Maxwell national wildlife refuge campground | Established Campground

April 1st, 2024 by centrallanguage13

Great camping spot. Each site has a trash can. Level ground. Easy access. FREE

October 21st, 2023 by thomas.clark

Large open grass area for camping. Great cell service with AT&T. Heavy bugs being near a lake. Faint noise from the interstate, but almost a generic white noise. The late night goose wars were louder. :)

June 22nd, 2023 by tirzahreed

the best campsite in the area!! only one other van when I got here. stunning views, quiet. my freeroam app description said to make sure you approach from the south, otherwise youll be going through a ling dirt road. but otherwise nice road in and out. 10/10 spot!!!

May 24th, 2023 by Deb

Nice place to stay for free for up to five days, with vault toilets and trash receptacles. Drove around to the east side of Lake Thirteen looking for more spots to camp per reviewer below, but only found a gate saying beyond that point was off-limits. Saw a ranger drive by once during our stay of three nights, no issues except some large puddles in some areas due to poor drainage.

April 18th, 2023 by rlawson031

As described by others. At the main entrance, there is room for 6-8 RV’s. I stayed several nights and say many people pull in, circle the fairly full west lot (at the entrance), see it was fairly full (as by late afternoons it would get), then leave.
There is an entire other similar sized area on the east side of the lake! Just continue in, drive to the other side of the lake, and you’re at a great area with no one around you. There is even signs pointing the way.
I am amazed no one ever drove around to the east side.
Beautiful views. The lake is very dried up now, and looks like a pond. There were very high winds the few days I was here (25 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph).
Nothing here but vault toilets and some medium size bear proof trash cans. Pack it in, pack it out. Plus some.

March 13th, 2023 by shelbyseeh

Easy stop for the night! So grateful to hear chirping birds after being in winter weather. Only 2 campers when we arrived on a Sunday night. Both left that morning so we had the place to ourselves. There were also plenty trash cans which was very nice.

November 19th, 2022 by jcarstensedu

Super great spot to stay the night. Or many nights. We came in November and the weather was fine!! Road is super well taken care of and the view is beautiful.

November 7th, 2022 by kayhammond934

We are in a 32 ft school bus and had no problems with the road or finding a level spot! The sunrises here are beautiful and plenty of room for more than 3-4 rigs.

April 13th, 2022 by d.ruth

there's another pin at the correct location to the southwest, near the town of Maxwell.

September 1st, 2021 by wilburn.ma1

Allows 5 days free camping, pretty little lake, lots of mosquitos, 3 spots. Pit toilets. Wildlife refuge and migratory bird sanctuary. No fires, simple picnic tables and small trash bins.

August 16th, 2021 by samanthacolomboh

Beautiful. There are three designated spots. I got there in the dark so I didn’t see and I ran into a cranky camper who despite us being very far away threatened to call the cops on us for being in his spot. So just be mindful of the designated spots and of annoying people.

January 31st, 2021 by XEROCOLE

Nice place to stay when driving through. was here in January and only one other van camping, but imagine it might get busy in birding season. There are three obvious sites with picnic tables, but room for more depending on how friendly people are. No Campfires!

description from the website:Camping is now open year-round and the limit on how many days campers can stay has been increased to five (5). The camping area continues to be available during the annual fishing season which runs from March 1 to October 31.

The Refuge's primitive camping area is located adjacent to Lake 13. Vault toilets can be found at the entrance road to Lake 13. No facilities are provided, so please come fully prepared for your stay. Parking or staging unattended vehicles is prohibited.

January 30th, 2021 by XEROCOLE

nice place not too far off the interstate. quiet when we were there, but imagine it could get busy during bird watching season.

description from the website:
Camping is now open year-round and the limit on how many days campers can stay has been increased to five (5). The camping area continues to be available during the annual fishing season which runs from March 1 to October 31.

The Refuge's primitive camping area is located adjacent to Lake 13. Vault toilets can be found at the entrance road to Lake 13. No facilities are provided, so please come fully prepared for your stay. Parking or staging unattended vehicles is prohibited.

January 30th, 2021 by XEROCOLE

nice place to stay when driving through. was here in January and only one other van camping, but imagine it might get busy in birding season.

description from the website:Camping is now open year-round and the limit on how many days campers can stay has been increased to five (5). The camping area continues to be available during the annual fishing season which runs from March 1 to October 31.

The Refuge's primitive camping area is located adjacent to Lake 13. Vault toilets can be found at the entrance road to Lake 13. No facilities are provided, so please come fully prepared for your stay. Parking or staging unattended vehicles is prohibited.

January 21st, 2021 by HaveVanWillTravel

Winter camping free, no bugs in January. Harrier, red tail, bald eagles, kestrel, and coyotes on frozen lake. Clear skies, peaceful.

December 11th, 2020 by debbie.wilson680

Great overnight place. Secluded and quiet.

November 5th, 2020 by tmorey1113199816

Amazing free camping, lake was dried up but that didnt matter because the views of the mountains in the distance is perfect

October 23rd, 2020 by egarvey8

Always so peaceful. Stay straight on Lake 13 road. No water here this year! Last year the lake was full!

July 2nd, 2020 by rebeca368

Beautiful views, good connection on T-Mobile. Got very crowded as there isn’t much space to spread out, but people were respectful and quiet so it was nice.

June 12th, 2020 by Family Off The Map

Great stop over spot, but certainly not a destination spot. Grass is flat, there are trash cans and a few picknick tables, no fires allowed, no lake access. pit toilets 50 to 200 yaards depending on where you set up. 4 bars 5g on T-Mobile

May 9th, 2020 by Travel with Kevin and Ruth

Room for any size rig. Bit of a view of the lake, but right now it's more of a pond with the water level quite low. No set spots, but probably room for six or seven rigs before it starts to get too crowded. Weak Verizon signal, good T-Mobile signal.

December 9th, 2019 by stranz4

Pretty nice spot near the lake. Clean pit toilets, quiet but it is open so it can be windy. We stayed by the boat launch under the trees. Lake is very low. Lots of birds

September 1st, 2018 by travis.uss

established primitive campground next to lake 13. free, pit toilets at North end. dogs ok on leash