Sunrise Campground

Nearly the perfect campground if you want to camp near Garden City but don't want to stay in the mediocre state-managed campground.

The CG is 6 miles outside of Garden City, situated on mountains that rim the west side of the lake. There's no lake views within the campground, but you'll get a great vista as you drive down the steep road into Garden City.

The campground is clean, and well maintained. We stayed in Site #22, which has a nice pull-through spot for a small trailer, but Site #23 looks to be the best spot in the campground with a secluded fire ring within a small clearing. Dead fall is minimal, so bring firewood with you.

The only drawback is the CG is close to the road, and you'll get highway noises all night.

If there is a camp host you might have a good experience. For my last stay there was no host and our reserved spot was hijacked by another group. With no one around to confirm that and it being near midnight we had to camp in the abandoned Camp Host site. The grounds were badly in need of cleaning as were the bathrooms. Campers have also been taking axes to the trees since ready firewood is scarce. This campground is next to a main road so there is some noise. We stayed in site 6 the second night and it was quiet. Safety is a concern for tent campers next to a major roadway with no host. There is a beautiful short trail you can use to see the sun rise over Bear Lake- it's in the back of the campground between 2 bathrooms.