Michigan, Central Upper Peninsula

[HeadWest]

My wife and I are planning on taking our new toy to the upper peninsula this summer for a week or so. We are looking for suggestions on quieter campgrounds between Whitefish Point and Munising or Marquette. Possibly campgrounds are Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Muskellunge State Park or Bay Furnace. I'm also interested in the Lake Michigan campground west of St. Ignace (national forest campground).

Any recent experiences with any of these or other ideas would sure be appreciated. We would prefer quieter, less busy and fine with boon docking (that will just force the generator purchase right away ).

Thanks!

[JDS]

Highly recommend Twelve Mile Beach in Pictured Rocks Nat'l. Lakeshore. Get one of the sites on the Lake Superior side and you'll think you are in heaven, at least we do.

Best wishes,

John S.

[HeadWest]

Originally Posted by JDS

Highly recommend Twelve Mile Beach in Pictured Rocks Nat'l. Lakeshore. Get one of the sites on the Lake Superior side and you'll think you are in heaven, at least we do.

Best wishes,

John S.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Do you think I can get a 28' into the sites at that campground? Also, the last time I drove the road around Pictured Rocks it was the worst washboard road I've ever experienced. Is it paved or reasonable road to get into that campsite?

[JDS]

The road is now paved and a 28' AS moved into the site we vacated just this past fall - there are a few sites for sure that will accommodate your 28'. Good luck!

John S.

[2Tex4Fun]

Tahquamenon Falls State Park is awesome with very nice campground & some great Ranger programs.

[Lily&Me]

We love the UP and especially enjoyed the city and county campgrounds that dot the shoreline all the way around.

Inexpensive but basic, electricity and water, with beautiful views of Lake Superior.


Maggie

[tomp1937]

Originally Posted by JDS

Highly recommend Twelve Mile Beach in Pictured Rocks Nat'l. Lakeshore. Get one of the sites on the Lake Superior side and you'll think you are in heaven, at least we do.

Best wishes,

John S.

Good morning John, this is Tomp and wife Sandi. We had the 28' you so graciously ushered into your spot last fall. You are right, it is more than a bit of heaven there, especially with the newly paved Rte #58.

We finished up an article on rockhounding there and it just was published in Airstream Life Magazine along with photos. We saw you later that week camped along the shore in Grand Marais City Park. You were out enjoying the area so we couldn't say "hello".

Let's stay connected. We are leaving Saturday for a 60 day tour along the Gulf of Mexico. Send us a note at tomp1937@gmail.com and we will send you our photo blogs as we roll along.

[DanB]

I highly reccomend you consider attending the "Under the Bridge" rally this year. It was great fun with amazing people.

Dawn and I stayed at the Casino near St. Ignace for a few nights. Laid back, quite, and cheap! we used it as base camp to hit the major stuff on the east side of the UP.

[donreitz]

We've camped at the Lake Michigan (on lake Michigan) and Bay View (on Lake Superior, northwest of Brimley) Forest Service campgrounds and enjoyed both immensely. The lakeside campsites are reserved or fill up quickly during the summer, but even then we've never had a problem with finding a vacant site if we get there by midmorning. There are no bad sites in either campground. Prepare to dry camp. If you're a lighthouse fan, the Seul Choix lighthouse is west of the Lake Michigan campground and the Point Iroquois Light is just east of Bay View.

Twelvemile Beach Campground in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a must visit. The sites we had were tight but manageable with our 26 footer. I have to tell you that there are times during the summer when the flies are awful. Bring long pants and long-sleeved shirts just in case. If you need more room or want hookups, the nearby town of Grand Marais has a campground (Woodland Park). There's no comparison with Twelvemile Beach, but Grand Marais is a neat little town and it's an easy drive to the National Lakeshore.

Hope this helps.
Don

[dkrug]

We camped several times last summer in the UP. No problems with our 28' or our new 30'. I agree about Tahquamenon. We have camped at both campgrounds there. We also enjoyed the Bay Furnace park in Christmas. Very peaceful there and close to the water.
The road from Pictured rocks to Grand Marais is fine now. In Grand Marais we stayed at a campground where we saw the most Airstreams we have ever seen at a campground.
We can't wait for good weather to head back up to the UP.
If you enjoy casinos at all, some of them have free or cheap camping.

[nilesrob]

We have yet to find a place on the UP we did not enjoy; too bad you just have a week. We have a son who is at Michigan Tech so we (this past fall) enjoyed being up on the Keweenaw Peninsula. If you were to get that far, we saw (but did not stay) a campground (SP) in Copper Harbor, which if you are into kayaking is simply beautiful - the water (Superior) and views are pristine - couldn't believe it!

Otherwise, on our trip east from Houghton towards Mackinaw on Rt 28 we did drive-by's of several SP campgrounds that looked great - really remote, beautiful, empty! Of course, this was in September/October. And Painted/Picture Rock (is that right?) makes you feel like you are in the Caribbean.

Jealous - can't wait to get back. Enjoy!

[HeadWest]

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. I've spent a lot of time in the UP when I was younger. I actually bicycled most of the roads on two different long trips, once for the State of Michigan with a bicycle mapping project. Great to hear they finally paved the road around Pictured Rocks. Some sections were really tough years ago.

I'd love to have more time on the trip this summer but probably limited to about 9 days max. Copper Harbor is just a bit further then I'd like to travel this time but one of my all time favorite places.

I'm a little concerned about being up there at the busiest time of the year and trying to stay at some of the campgrounds that don't take reservations. I feel I could be really in a bind if they are filled and don't have another nearby option.

[Lily&Me]

Make sure you have propane and water, and plenty of room in your holding tanks.

If you end up spending the night in a parking lot, it's still the UP.


Maggie

[Safari Streamer]

Glad to read all these suggestions as we hope to tour Michigan this summer (from SC). We will visit friends in the UP but want to do all we can while there. Any other ideas are welcome.

[Lily&Me]

We'll be in the UP in August, on our trek northeast from northern Minnesota.

Be sure to see Copper Harbor and the Keweenaw Peninsula, if you get a chance. Great state park up there and spectacular views of the Lake.

Haven't been in that area for a couple of years, and are really looking forward to exploring it again.

We'll watch for you!


Maggie

[Tedd]

I have stayed in many UP camping areas over the years.
I can highly recommend Kingston Lake state forest campground. all sites are on the lake as it is a peninsula into a very nice inland lake that is not to cold. Excellent fishing opportunities. Very large sites.
I have also stayed at Tehquamenon Falls SP. Nice, but to crowded for my taste. The falls are worth seeing as is White fish Point. Just up the road from TSP towards Whitefish is Andrus Lake SF campground. Very quiet and all sites are on the lake.
I have stopped into several national and state forest campgrounds off of US 2 along the north edge of Lake Michigan. All are outstanding, though they tend to be close to US 2 so road noise may impact your enjoyment.
Remember a "town" is mostly a cross road and grocery stores may just be a party store by troll (trolls live under da bridge) standards.
The UP is my favorite place to explore. Bring warm clothes as temps can drop to the 40's even in August. Maybe you'll get lucky and Lake Superior will get to 60 and you can dip a toe in!
Enjoy.