I lived in Ely, Nevada for about four years, back in the first half of the 1980s. While there I visited this little gem of a park on several occasions. Not being much of a fisherman, I mainly went to explore and to hike the peaceful trails. When my first wife, my son, and I needed a place to try out our new backpacks, tent, and other outdoor equipment, this is where we turned. We made a short hike up the Success Loop Road and found a secluded little flat spot above a side canyon, where we set up a one night camp, just to make sure all of our equipment worked as intended, and to learn how to use some of the equipment. We were preparing for our first crossing of the Grand Canyon a few weeks later.

The little spot where we camped had a nice little grotto like area surrounded by short pinyon and juniper. It had a few nice flat stones where we could sit and relax in the shade and gaze out at the shallow canyon below. Because this was my son's first backpacking trip, we named the location Chris Woods. You can see a photo of it on the top of our Cave Lake hiking page, and our little campsite on the top of the camping page.

On another occasion I hiked the five mile Cave Springs Trail by myself, just to clear up my head. That easy hike was perfect for that, especially in the fall when I was the only one in the park. If I remember correctly, it was a bit stormy out and actually rained before I was finished.

On another occasion I visited with a couple of friends who were staying at the campground as they explored the surrounding area, and they seemed pleased with the layout of the campground and the quiet night's rest that they got. If I remember correctly they were just about the only ones in the campground at that time. Apparently the Park has become more popular and it is often difficult to find a spot during the summer months.

As a side note ... one of the geologists that I worked with in Ely caught a state record brown trout at this little lake. It was the ugliest fish I'd ever seen, but it was big.