Ferne Clyffe State Park — Attraction in Vienna

Ferne Clyffe state park campground has two camper loops and the sites are electric only. There are primitive sites as well. The camper loops have lots of trees and are level gravel (handicap spots are concrete). The sites are a bit on the smallish side and almost all are directly adjacent to other sites. Water faucets are located at a few places around the campground but there isn't a place to park around them when filling tanks. There is a shower house and a few vault toilets sprinkled around. In general the campground is quiet and turns in early around 8pm. Access to shopping is just a few miles away and includes some fast food places. The campground has access to the trail system which has 18 awesome trails which include magnificent bluff views (both on top and from below), a part time waterfall, a lake trail and trails through wildlife refuges. The last 7 trails are in an adjacent area so you'll need to drive over to those. The trails are very well marked and signage is the best I've seen. Some of the trails are on steep hills or are over roots and rocks so pay attention to the trail signs at the beginning of each trail. Alas there is no interpretive center nor an open park office to talk to a ranger. A host is here but proved hard to find. There are no printed park maps and it was hard to find information on the location of camping spots. They do not offer firewood so bring your own as the locals around the park charge 2 arms and 3 legs per bundle. The park allows a tent and a...

This place was great! It doesn't have a ton of parking by the main trails but we went early on memorial day weekend and it was fine. The bathroom situation is really .... rustic... but at least there is a place to go. It's free to enter the park and dogs are ok too (please pick up after them though!!).

Our favorite trail was the hawk's cave trail. Go counter-clockwise for great views! I also recommend the all-trails app because there isn't great signage at the park. To get to it, go to the dead-end by the restrooms. Cross the creek using the stepping stones, and then keep to the left. To get to the main waterfall trail, go straight at the dead-end circle/turn around area instead of crossing the creek. Both are great trails and easily doable in the same day. There are additional trails available if you want more of a work-out but we didn't do them this trip.

My only complaint (not park-specific) is that we found two ticks later that day, so please be sure to check yourself carefully! Luckily neither one had attached yet. We think our dog picked them up, and since he had his flea/tick treatment they didn't attach to him but got carried along and then tried to attach to us when we were sitting...

We stayed at Fern Clyffe as an overnight stop during July 2018 on our way from Florida to South Dakota. We stayed in our travel trailer in site 47. We appreciated the fact it was a pull though so that we didn't have to unhook after our 14.5 hour drive. We did have to level our trailer and probably would chose site 37 if we stop there in the future as it is closer to the bathroom.

The site had electric hookups, a picnic table and fire ring but no water. There were randomly placed water faucets that could be used to fill up the water tank. The one we choose to stop at on the way to our site wasn't working but a nice couple came over and strategically hit it to get it working. The bathrooms were okay but not great.

Even though we were short on sleep we decided to go for a hike. The rock formations and cliffs are amazing. We have an adventurous son so it was slightly stressful as he likes to push the limits and was getting too close to cliff edges in my opinion. So if you have kids it may not be a relaxing hike in the woods! Wear bug spray because there are plenty of ticks in the summer. The fireflies at night were amazing.

All in all we enjoyed our overnight stay but felt that we saw enough in the...