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4.0
7 votes

Monocle Lake Campground

West Park Road, Brimley, Michigan MI USA

  • Independent
  • Pet Friendly
  • Not Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
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“172 acre lake with tons to do”

Overview Monocle Lake Campground offers a a relaxing place to fish, swim and hike along the shores of scenic Monocle Lake just off Lake Superior. It is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the northeastern corner of the Hiawatha National Forest. The campground is centrally located among many recreational opportunities in the Sault Ste. Marie area, including the Whitefish Bay National Scenic Byway and Tahquamenon Falls.Recreation Monocle Lake is populated with walleye, smallmouth bass, pike and perch. Two man-made reefs lie just off the eastern shore next to the campground, where anglers typically have good luck. Swimming and boating are popular activities in the area. Visitors also enjoy hiking the 14.5-mile Monocle Lake Trail. Two miles of the trail have interpretive displays, and the first 1100 feet of the trail are along an elevated, accessible boardwalk. Additional trails are found in the surrounding area.Facilities The campground offers heavily shaded single-family sites for tent and RV camping. Some sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each site is equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. Hookups are not available. A day-use picnic area, adjacent to a fairly large parking area at the campground, provides easy access to a swimming beach. The picnic area is equipped with tables, grills and drinking water, as well as accessible vault toilets. A paved boat launch with a parking lot big enough to accommodate vehicles and trailers provides easy access to the beautiful all sports lake.Natural Features The campground surrounds the south end of 172-acre Monocle Lake, and is less than two miles from the historic Point Iroquois Lighthouse. It is nestled in a mixed hardwood forest of aspen, maple, birch and pine trees, providing scenic lake and forest views from anywhere in the campground. Private residences also surround the inland lake. Nearby Attractions The nearest town is Bay Mills, which is about 6 miles from Monocle Lake. The United States-Canada border, at Sault Ste. Marie, is about 25 miles from the campground. Tahquamenon Falls, a series of beautifully brown-colored waterfalls on the Tahquamenon River, is located about 35 miles from Monocle Lake.

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Reviews of Monocle Lake Campground

7 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

4.7 Access
4.4 Location
4.4 Cleanliness
4.6 Site Quality
4.0 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 4G

Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on July 18, 2021

AT&T 4G

Confirmed by 4 users | Last reported on August 19, 2021

T-Mobile 4G

Confirmed by 1 users | Last reported on August 17, 2022

Reviews

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Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

February 25, 2018
Rated

This is a beautiful campground dug right into the forest with paved road and very large sites. We own a 34 ft 5th wheel and towed a boat behind that without any difficulty maneuvering through the campground. There is a boat launch for small boats. This lake is small.

We had heard there was good fishing here but there wasn’t. In fact on the weekend there are boaters waterskiing and the lake gets a bit rough because it is smaller. The water is clean and clear great for swimming on the sandy beach that extends the length of the campground and a large beach at the day park. There are hiking trails, concrete raised fire pits, and a table.

If you like the casino there is a large Indian run casino nearby. The town of Brimley is small but the camp is about a half hour from Sault St. Marie, where you can view the locks, and hop over to Canada, or shop and dine in terrific restaurants. The city is older than the United States. There’s lots to do and learn here.

There is also a scenic drive called the Lake Superior Circle Tour that will take you to many sights like Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks etc.

In nearby Brimley is also the Point Iroquois Lighthouse which is very pretty off of the St Mary’s river (I believe) and into the mouth of Lake Superior. There is a beautiful board walk that leads to a narrow beach which is sandy but also has beautiful stones and rocks.

But when you arrive back at camp you are nestled away in the woods in a quiet little paradise again. They have vault toilets that are kept clean, and a camp host drives around on a golf cart to take fees, and do the cleaning. If there is ever any problems in the camp she does not hesitate to call the local police who will drive through periodically. But we never heard a peep. The camp was not full and is a rustic campground. You may run generators during day hours and it might be difficultt with solar because of the shady area. The back ins are 30 to 50 feet with a couple pull through spots and some 75-80 feet. They are nice and deep for big rigs.

It is dog friendly and we took our dog down to the water to swim. I’m not sure about at the day park though.

Cell service is sketchy but be careful in this area if you do not have international coverage because you will bounce off of Canadian towers. I had to call Verizon to get fees removed when I realized where my connection was com8ng from. I’m used to this living in Michigan but if you are not familiar with the area you can call your carrier and have them block 8nternational roaming so that you aren’t charged.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $16.00

Days Stayed: 10

Site Number: -

RV Length: 33 ft

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

July 28, 2020
Rated

Stayed for two nights. Lots are spread out and gives a lot of privacy in the woods. Hiking and Swimming - great.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $18.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 40

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

  • 60 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
August 09, 2020
Rated

28 July - 4 Aug 2020 Another nice campground. Its about 5 miles to Brimley and 15 miles to Sault Sainte Marie. Monocle Lake is a nice sized lake that had 6 or 7 boats pulling tubes on the weekend. There are about 10 sites along the lake and several small beaches to swim from. There is also a larger beach and recreation area 100 yards from the campground. There is also a shallow boat ramp. Bay View campground is about 6 miles away and is right on Lake Superior. But if it is windy or cool, Bay View gets cold real fast. We rode bikes and did several hikes in this park.

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roadtripper6588761 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $18.00

Days Stayed: 6

Site Number: 5

RV Length: 20 ft

RV Type: Travel Trailer

5 Access
4 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

  • 17 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
July 18, 2021
Rated

Nice campground. Sites are spread nicely apart, but not completely private because the foliage is not dense between sites. Campsite was large and easy to back the trailer into it. Site was level but it did have a slight rise to get into it. Lake has a nice sandy beach with a beautiful sunset.

Restrooms are vault toilets that are well maintained. Water was good.

One note of caution - in the middle of the night, two people walked through the site and between the truck and trailer. So while you’re far away from civilization, you are not far away from people.

If you need reliable cell service, head over to the Iroquois Lighthouse, just a mile from camp. You’ll get decent service from the Canadian side of the lake.

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roadtripper6005111 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $20.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 12

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

  • 2 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
July 31, 2021
Rated

Lovely national forest campground right on Monocle Lake. Large shaded lots and fairly level but rocky. Close to a stunning lighthouse with a boardwalk and access to Lake Superior with colorful rocks.

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roadtripper677755 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: -

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 09

RV Length: 25 ft

RV Type: Travel Trailer

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

August 19, 2021
Rated

Standard east coast style FS campground. Nothing special. Big sites. Some semi-private. Food scraps and garbage in brush around site. Power boats and jet skis on a very small lake. Sandy beach fun for kids. Extremely loud music past quiet hours. Possibly from private boaters rather than campers. Unsure, but not a place we would stay again.

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Nightly Rate: $18.00

Days Stayed: 1

Site Number: -

3 Access
2 Location
1 Cleanliness
2 Site Quality
1 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

  • 16 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
August 17, 2022
Rated

This is a very nice National Forest Campground on the lake. One side of the campground loop has paths to the lake and there is a nice boat ramp with sandy beach. There is a nice walking trail.

The sites are very private and really big once you pull in your site. There is not a water fill or dump station but there is a water spigot for jugs near the entrance in the middle of the loop across from the dumpsters.

This is close enough to drive to Sault Ste. Marie for a day trip. The cheapest fuel is nearby in Brimley.

We stayed two nights then moved to Bay Mills Casino RV Park for laundry and full hookups to recharge.

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roadtripper1661571 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $10.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 10

RV Length: 33 ft

RV Type: Fifth Wheel

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

T-Mobile 4G

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Monocle Lake Campground

West Park Road
Brimley, Michigan
MI USA
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  • Unavailable
    Parking
  • Check
    Pets Allowed
  • Check
    Restrooms
  • Unknown
    Wifi
  • Unavailable
    Wheelchair Accessible
  • Unknown
    Credit Cards Accepted
Affiliation
National forest
Check In
2:00 PM
Check Out
12:00 PM
Last Nightly Rate
10.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
33 ft
Lowest Nightly Rate
10.0
Max Length
75 ft
Max Stay
14
Season End
September
Season Start
May
Sites Count
42
  • Unavailable
    Fifty Amp
  • Unavailable
    Full Hookup
  • Check
    Rec Facilities
  • Unavailable
    Pull Through
  • Check
    Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dump Station
  • Unavailable
    Big Rigs
  • Check
    Open Seasonally
  • Unavailable
    Age Restricted
  • Check
    Boondock
  • Unavailable
    Cabin Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dispersed Sites
  • Unavailable
    Firewood
  • Unavailable
    Fulltime Residents
  • Unavailable
    Group Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Laundry
  • Unavailable
    Mobile Homes
  • Unavailable
    Permit Required
  • Check
    Potable Water
  • Unavailable
    Propane
  • Check
    Public Water
  • Unavailable
    Pull Through RV Sites
  • Check
    Reservations
  • Unavailable
    Sewer Hookup
  • Unavailable
    Showers
  • Check
    Sites
  • Check
    Standard Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Water Hookup
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