marsharini

We stayed for two nights midweek and the place was practically empty. Three other sites were occupied so it was quite peaceful. Not sure what it’s like on the weekend. We had our canoe with us and had Ess Lake to ourselves, despite the many houses that dot the shoreline not part of the campground. We had a very pleasant stay and would definitely return.

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.

Spacious sites in this national forest campground and many sites situated right on the lake. We had wooden stairs to the lake with a platform we could set our chairs on to enjoy the view with our morning coffee. We were also able to launch and tie up our canoe at the base of the stairs. We had no neighbors on our weekday visit. I would imagine it might get busier on weekends. We will definitely be back.

If you’re there in July, bring bug spray

We stayed here for the first time and are definitely planning to return. We have a 24 foot travel trailer and there were several sites that could accommodate us. There are also quite a few sites that would be great for tent camping since they were definitely not level enough for a trailer. The road in is tight, but we did pass another trailer as we left and there was plenty of room for each to pass. Pit toilets were clean and had plenty of TP. We took a day trip to Drummond Island and enjoyed it.

We used this campground for an overnight on our way home from Yellowstone National Park. It was a quiet, peaceful experience. There were probably 8 other campers, but you would never know it until you walked the campground loops. Great separation of sites. Ours was level enough that we didn’t have to unhook the trailer, making an early departure in the morning to be on our way possible with minimal effort. Would 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.

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.

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.