Lieber State Recreation Area

Planned months in advance, I was looking forward to my first time ever camping with my girls, especially considering the oldest will likely leave the nest soon. My (experienced) SO and I shopped for supplies at various garage sales over the summer in anticipation. His boss bought a boat and planned on bringing his family as well. We had another couple join in to make a group of 10 on two primitive lots for Labor Day weekend.
Despite our last minute scramble the night before to pack and shop for supplies and groceries, we made the trip in just over an hour, arriving by noon on Friday. There was a slight shade as we put up our tents, but the temperatures surpassed 90 degrees before long and I knew we were in store for a sweltering holiday.
We took a stroll to find the restroom and I thought I’d cry when we found an outhouse swarming with flies. A short trip to the Camp Store gave me hope, when the store clerk told me there were showers and flushing toilets a short distance from our tent site — WHEW!
There was a Smokey the Bear siting on Friday afternoon, and boy, did I feel sorry for him in the heat of the day! I wish he would’ve made it out after dark on Saturday as the fireworks blazed to remind people about fire safety, since many families hadn’t made it in yet and my girls missed him too. I mention this because there were many campfires left blazing after people packed up and departed, despite DNR constantly driving by.
Kids surrounded the campsite, riding their bikes all around as fires were started in preparation for dinner. We grilled burgers as the sun went down and were grateful for the lanterns that our friends had and the last minute head lamp purchased on Amazon for same day delivery. We tucked in for the night appreciative of any breeze the small tent fan we brought blew over us and dozed off to the chirps of crickets and nature surrounding us. By Saturday, the campground was abuzz with families setting up their home base with campers, tents, volleyball nets, hula hoops and all the necessary gear for the weekend.
While grateful for the bathhouse upgrade, it got messy quick with the number of guests using the facilities, many without any manners to clean up after themselves. I appreciated the cleaning crew that came in daily to freshen things up.
The rest of the weekend was filled with boating adventures, tubing, swimming, fishing, gourmet grilling and camp stove cooking, fireworks and fun times. The beach area was packed with families attempting to gain some relief from the record heat that took over. The girls enjoyed getting buried in the sand and eventually found the swimming pool.
As the sun went down the dark enveloped us and we gazed up at the bright stars trying to identify the constellations together as we were unplugged from internet connectivity. The air was crisp and we felt one with nature.
Lieber State Recreation Area has a lot to offer; from the beach area and dock, to the Nature Center, fish cleaning site, picnic areas, trails and of course the water. The Camp Store will have most items that you may have forgotten to bring and all the ice you’ll need for the weekend. We didn’t even make it to Cataract Falls during this trip, but we look forward to returning. Suggestions to the property: Have a dumpster allocated for recycling. I, for one, felt awful not being able to separate my cans and plastic.