Ambrose Lake State Forest Campground Boat Launch

Ambrose Lake tops out around 10 feet deep, with most of it sitting around 6 feet. The bottom is loaded with aquatic vegetation — great for bass and pike habitat, but you'll want to tilt your motor up early. Stick to smaller boats; this isn't the place for deep-V hulls.

Two trailer spots. That's it. If a couple of campers with boats beat you there, you're out of luck. Weekends during ORV season (late spring through fall) are the worst — the campground fills with trail riders and many have trailers of their own eating up space.

This campground doubles as a major ORV staging area. Dirt bikes and four-wheelers rip through from sunrise well past dark, especially on holiday weekends. If you're just here to fish a quiet lake, midweek is the move — otherwise you'll be smelling exhaust at your campsite.

The lake is gin-clear with visibility straight to the bottom everywhere. No stained or murky water to deal with. Northern pike and largemouth stack up in the heavy weed cover, so bring weedless rigs. No houses or cottages on the shoreline — it's entirely state land, which keeps the water quality pristine.

There's no campground host and no cell service to speak of. First-come, first-served sites at $15/night. That also means nobody's managing noise or behavior on busy weekends — it can get rowdy, especially around the Fourth of July. The campground is administered by Rifle River Rec Area, but they're not exactly next door.