Great Michigan Camping locations.?????????/

Hello

Trying to plan some family camping trips. My husband and I, and our two boys, 8 and 6. We%26#39;ve camped for the past few years and recently upgraded from a tent to a pop up camper. I like to go to different places each time so that we can see different things in Michigan. However, I feel I have to do SO MUCH research each time to find the perfect place. We%26#39;ve been to Holland State Park, (Beautiful!), Port Crescent State Park, (Gorgeous too), White River Campground near Muskegon, (nice) and a couple of other ones in Algonac, Metamora, and Holly. I need electric and Water of course! So, I%26#39;m looking for some good ones! Any recommendations? We are going on most of our trips on Monday thru Thursdays.

Thanks!

Lisa

Great Michigan Camping locations.?????????/

You can%26#39;t hardly go wrong with any of the state parks off the Michigan DNR website. We Love Tawas Point, Straits, Wilderness, Brimley, Indian Lake State Park, Hoeft, McClain but too far for a shorter trip with small children. I havnt been to Ludington S.P but I have visited it and you can do alot right from your campsite. I would suggest Tawas as a good spot. Great beach and beautiful area.

Great Michigan Camping locations.?????????/

Lisa,

I am a employee of the Sleep Inn in the

Winters and in the Summer I am a manager at a Motel in a town called Manistee. It is located right off the shore of Lake Michigan about an hour south of Traverse City. Summers are beautiful here and there are lots of things to that are enjoyable and very relaxing. There is a camp ground in Manistee called Orchard Beach State Park. The camp ground is located right on the water! It%26#39;s beautiful. You can walk out of your camper walk down stairs and boom you have the beach! I have a house here that is 2 blocks from the state park and it really is a nice relaxing enjoyable park. It%26#39;s the reason I found a house right in that area! The phone number to the state park is 1-231-723-7422. If you have any questions of your own that you would like to ask me feel free to email me at ewander@earthlink.net! Hope you have a very enjoyable summer with your family!

Liz

Manager

Riverside Motel and Marina

Manistee, Mi. 49660

For a longer drive north, there is a beautiful campground at Burt Lake. It has been years since my family stayed there but I remember the trip quite fondly (although my mother points out that it rained every night of our trip and we were in a tent, I guess it bothered my parents but not any of the kids!) Burt Lake is beautiful, huge and a lovely shade of blue. There is a nice beach at the State Park. This park provides easy access to the Indian River area as well as Petoskey, Harbor Springs and even the Mackinaw area. It is very easy to get to from the Detroit area (straight up I-75). This park gives you a good chance to experience one of the truly lovely inland lakes.

For a more ';urban'; (I say that loosely) state parks, you can%26#39;t go wrong with the state park in Traverse City. Plenty to do, a great beach and lots of people with good facilites.

I love the suggestion of the State Park at the Straits of Mackinac. How beautiful to enjoy a Lake Michigan sunset, a view of the Mackinaw Bridge and a day trip to Mackinac Island. All great for kids and parents alike. Mackinaw City has some fun activities at night as well. There is a lazar light show at the Crossings mall (I think that%26#39;s what it is called). Lots of fun!

Finally, in southern Michigan, the chain of lakes offers at least a couple of state parks. I remember the state park at Pinckney. It was great a very close to your home.

There are a few suggestions! Have a great time planning! Moms

Thanks so much to EVERYONE for their input! This helps me a TON! Now........................To narrow them all down! Oh, boy!

Thanks again!

I really appreciate you all taking the time to write me.

Lisa

We love the Straits State Park as well for the same reasons... So many things to do in that area, and some decent restaurants. The beach at that park isn%26#39;t so hot, but the views are awesome. There is some nice beaches along U.S. 2 just West of the Park however. No question Burt Lake State Park is nice too. If you do go to St Ignace, Sault Ste Marie is only a hour north, and thats worth check out at least once, the LOCKS and Ship Museums etc (maybe boring for little kids tho). Good luck!

Your ? is my forte! We have camped for years, and also have a pop up camper. I grew up camping all over the state parks (and some private ones too) of Michigan, and they are awsome. However, at this time of year, many of the popular (and some not so popular) state parks will be filled for the remaining summer weeks, reservations made months ago. So, first stop, after picking some parks out will be the reservation system-1-800-447-2757. You can go online also at Michigan CSR Reservation Service. I would call though, they may have cancellations and could process you right then.

My suggestions now: Lake MI: Traverse City, Ludington (forget reservations here, however, til fall), Orchard Beach, Muskegon (I see you have been in Muskegon though..), Hoffmaster. Pentwater is nice if you like a lot of sand! The kids would probably love it, but no shade whatsoever.

Lake Huron: Hoeft (we love it here), Tawas State Parks. Tawas has a lot to offer and is not as far as Hoeft. Both are grassy, have good biking paths, a close, small town with a lot of amenities, scenery, and tourist attractions.

Lake Superior/Michigan in the UP: Brimley in the east, and Baraga in the northwest. Straits at St. Ignace, Lake Gogebic in the west, Wells in the mid south.

I have never camped on Lake Erie or Lake Ontario, except at Lakeport State Park, south of Port Huron, and I DO NOT recommend it. Crazy people, noisy, dirty, no park rangers seen after 6 PM...

One place that is not in MI, but in Northwest Ohio that we love is Maumee Bay State Park, about 20 minutes east of Toledo. It is a wonderful park-they have so much to do! Definitely check out the website (sorry, don%26#39;t know it, just google it). Toledo, despite the old jokes, has a lot to do-the zoo is fantastic, and much more. A decent drive for you also, being from Warren.

Jellystone Park in Frankenmuth. I think it is too expensive, but you may be willing to pay for it. Lots of stuff to do in Frankenmuth/Birch Run/Bay City/Midland-hey, even Saginaw has a few things. The park is clean, grassy, has an indoor pool, putt putt, playground, store etc. Definitely bring your bikes with you, if you have them.

HAVE A GREAT TIME AND LET US KNOW WHERE YOU WENT!

tyme

I%26#39;ve enjoyed camping at Sleeper State Park in Caseville, Gladwin County Park in Gladwin, Higgans Lake State Park near Houghton Lake, and Waterloo Recreation Area near Chelsea.

By this time of the year most sites are already reserved at the State Park campgrounds. You could call the park ahead of time because some campgrounds leave a few sites unreserveable for ';drive-ups';. Clear Lake State Park has such sites, and it is exactly what the name implies, a Clear Lake. Lakeport is also a nice campground %26amp; close by(short drive). Have fun!

Thanks everyone! We went to Sleeper State park this past weekend in Caseville. It was wonderful! Especially the beach. Will go there again for sure. I really want to go to Grand Haven State Park also. I heard it%26#39;s beautiful there and you can actually camp on the sand?

Thanks!

Lisa

At Grand Haven camping is in a paved parking lot. There is lots of sand around. The pier and the walkway into town are right there. It can get hot if there is no breeze (or no AC).

There might be some tent sites in sand, however I%26#39;ve never noticed them. This campground fills up almost as soon as you can make the reservation so reserve early.

The sunsets and the town are great.