Hey Everyone;

Doing a relaxing, fishing focus solo 7/31 - 8/3. Should I be concerned with campsite availability? Looking at going in (via Hog Creek) around noonish on the 31st
Thanks.

DMan5501...

Nearly everyone entering Hog Creek sets up a basecamp on Perent for several days then paddles back out. With 19 sites on the lake and 4 permits per day, as long as the average stay is 4 nights there should always be a couple open sites, but it’s impossible to guess how long people are staying. All the permits are taken the week before you enter, but if you look backwards you’ll see there have been a bunch of unclaimed permits in July (see recent thread on Hoarding Permits ). Check the day before you go to see how many permits the week before went unclaimed.

Being solo will give you some advantage as it’s easier to fit into a smaller site. I’ve gotten the impression the sites along the eastern side tend to be more popular so may be more likely to be taken, but you never know. Groups you pass heading out or in the parking lot should be able to give you some intel.

Good luck.

I agree with Jaywalker. Odds are you'll be able to find an open site, but you should be prepared for the possibility of paddling to the far west side of the lake. When I was there two years ago those sites obviously got far less use than the ones closer to the mouth of Hog Creek.

I sent a few nites on Perent Lk last year/August checking campsites and doing ranger duties. I think we checked them all and you should be able to find something.

PS, Perent can get windy/wavy, I paddled through some tough waves on that lake.

PSS, you will have At&T service on most of the eastern sites.

Linden is right on the wind aspect of Perent Lake. I camped there a few years ago on an island on the northeast side of the lake in early September. The wind ended up tearing my well-roped CCS tarp. I took it down when that happened. Left the island and headed back early one morning before the wind really got going. Dan Cooke fixed the tarp and I'm still using it.

Regarding campsite availability, on my trip, many sites were available on the east side. Never paddled south or towards the west, as the east side sites were really good. I had my pick. But, that was very early September. I suggest paddling north from Hog Creek and checking them out, If they are taken, then head west, I think that sites on the south end of the lake are least desirable, going from memory.

Tom

We went up to Perent several years ago and it was busy. Every site on the east side was taken, luckily we we able to snag the site way on the north side of the lake. Like others have said, prepare for wind, we had a day of 25-30mps winds and most of the lake was unfishable I can't imagine coming out of Hog Creek into the main lake with a nw wind like that.

minnesotashooter: "We went up to Perent several years ago and it was busy. Every site on the east side was taken, luckily we we able to snag the site way on the north side of the lake. Like others have said, prepare for wind, we had a day of 25-30mps winds and most of the lake was unfishable I can't imagine coming out of Hog Creek into the main lake with a nw wind like that. "

They reduced the quota per day now though. I ran into that same issue once years ago but it should be better now I think.

Thanks everyone for the comments.. Yep the lake does work up with the wind.. Happy to also report the campsites were mostly vacant during my stay (7/31 - 8/3).. I snagged the island site #2215, was awesome..

DMan5501