Winthrop is an interesting place for campgrounds. I did a bit of driving around and exploring my options, of which there were a few, before settling on this site.
Campground Review:
Big Twin Lake Campground is located 3 miles south of Winthrop, which makes it feel a little out of the way, in a good way. They have both tent and RV sites. The camp host made a variety of helpful suggestions for spots to camp, both in the traditional tent spots and further out in the 90 acres they have.
The tent and RV campsites are mostly close together, under a spread out stand of trees, all with lake views. There are 'orchard' spots available as well, which have more space between them. We settled on a spot at the end of the tent sites, before it turns into the orchard. So one side of us did not have other campers, which was nice. There is little to no privacy between the tent sites, but it ended up not being an issue the night we stayed. The spot had a nice fire pit (but there was a burn ban, so no fire for us) and a picnic table set up.
The campground offered paddle boats, fishing, and I understood there was swimming available, though we did not utilize these items. I did buy ice from the campground at a decent price. They have toilets for use at both ends of the campground and a pay shower at the larger bathrooms. All in all, it was a decent stay.
Product Review: As a Ranger for the Dyrt, from time to time I get to test products. At Big Twin Lake Campground, I tested a variety of the Stream2Sea Products.
Prior to staying at Big Twin Lake, I had been camping and hiking in the summer sun, so I had plenty of time to test their products. I tried their Standard Sunscreen, Tinted, Chap-stick with sunscreen, Shampoo/Body wash, and Leave in Conditioner and the Body Lotion.
Here is what I have discovered:
These products seriously work. I was using the Stream2Sea sunscreen while my hiking/camping buddy was using a different sunscreen. I was surprised that the Stream2Sea worked better - he got burned, but I did not.
The sunscreen kept me cooler while in the blazing sun.
The Shampoo/body wash works great as a way to clean dirt off yourself if no showers are nearby.
The sunscreen/chap-stick does not taste like sunscreen.
The non-tinted sunscreen goes on white and, honestly, tends to stay that way. I was completely fine with that as I'd rather be pasty and my skin healthy.
I love the way the body lotion feels, it does seems to be very hydrating.
Stream2Sea is coral safe, which I didn't get to test but love about them and they are biodegradable. A company that cares about the environment and makes products that seriously work - that makes them all-stars in my book.
