Fancy Creek sits on the north end of Tuttle Creek Reservoir, way past where most boaters bother to drive. You go there when you want to dodge the crowds. Mostly, the park pulls in two very different groups target shooters and mountain bikers. The state runs a regulated 100-yard shooting range on site, complete with paper target stands and weekend range officers. Bring earplugs. Out past the berms, the trail system cuts through roughly four miles of jagged flint dirt. Rocks everywhere. Cyclists hit sharp limestone drops, steep switchbacks, and thick cedar roots.

It is quiet out there. Dark, too. The park skips all the polished, paved camping setups you see down at River Pond, leaving you with basic gravel pads and primitive tent spots tucked under the scrub oaks. So nobody is cruising golf carts around your tent at dusk. But when the lake levels cooperate, you can slide a kayak straight off the mud bank to chase crappie in the flooded timber. Then you can sit by a fire without hearing fifty RV air conditioners hum at the same time. Just pack bug spray for the chiggers.