Side Lake Campground at McCarthy Beach State Park, Minnesota, United States. Dump Station at the entrance to the Side Lake Campground. Can be accessed from both directions. Close to the campground dumpsters as well.
Side Lake Campground at McCarthy Beach State Park, Minnesota, United States. Fish cleaning house is located between the shower house and campsite 18 and across the campground road from the boat access to Side Lake.
Side Lake Campground at McCarthy Beach State Park, Minnesota, United States. Little viewpoint of Side Lake. These are all along the campground and the short hiking path.
Side Lake Campground at McCarthy Beach State Park, Minnesota, United States. Lots of picnic tables and benches along the lake as well. Nice if you are too close to your campground neighbors and want to get away.
We spent two nights here at site 49. The roads are pretty narrow and the whole campground had a bit of a cramped feeling. There is some really nice pine tree coverage throughout the campground which helped with privacy at least in our loop. There is a lack of parking and only two showers for each gender. Overall not a bad campground but it wasn't amazing either.
We spent 3 night here during the fall colors. The trees around the campground are amazing! The campground has 3 loops. The first is all electric spots and are quite open so they lack a lot of privacy. The second loops is non-electric and quite open as well. If you want privacy in that loop, pick an outlying campsite. The 3rd loop has beautiful private spots. I'd pick my spot in there if you want a good spot.