marsharini

Nice State Forest Campground on a small lake. There are some sites on the water, so if you have a canoe , kayak or float tube to fish the lake you can keep it right at your campsite. Not all lakeside sites are level. We were the only campers on an early October week. Pit toilets and hand pump.

It’s a rustic campground so my rating is based on that.

It’s a very well maintained campground with spacious sites and good separation. The vault toilets are very clean. The campground host is friendly and helpful. A positive experience in one of Michigan’s many National forests.

This campground has 48 sites (used to be 50 but two are washed out and blocked off). The road in has some rough spots, but the campground roads and campsite driveways are paved. Most are pull-throughs. There is both a modern and rustic (pit) toilet. Both are near the host campsite. When we arrived there were many sites to choose from. According to the very friendly and helpful host, it rarely fills and that was the case during our visit. There are no hookups, and it was extremely hot during the day and it didn’t really cool off until well after the sun set. Needless to say, sleep came late, but it cooled off nicely. Fee was $7/night with geezer pass.

One of our favorite campgrounds in Michigan’s UP. Blue ribbon trout streams nearby. The campground itself is rustic, some of the sites on the lake side are pretty slanted. Sometimes there is a campground host - very friendly couple. We make it here at least once a year.

This campground was accessed down a dirt road off M72, but once you reached the campground entrance you’re on a paved road. There are two loops with one having long paved parking pads. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. There was a spigot in each loop for water and immaculately clean pit toilets. We were here on a weekday and the campground was half full, but very quiet. The lake is within walking distance, but none of the campsites are on the lake. Our senior pass brought the cost per night to $7.50 which was a pretty good deal. We will definitely return.

We’ve stayed here twice in the past week. The sites are very spacious. We wanted a site on the 30’s, but someone was saving every site in that loop as evidenced by tags on the non-reservable sites and each had one cheap brown plastic patio chair. Disappointing that the campground host (who was in the same loop) didn’t say something. We did find a decent site in another loop and it’s such a nice campground you really can’t go wrong with any of them.

We stay here just about every year to fish the Madison River. This is the first (and I hope last?) year it’s reservation only, which was a total surprise. When we first came we could only get two consecutive nights on the open site we chose, so we thought we would have to move to another campground for one night and then return for a few more nights. Whoever held the site for the one night apparently cancelled so we were able to get two more nights and after that we signed up for two more. Unfortunately, with the reservation you pay an $8 reservation fee each time you make a reservation instead of just paying cash or writing a check. Not good. The nearby Riverview Campground uses the same camp host, is no reservation so I’m not sure why this small 10 site campground is reservation only.

The highway is nearby and you do get road noise, plus the unpaved road through and past the campground kicks up dust when cars/trucks go by, but at night things settle down and it’s quite peaceful.

In spite of the changes, we would still come back and now that we know it’s reservation only we’ll have to plan ahead.

This is a very nice, underutilized Michigan State Park. Three loops and many sites to choose from. Good separation between forested, gravel campsites. Picnic table and fire ring at each site. Electric only but potable water and a dump station is available. Private showers with plenty of hot water. There is some road noise from US 2, but it’s really just background. We have been here before and will definitely return.