Hurricane River Campground

The Hurricane River campground is a complex of two campgrounds - Lower and Upper - which are about a half mile apart. Lower is the more desirable of the two, located directly on the waterfront and along the trail that leads to the Au Sable Lighthouse.

Both sections are best for small rigs. NPS recommends a single vehicle of no longer that 36 feet or vehicle/trailer combo of no more than 42 feet. That seems right. Sites were tight with tree trunks and branch overhangs - I had to squeeze in my 16 foot campervan. There are no amenities beyond (clean) long drop toilets and garbage cans.

That being said, this campground is awesome. I arrived at dusk and didn’t get to explore before making dinner and heading to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking it was windy, but the trees weren’t moving. It took me awhile to realize that I was so close to the lake that the loud noise was waves crashing on the shore.

Sites may be a squeeze to get into, but are spaciously set up with good privacy. The beach is steps away, and the North Country hiking trail goes through the campground. Walking it to the east for 1.5 miles will bring you to Au Sable Lighthouse, with stops along the way to check out debris from shipwrecks.

Twelvemile Campground is the gem of Pictured Rocks, to be sure, but the Lower loop at Hurricane River is a close second.

lower Hurricane campground - great for smaller campers. I have a 24 ft unit that just fit in between the trees. Quiet except for the running river and the waves in the lake.
Golden passport senior card and this was only $ 7.00 night. No cell service at the site.

This is a wonderful campground very quiet! Lovely walk on Lake Superior right from campground.
We have a 24 foot Class B and site 9 was good a little unlevel. Sites 7 & 11 would have been better for us.
This is really a tent campground we fit just fine! Pit toilets only. No cell coverage till out of park and we have Verizon.

We stayed four nights at Hurricane River during a month long, nine stop Upper Penninsula trip. This was one of the most beautiful locations we've ever camped. Each space is well separated from the other spaces, and surrounded by trees. So the sites ard fairly private. But you'll want to be well supplied when you go in. Because the nearest appreciable city where provisions ars available is Munising. And that's 35 miles to the west.

There is some cell service, at least on Verizon. We had a weak 4G signal that came and went. But we were able to make calls and send texts. We could also get on the Internet. But it was very slow.

Thers are ample hiking trails in the area. The Au Sable lighthouse trailhead is in the Lower loop campground, a quarter mile from the Upper loop. The 11 mile Chapel loop is 25 miles to the west. There are numerous beautiful views and overlooks, both to the west toward Munising and to tge east toward Grand Marais.

We hiked the full 11 mile Chapel loop and had deer walk to within 15 feet of us, showing no fear. We also encountered Spruce Grouse, which are suppose to be rare. Ths shoreline views along this trail have to be seen to be appreciated.

On the down side, there's no Ranger station to report problems to. We had a very roudy group that showed up on our 3rd night. And though the rules say no loud noise or generators after 8:00 PM, this bunch of inconsiderates were still at it (yelling, music & generator) until well after midnight. That was after the whole group had wandered all over both the Upper and Lower loop campgrounds much of the afternoon, shouting and snooping around other campsites. And there's nobody to call to come and quiet them down. But those types are generally the exception, rather than the rule.

Do keep in mind that many of the sites, though spacious, are very tight to get into. So if you're a large Class A or a larger travel trailer/fifth wheel, getting into some sights may be difficult. We pull 30' fifth wheel. Getting into site 1 on the Upper loop wasn't diffucult because of the way the narrow road curves in front of it. But there were several other Upper loop sites I would not care to try.

All things considered, this is a wonderful place to camp, if you're after peacefull and (mostly) quiet nature.

We had an absolutely phenomenal visit to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore & Hurricane River campground! We visited in the last week of October 2020 & were the only campers in the campground the entire week. Sure it is a little cool that time of year, but the calm solitude due to the lack of other visitors more than makes up for the cooler weather! Added bonus; visitation in the late fall means no biting flies, which can easily ruin a trip up here during the summer months. We got to see some amazing fall foliage and beautiful scenic views of the lake. We hiked several of the trails available in both the eastern & western areas of the park & were able to see historic lighthouses, stunning waterfalls, & the amazing Superior lakeshore. The RECREATION.GOV webpage did notify us that all water would be off during our visit due to the cold weather, so we planned ahead for that, however there was no obvious notifications advising visitors that the vault toilets are closed during the winter months, so we were surprised when a work crew came out on our second day and locked them up. If you plan to camp here in the late fall and winter months, be sure to consider the lack of restrooms in your planning. Part of the attraction of Hurricane River is the isolation and solitude, so the complete lack of cellular service in the campground is to be expected and relished. On some of our hikes we did run across pockets of cellular service where our phones jumped to life and inundated us with the backlogged notifications. The trail to the Au Sable Light Station was one area where we noticed the coverage to be especially strong. I would also like to thank both the forward-thinking personnel at RECREATION.GOV & Pictured Rocks for making this campground reservable. We drove 1,600+ miles to get to Hurricane River Campground and would never have made the trip if we didn't have a guaranteed place to camp. There is no place for first come first served camping in the Internet age.

I camped one night in the Lower section and loved it! The sites are large and fairly close together but they are so heavily wooded that they are very private. I could hear the waves in Lake Superior at night.

In early October we camped at the Lower Loop Campground along the shore of Lake Superior with a 1.5 mile scenic trail leading to the historic Light House. The campsites are shaded, spacious, and very well spaced apart with decent privacy. Vault toilets are new and kept very clean, water is available at the entrance to the campground, and trash receptacles are placed through out the campground. Each camp site has a picnic table, fire ring, and large tent pad. Our nightly rate of $12.50 reflects the Senior Pass discount, otherwise the rate is $24.00 per night. Our stay at Hurricane River Campground Lower Loop was very peaceful, we would stay here again for the many forest trails and walks along the sandy shores of Lake Superior.

Sandstone cliffs, beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls, lakes, forest, and shoreline beckon you to visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Hiking, camping, sightseeing, and four season outdoor opportunities abound. The Lakeshore hugs the Lake Superior shoreline for more than 40 miles. Lake Superior is the largest, deepest, coldest, and most pristine of all the Great Lakes.The lakeshore has three drive-in campgrounds located at Little Beaver Lake, Twelvemile Beach, and Hurricane River. Camping is first-come, first-serve (fee). The campsites provide a picnic table, fire grate, and tent pad. Solar-powered wells provide water. Vault toilets are available.Because of the popularity of these campgrounds, a mid-morning arrival is suggested. You may also wish to identify a nearby campground in your plans as the Lakeshore campgrounds are often full, especially on weekends and all of July and August.