Illipah Reservoir Recreation Area — Hotel in Ely

We stayed at Illipah Campground Reservoir, managed by BLM, near Ely, Nevada for 7 nights in June 2018 in our 33ft. Class A motorhome. The road in from Highway 50, America’s Loneliest Highway, was about 2 miles of easily traveled dirt road. Slow as you go to avoid more dust!

We chose a site overlooking the reservoir. Our site was not level causing difficulties getting our motorhome to “almost” level. But, the view was worth it!

We loved our time at Illipah Campground such that we extended our original plans of stay from two nights to 7. Most of the 15 or so sites have covered picnic tables with grills and fire rings.

We loved the cool temperatures, the many windy days, the overall quiet. One night, there was only one other RVer. Most nights, however, there were several.

There are several vault toilets and a large garbage dumpster. No water and no RV dump services. Great photography of the reservoir, the long dirt road, the surrounding mountains and sunsets!

Fishing was great! Cindy caught her limit of trout every day. She was delighted! No fish cleaning facilities though she noted many of the others who were fishing simply cleaned at waterside tossing fish remains back in the reservoir.

We will definitely go back to Illipah...

Stopped here on a motorcycle trip...very cool hidden gem in the middle of the desert. Ironically it was actually raining and very windy when we arrived (early June) but it quickly cleared up and we had a fantastic view of the stars that night.

The lake looked a bit low but there were a ridiculous amount of fish in it as you could see the bloop holes everywhere. I'm not a fish person but my buddy who's a fly fisherman went down in the evening and they were biting practically instantly after casting.

Covered spots, vault toilets, not many people there....

So far the best placed I've camped at. Keep in mind there are very little shade aside from the canopy cover; however, I was there late September and it was not very hot making it ideal. It was in the low 80s high 70s during the day and around 40s at night. Fishing was really good as well and was able to catch brown and rainbow trout no problem. Wild horses roam part of reservoir. We also saw a golden eagle( maybe it was a different type) lots of smaller birds and other small animals. Great place to take the kayak...