Malouf's Mountain Sunset Campground
2 reviews for Malouf's Mountain Sunset Campground
Malouf's Mountain was an interesting place to go. It was a hike in, hike out campground with the option of primitive camping or luxury camp grounds. They were very kind in hauling all of our stuff for us up to the site and back and they came by several times to make sure everything was okay. However that is all the good stuff I can say about the place.
We got there and they gestured to a trail and gave us a quick verbal explanation as to how to get up to the register area. The trail we were told to take didn't have very obvious marks and several times we thought we might have been lost when we were right on the trail. Also, while they tell you it is hike in, hike out they do not tell you that this particular hike is almost a completely vertical climb that will leave you wondering if you can call them and make them bring your stuff back so you can go home. There is also nothing to do but hike. There is no fishing, no canoe/boating, nothing else you would normally do while camping and the hikes didn't have a guide or anyone to help you out. Then when we had gone in for the night it poured freezing rain for several hours and into the morning and we had been unable to sleep due to the temperature. After packing up and heading to the check out site we advised the people there that we had now gone 24 hours with no sleep and the vertical climb was now downhill for us in the freezing rain and asked if they would please take us out in their ATVs. They refused and forced us to walk groggily down a slippery, muddy mountain for almost an hour. More than once I slipped in the mud and thought I was going to seriously injure myself but luckily I only hurt my hip slightly and was able to continue down the trail. Afterwards we asked if he would drop us at a coffee shop so we could sit somewhere warm before our train got there and he dropped us at a location that had not even finished construction yet. We had to walk for almost 15 minutes to find a place that was even open and serving breakfast.
While I realize some of the problems we encountered were solely weather based and not the fault of anyone at Malouf's Mountain I have to say that we won't be going back. It was not at all what we expected from a camping experience. If you really, really love to go hiking and mountain climbing then you will probably love this place. If you prefer a more well rounded camping experience I would recommend going elsewhwere.
Malouf's is an 'upscale' campground that caters to it's campers, from picking the up at the train station and dropping their gear off at the sites, hikers get to pick one of three ways of getting to the campground. We chose the easy hike. The tents are on platforms that are covered with tarps. They come with kitchenettes, a fire ring, and all the fire wood you can burn. They will also take food orders. We brought our food. It is very chill and the people are very accomadating. We got lost on our first hike, however, and turned around. We spent most of the day making fires, drinking whiskey, writing songs and roasting marshmallows. It doesn't get any better than that.