Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area Campground — Hotel in Show Low

This is the 4th year for us camping at Fool Hollow Lake, it is late May. Sadly, the lake is 25 feet low. Normally it is a great lake for Kayaking, Boating, and Fishing. The fishing is really never great, but is challenging, and one can catch some pretty nice Trout and Largemouth Bass if you are persistent. But don’t bank on bringing home something for dinner and besides the condition of the lake does not make for something I would want to put in my mouth. I once talked with a woman heading back to her car with 3 really nice Rainbows about 13 inches in length. She was using worms. I personally have never had great luck fishing in Fool Hollow Lake but if you are persistent, you can catch a few. In the evening from our campsite at about 4:00pm I do see some exceptionally large, what looks to be trout jumping out of the water which appear to be at least 13 to 16 inches and about 4 lbs. You can tell that they are large by the slap they make reentering the water which is quite loud. Secondly there is a lot of slimy alga growing at the shoreline and the water is not clear even though it looks to be from a distance. When you get close to the shore it is cloudy and the low content of the lake tends to concentrate this phenomime. It makes me wonder if catching and eating a fish would be good for you. From the high waterline you can see remnants of this slimy green almost mossy looking alga so it appears it has been here a while. At the rate, the lake is being drained it will be empty shortly unless something happens. It is fed by Show Low Lake which is the towns water supply. Soooooo I doubt they will empty the towns water supply into Fool Hollow to make it a lake again. Right now, it is a large nasty pond. Now that being said does not mean that a good time cannot be had at Fool Hollow. The campsites are all paved and for the most part very level concrete and are some of the best we have camped in. If you just want to get away it is a great place. Not everyone fishes and walking or hiking around the lake can still be fun although you cannot go all the way around. The gates are locked at 10:00pm so it is safe. It is very quiet at night and so far, all seem to obey the rules. I have not heard many dogs barking which is good. There are plenty of showers, PLENTY, and they are immaculate. It feels good to shower in them and have enough hot water. It seems that you should however get wet, lather up and wash your hair and rinse. There is ample hot water but not so much that you can let it run for half an hour. I believe it is just enough and great to have the ability to bathe. There are all sorts of camping modes from to full hookups (water, sewer, & electric), to totally dry ie. tents. Travel trailers are not allowed in the strictly tent area. The tent camping areas are well manicured and offer plenty of shade. They are the best I have ever seen. I highly recommend Fool Hollow for a great camping experience, but I would not count on fishing as one of the major attractions at this point in time. Hopefully, the lake will once again be full and bring back a total wonderful camping experience. Show Low is only 4 miles away with the usual stores and attractions and of course Walmart so you are never without anything. For the most part the proximity to town makes for good almost 100% cell coverage at almost all sites.

I would have given a 5 star rating but the lake is in...

We stayed for a week and loved our stay. (Just a word of warning though - the pine pollen is thick in late May & early June!) We had a great, private site. You do have to pay attention when you book, as some sites are right next to each other. Almost like a buddy site, but not facing each other. Some sites have views of the lake. All have some trees. All sites are concrete- including the tent sites and have concrete patios. Roads in the campground are concrete as well. There are 4 RV camping loops - 2 have full hook-ups and the other 2 just have water and electric. The tent site loops appeard to have no electric but have access to nearby water. Bathrooms were set up as a complete private unit - very nice, though we didn't use them. Campground hosts were abundant. Our site was nicely raked upon arrival. We had decent AT&T service, good enough to stream with our hotspot. There are a couple hiking trails in the park, but many in the nearby area. The park also has canoes and...

We really enjoyed camping here for one night by the lake. The Osprey loop was peaceful, had great views of the lake from the camp sites, and we could hear mooing from nearby cows through the night. Bathrooms were clean and water was hot! We would definitely camp here again but I’m knocking off one star because they close the gates to the park after 8:30pm and you need to get the code to enter past that time. We had planned to arrive in the late afternoon but were unexpectedly delayed, by the time we realized we might arrive past 8:30 it was too late to call ahead to get the code (the office closes at 4pm). Luckily we got there in time but it seems ridiculous to me that you might get locked out of a campground you paid for if you get delayed and there’s no way to contact the campground after 4pm. We were also concerned why locking the gates is necessary, since the park seems...