Elephant Rock Campground — Lake Murray State Park

Going out to the Lake you will find several sites and during the busy season this one is always the one that is booked solid! This site is where it all happens from big barbecues to family reunions.

Sites here are large and able to facilitate a lot of people. They include a picnic table and fire ring and often find themselves being the heart of the lake action. During the 4th of July these are some of the most coveted spaces due to the large fireworks display over the lake.

This campground is close to all the amenities the lake has to offer including the Lake Murray lodge area with mini golf, swimming pool, marina and restaurant.

There is a beach here that people drive to the lake just to enjoy so parking can get a little crazy along this area. I noticed mostly RVs here but there were a few tent campers as well staggered. For me to get a regular site at Lake Murray without any hook ups it was $15 while RVs or tents with hook ups are closer to $25.

This campground is close to a couple of hiking trails as well so I was able to check those out briefly, however the main focus of this place is the beach!!

**** UPDATE***** I revisited this campground on 10/20/18 after the recent rains and the beaches are completely submerged. The head of the elephant rock is almost entirely underwater as well and the overall level of the lake has closed some of the lower laying sites right on the shore. Because of this the already busy camp was filled with boaters camping on the shores and simply backing in straight from their campsites for fishing which is going crazy right now on the lake.

TIPS:

• Bring your own firewood, there are not a lot of resources to pick up out here because they do keep the grounds up so you will not find a lot of fallen branches to burn.
• Arrive early if you are wanting to stay on a weekend, it gets packed!!
• Check out the Lake Murray Lodge area for other activities if you have your family with you, you will not regret it!

Campground Review

As soon as you get to the site you will notice the park is very crowded. the site was in my opinion very generous with their space and the site was really clean even though it was a popular spot. The spot was right next to the lake and was one of the most beautiful spots I have seen. We were missing a fire ring and ended up having to borrow the neighbors. In the summer the spot is definitely more people. Local told us that during and winter it was the best time because of the colorful leaves and the temperature. The temperature was no the worst coming in at about 85 when we were there with very high humidity. We were able to go on the Buck horn trail which wasn't that long and was filled with families hiking

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I was able to review MH2 Headlamp from Ledlenser. I was able to test the headlamp night hiking on the Santa Anita Canyon Loop Trail.

Right out of the box the first thing that caught my eye was the 7 year warranty on the light. The headlamp came with 4 settings, a high power, a low power for saving energy, and a red light. The red light was great for the middle of the night because it doesn't cause a big flash on your eyes after you get use to the dark. Th light also had a lockout button in case you accidentally pres the on and off button accidentally. This functions is great for hiking backpacking because sometimes other gear can move around and turn on the headlamp. I dropped the light many times on the trail and the IPX6 kept the dust out. The only down side of the headlamp was the weight. It came in at 102 grams on my scale. If you were a ultralight backpacker this wouldn't suit you because out on the trail every gram counts