10 Best Campgrounds in MICHIGAN for Your Outdoor Adventure (2024)

Michigan is a unique state, especially when it comes to camping. A lot of people tend to focus on camping in the upper peninsula, or U.P., where people associate “wilderness” with widespread cabins and forests.

However, you should never skip out on camping in the lower Peninsula, or L.P., because it has a ton of great campsites with amazing features too.

Only the borders that Michigan shares with Indiana and Ohio are a little shy of campgrounds. The border the U.P. shares with Northern Wisconsin is equally dotted with campsites.

Check out camping sites in the next door states:
– Best Camping in Wisconsin
– Best Camping in Indiana

North Port Huron Jellystone Park – BEST for Kids

Situated directly across the street from Lake Huron in the middle of Michigan’s Thumb area, North Port Huron Jellystone Park encompasses more than 90 acres. Formerly known as Lake Huron Campground, it recently joined the Jellystone family of campgrounds.

The 400 campsites accommodate all kinds of camping styles from tents to pop-ups to large RVs. In addition, there are 38 cabins available for rent. This includes Cabin Village where clusters of individual rustic units are gathered around outdoor kitchens to provide areas for large groups.

Located on a private 20-acre lake, this campground offers a new Water Zone swimming pool complex featuring a full water park with mini slides, an activity pool, and a kiddie pool with spray features.

Prices:

• Water/Electric RV or Tent Site: from $55 per night
• Standard Back-In RV Site: from $79 per night
• Standard Pull-Thru RV Site: from $79 per night
• Premium RV Site: from $79 per night
• Lakeview RV Site: from $136 per night
• Seasonal RV Sites at our Camping Resort: $5200

Dunes Harbor Family Camp

This family-friendly campground is based along the beautiful Silver Lake. Just a mile from the Sand Dune ORV entrance, it’s a perfect place for those looking for adventure. Walk the beaches of Lake Michigan, visit the Sable Point Lighthouse, or enjoy some of the many amenities of the campground.

Those include all sorts of family activities, such as horseback riding, archery, movie nights, or arts and crafts activities. Water lovers will like the heated swimming pool with a slide and kayak rentals.

The campground has 128 full hook-up sites, 55 of which face the waterfront. There are also 36 water and electricity hook-up sites as well as rustic cabins. Extra-large and group camping spots are available too.

Dunes Harbor Family Camp Prices:

Indigo Bluffs RV Campground

Indigo Bluffs is one of the best RV camping spots in Michigan’s Leelanau County. Their camping spots are all about space and each one of them has a different unique touch and concept.

The whole area is a natural haven of trees, grass, wildflower meadows and a lake, simply perfect for outdoor lovers.

All camping spots are about 6,000+ sqft and boast 50A full hookups, concrete pads, and patios.

Prices for RV Park range from $40 to $95 in spring, in summer $58-$120 and in fall $40-$95.

Prices for RV Resort range from $62 to $82 in spring, in summer $96-$120, and in fall $73-$93.

Prices for Cottages range from $234 to $271 Sunday-Thursday, $267-$309 Friday-Saturday and $1,640-$1,680 Weekly.

Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping

A favorite spot for locals and vacationers alike for more than 50 years, Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping sits on 200 wooded acres along a mile of shoreline. With views of the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac, it offers more than 600 campsites and cabins to suit every camper’s needs.

These include budget sites for tents and campers, RV sites with 50-amp electric, water, and sewer services, and cabins ranging from one room to two-story three bedrooms with indoor plumbing.

Campers can enjoy bike rentals, exercise area for their dogs, and a full 18-hole golf course, the Mackinaw Club. Well maintained bathrooms with flush toilets can be found conveniently placed throughout the campground. Indoor amenities include an arcade and game room as well as a park store.

A full-sized basketball court, heated pool, and three separate playgrounds allow for outdoor fun. Trails for hiking and biking abound along with free seasonal hayrides and shuttles to the Mackinac Island Ferry.

Prices: Not available on the website.

Harbortown RV Resort

Conveniently located on Lake Erie in Southeast Michigan between Detroit and Toledo, Harbortown RV Resort can be your home base for exploring the area that shines with history, recreation, and much more.

Enjoy fishing, boating, and paddling on the lake or engage in prime golfing. You can also visit the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, as well as other places of interest. Like the River Raisin Battlefield, the Navarre-Anderson Trading Post, or the Martha Barker Country Store.

The RV park itself features 80 large pull-thru sites with full hook-up and 20/30/50 amp service, which can accommodate even the biggest RV coaches. Cozy log cabins are available too.

Moreover, the campground boasts abundant resort-like amenities, such as a pool, arcade games, mini-golf, batting cages, and others. It is, therefore, a great choice for families.

Prices:

• Water & Electric: $61
• Premier Sites: $75
• Log Cabins: $199 +tax

Tahquamenon Campground

Explore the almost 40 miles of hiking trails, 13 inland lakes, and 20,000 acres of natural beauty at Tahquamenon Falls State Park.

This state park boasts two of Michigan’s greatest campgrounds.

Lower Falls Campground has two modern campgrounds with a total of 90 campsites ideal for those who simply want to appreciate nature without having to worry about everyday chores.

Electricity, a fire pit, a table, hot showers, and flush toilets are all available at these modern sites. A picnic area with shelter, a playground, and an in-situ eatery are also available.

Tahquamenon Falls Rivermouth Unit features 136 modern and rustic campsites all with a boat launch along the Tahquamenon River.

These are perfect for people looking for a true adventure. They don’t have electricity, but they do have a picnic table and a fire pit. Showers are available at the Modern Unit for a few bucks.

This campground is a little more private than the previous one. Here you can go fishing along the riverbank or stroll over to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior and walk along the sandy beach.

Prices:

• Range from $16 to $25 per night

Sleeping Bear Dunes-Platte River Campground

Miles of sand beaches, lush forests, and crystal-clear inland lakes, that’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

The campground itself is open year-round and features both back-in and pull-thru sites with electric hook-ups. There are also walk-in tent sites and hike-in group sites. Amenities include flush and vault toilets, hot showers, a dump station, and firewood.

Platte River Campground in Sleeping Bear Dunes is simply a spot for those who’d like to spend a peaceful weekend or vacation in nature.

Prices:

• PRCG campsite with electrical hook-up: $31.00
• PRCG campsite with no electrical hook-up: $26.00
• PRCG group campsites: $50.00
• PRCG Walk-in Sites: $22.00

Additionally:

• A National Park Service entrance pass for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is required for each vehicle: $25
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore entrance fee (1-7 days). $45
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Annual pass (if camping more than 7 days).

Ludington State Park and Campground

Comprised of forests, marshlands, wetlands, sand dunes, and sandy beaches situated between Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake, Ludington State Park and Campground is 5,300 acres with several miles of shoreline along both lakes.

It offers 360 campsites and 3 one-room cabins among its three modern campgrounds – Beechwood, Cedar and Pines. The Cedar campground also has eight tent sites located on a separate loop that do not have electricity but are within walking distance to showers and restrooms.

For more rustic campers, there is the Jack Pine Hike-In Only Campground. It offers 10 tent sites that are accessible only by hiking or bicycling in.

The main campground includes a stretch of the Big Sable River that offers campers with tubing, paddling and fishing opportunities. Campers can also enjoy the 5,000-acre Hamlin Lake which offers a boat launch and a four-mile canoe trail that provides paddlers with an adventurous trip.

Prices:

• Starting at $25 to $35 per night for a standard campsite.

Taquemonon Falls State Park Campgrounds

This state park is a jewel in Michigan’s U.P. crown. Known for its amazing and scenic waterfalls, thousands of tourists flock here every year just to see the falls and thousands more stay to camp near the falls.

The state park boasts over forty miles of hiking trails and wooden trestle-style trails built into the landscape for easier foot travel.

If you stay in one of the four campsites in this massive state park, you can choose to stay near one of the Great Lakes, or perch yourself closer to one of the thirteen inland lakes belonging to the park.

Tent camping is standard, but there are a few RV and pop-up camper sites available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Reservations are highly recommended, especially during the summer when camping is the most popular.

Here are the three campsites within Taquemonon Park:

• Hemlock Campground, which is well-suited to RVs because it has a sanitation dump station. Prices start at $66.00 for RV sites.
• Riversmouth Campground
• Camp 33, which is near the Upper Falls.

Camp offices are in two of the four locations, depending on whether you will stay near the upper falls or the lower falls.

A diner and brewery are located near camp 33, if you don’t have enough camp provisions and you don’t feel like traveling far to get camp groceries or food for the night.

Wa-Wen Camp Resort on Drummond Island

This is camping at its wildest and yet most posh. The island is set up for ATVs and UTVs, golfers, and a half-dozen other activities not generally associated with camping.

You will need to drive your vehicle onto a ferry from the mainland at the tip of the “thumb of the mitten” of Michigan on its eastern shores, and then drive into the resort from the landing point on Drummond Island. While the resort caters mostly to RVs and other camping vehicles, you can set up a tent on your site if you prefer.

In terms of the “posh” camping, there is a shuffleboard, a heated pool, wireless internet and satellite TV, a basketball court, and you can bring your pets for an additional fee.

Prices:

• Full hookup sites start at $50
• Seasonal R.V Sites: $2,500