warm clothes so you're not freezing at night.

There's a ranger station in walking distance. In the picnic area, there's separate gender bathrooms and I believe a family bathroom in the middle, I didn't open it so I'm guessing it was. Bring toilet paper or flushable wipes or you'll be sorry. There's also a nicer bathroom with showers in the middle of the camping area.

Inflatable boats, canoes or kayaks mostly for fishing is permitted on the lake. No motors over 5 mph. The lake was large at all. Overall, there's plenty nice and friendly people to chat with. I believe quiet hours were from 11pm to 7am, perfect time to view the stars, make s'mores and view the stars that we hardly get to see in Las Vegas. -...

My family and I stayed at Cave Lake State Park in Ely, Nevada for one week in June 2018. We were at campsite number 24 in the Lake View Campground. It was a pull through site. We stayed free on our Nevada Senior Park Pass.

There is a second campground in the Cave Lake State Park called Elk Flat Campground. It is the first campground you come to. The turn-off for it is where the dump station is located.

This is a very beautiful area. The lake is very cold and has a beautiful green color at different times of the day. The fish were biting quite well. Cindy, my daughter, Lorrie, and my granddaughter, Savannah, all caught rainbow trout. there is a convenient fish cleaning station located with in the park. My family enjoyed a late night snack of fire-grilled trout!

There are nice walking trails around the lake. The views from our site were incredible. The temperature stayed cool and sometimes even chilly. We had campfires every night and enjoyed s’mores and roasted hotdogs.

Cave Lake State Park is located about 8 miles off Highway 50 and about 7 miles south of Ely, Nevada. The road is paved all the way up to the campground. Within the campgrounds the roads are dirt as are the campsites. Campsites have a table and a fire ring.

Our site was a bit sloped and it was difficult getting our 33 foot Class A motorhome leveled. And, I think there should be more water faucets located more conveniently around the campground. We only found two.

We enjoyed our stay at Cave Lake State Park. We will go out back...

Rustic camping and day use at a beautiful small lake with plenty of opportunities to enjoy swimming, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, and fishing. This is part of the Nevada State Park system and can be booked online or paid at site for day use and camping. At the time of this review, there is a seven day camping limit per every thirty days. There are two campgrounds, Lakeview and Elk Flats. The roads in the campgrounds are narrow and twisty and not suitable for large RV’s. Note: many campsites are only 10 feet wide. No electricity available, but water spigots are throughout each campground and there are flush toilets and hot showers. Aside from several people using generators all day, the park was peaceful and quiet enough at night to hear birds and distant coyotes. This is close to the historic town of Ely, location of the Northern Nevada Railroad Museum. It’s also part of the Great Basin Historic District and the Steptoe Valley. At the nearby Ward Charcoal Ovens, I hiked in to see the huge beehive ovens used to make charcoal during the mining boom here, saw how the land was still recovering from having every tree for 34 miles around harvested and burnt over a hundred years ago, and I learned about the history of mining in the Ward Historical District. There’s OHV trails, wildlife viewing, and plenty of exploring here. I’m looking forward to...