Best Tent Camping: Michigan: Your Car-Camping Guide to Scenic Beauty, the Sounds of Nature, and an Escape from Civilization

by Matt Forster

Overview

Perfect Camping for You in Michigan!

The Great Lakes State provides a spectacular backdrop for some of the most scenic campgrounds in the country. But do you know which campgrounds offer the most privacy? Which are the best for first-time campers? Matt Forster traversed the entire state—from the grassy dunes overlooking Lake Michigan to a quiet lake that serves as a portal to the Sylvania Wilderness—and compiled the most up-to-date research to steer you to the perfect spot!

Best Tent Camping: Michigan presents 50 national park, state park, national forest, and state forest campgrounds, organized into five distinct regions. Selections are based on location, topography, size, and overall appeal, and every site is rated for beauty, privacy, spaciousness, safety and security, and cleanliness—so you’ll always know what to expect. The new full-color edition of this proven guidebook provides everything you need to know, with detailed maps of each campground and key information such as fees, restrictions, dates of operation, and facilities, as well as driving directions and GPS coordinates.

Whether you seek a quiet campground near a fish-filled stream or a family campground with all the amenities, grab Best Tent Camping: Michigan. It’s an escape for all who wish to find those special locales that recharge the mind, body, and spirit. This guide is a keeper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634043168
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Series:	Best Tent Camping
Edition description:	3rd Revised ed.
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

As a native of Michigan, Matt Forster has camped all over the Great Lake State. He’s carried his gear in backpacks, Duluth packs, saddlebags, and car trunks and slept in tents, pop-ups, camper vans, and RVs. He and his wife live in Michigan with their two young children, who are both just experiencing camping for the first time. These days, camping trips often come down to tossing the tent in the back of the car, loading up way too much equipment, and praying for good weather (a necessity with two kids in tow). As a freelance writer, Matt is the author of Backroads & Byways of Michigan (The Countryman Press), Backroads & Byways of Ohio (The Countryman Press), Colorado: An Explorer’s Guide (The Countryman Press), Best Hikes Near Detroit and Ann Arbor (FalconGuides), and a travel app for Michigan’s Grand Traverse region called Up North! Grand Traverse (available on iOS and Android devices).

Read an Excerpt

Waterloo Recreation Area: Green Lake Campground
Beauty: 4; Privacy: 3; Spaciousness: 5; Quiet: 5; Security: 4; Cleanliness: 5

Key Information

*
• *Contact: Michigan DNR–Waterloo Recreation Area, 734-475-8307; michigan.gov/waterloo *
• *Open: March–December *
• *Sites: 25 *
• *Each site has: Picnic table and fire pit *
• *Assignment: Reservations can be made online at midnrreservations.com and by calling 800-447-2757 *
• *Registration: Self-register at campground *
• *Amenities: Water and vault toilets *
• *Parking: At sites only *
• *Fee: $12 *
• *Elevation: 965' *
• *Restrictions
*
• *Pets: On leash only *
• *Fires: Fire pits only *
• *Alcohol: Permitted *
• *Vehicles: Michigan Recreation Passport required *
• *Other: 15-day stay limit

Part of the experience, of course, is engaging with nature, and there’s no better way to immerse yourself in the heart of Waterloo than to pitch camp in the park’s rustic Green Lake Campground.

The 20,000 acres of Waterloo Recreation Area make it the largest state park in the Lower Peninsula. The park features the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center, where people come to learn about the local ecology, and the Waterloo Farm Museum, which is operated by the Waterloo Area Historical Society. Though the park shares many traits with the neighboring Pinckney Recreation Area—it has two modern campgrounds (to Pinckney’s one), a swimming beach, and trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding—Waterloo places more of an emphasis on interpreting the region’s natural and human history for visitors.

Part of the experience, of course, is engaging with nature, and there’s no better way to immerse yourself in the heart of Waterloo than to pitch camp in the park’s rustic Green Lake Campground, which consists of 25 sites on a small loop. Sites overlook the lake on one side and back up to wetlands on the other. Encircling a small grassy knoll, many of the sites on the inside are out in the open, exposed both to the elements and to the eyes of nearby campers. Sites on the outside of the loop, however, are nestled in the trees and offer a little more privacy.

Site 8 offers the most privacy. Surrounded by trees, right on the water, the site is downhill from the main road that runs through the campground. Sites 5 and 6 also sit on the water. The wide, grassy lots have nice overhead coverage from the sun but little privacy. Sites 2 and 4, which sit across from these, also enjoy plenty of shade, but when someone decides to crank open a pop-up between you and the water, it will most certainly block the view of the lake.

Waterloo boasts a 5-mile mountain-bike loop, but trail planners overlapped the trail with a longer bridle path, and in the past this has made the track unridable. Your best bet is to take your mountain bike next door. The miles of maintained single-track at Pinckney will not disappoint.

Campers looking for a nice hike in the woods, or through a meadow or around a lake, are in for better luck. A network of nature hikes—14 miles of trails divvied up into seven loops ranging from 0.8 to 5.3 miles—all lead out from the Discovery Center. The Discovery Center draws thousands of visitors every year, including busloads of students. Run as a joint project by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Waterloo Natural History Association, the center sheds light on the region’s unique geology and ecology. With its hands-on exhibits and displays and a full complement of programs for kids and families, you’ll come away with a head full of knowledge about local birds and their plumage; the hive building of bees; ice ages, glaciers, and mammoths; Waterloo’s trees and flowers; and even a little astronomy.

Among the area’s geological peculiarities are its kettle lakes and bogs, part of the glacial influence on southeast Michigan. The bogs here are home to some of the most exotic plants in the state, in particular carnivorous pitcher plants and sundews, as well as wild irises. You might spot some of these when hiking the Bog Trail. Much of this path is on an elevated wooden walkway—no need to worry about returning with wet shoes.

Hikers looking for more than an afternoon stroll, however, will want to take note of the 36-mile Waterloo-Pinckney Trail, which connects the Pinckney Recreation Area (to the east, between Pinckney and Dexter) with the Waterloo Recreation Area (to the west, between Waterloo and Chelsea). The trail was designed to offer backpackers a multiday hike in southeast Michigan. Backpackers typically follow the trail west to east, beginning the trek at the modern Portage Lake campground. A day of hiking brings them to the park’s other modern campground at Sugarloaf Lake. Ten miles farther, just before entering the Pinckney portion of the trail, hikers will often spend the night at the Green Lake Campground.

The portion of the trail that passes through the Waterloo Recreation Area is quite stunning, and I would recommend taking some time to hike a piece. Along the way, the path passes through woods and marsh as well as fields, which in the summer are covered with wildflowers. It climbs some interesting terrain and comes close to nearly a dozen lakes and ponds. The trail can be especially arresting in the fall, when the foliage begins to change color.

For an appreciation of what it must have been like to come to this area as a settler, head over to the Waterloo Farm Museum. In 1844, Johannes and Fredericka Ruehle moved their children into a log house here, and the museum tells the story of this family and their progeny. For more than a hundred years, the Realy family—Realy is the Americanized spelling of Ruehle—farmed this land, and their story sheds light on what life was like for many families across Michigan. From the farmhouse to the bakehouse and plenty of other structures in between, this is a great place to spend a few hours.

Getting There

The campground is on the eastern edge of the park. The entrance is off M 52, 5.5 miles north of I-94 (Exit 159).

GPS Coordinates: N42° 21.846' W84° 04.218'

Table of Contents

Michigan Campground Locator Map

Map Legend

Acknowledgments

Preface

Best Campgrounds

Introduction

Southeast Michigan

• Holly Recreation Area: McGinnis Lake Campground
• Lake Hudson Recreation Area
• Pinckney Recreation Area: Crooked Lake and Blind Lake Campgrounds
• Port Crescent State Park Campground
• Waterloo Recreation Area: Green Lake Campground

Southwest Michigan

• Fort Custer State Recreation Area
• Highbank Lake National Forest Campground
• Muskegon State Park
• Pines Point National Forest Campground
• P. J. Hoffmaster State Park
• Tubbs Lake State Forest Campgrounds
• Warren Dunes State Park: Rustic Campground
• Yankee Springs State Recreation Area: Deep Lake Rustic Campground

Northwest Michigan

• Arbutus Lake No. 4 State Forest Campground
• CCC Bridge State Forest Campground
• Fisherman’s Island State Park Campground
• Graves Crossing State Forest Campground
• Lake Dubonnet State Forest Campground
• Ludington State Park: Jack Pine Walk-In Campground
• Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area: Dispersed Campground
• Peterson Bridge South National Forest Campground
• Silver Creek State Forest Campground
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: D. H. Day Campground
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore: South Manitou Island, Weather Station Campground
• Wilderness State Park: Lakeshore Campground

Northeast Michigan

• Canoe Harbor State Forest Campground
• Jones Lake State Forest Campground
• Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground
• Ossineke State Forest Campground
• Pigeon River State Forest Campground
• Rifle River State Recreation Area: Spruce Campground
• Sawmill Point Primitive Campsites
• Tomahawk Creek Flooding State Forest Campground

Upper Peninsula

• Bay View National Forest Campground
• Bewabic State Park Campground
• Big Knob State Forest Campground
• Black River Harbor National Forest Campground
• Bond Falls Flowage Campground
• Brevoort Lake National Forest Campground
• Carney Lake State Forest Campground
• Courtney Lake National Forest Campground
• Henry Lake National Forest Campground
• Monocle Lake National Forest Campground
• Petes Lake National Forest Campground
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: Twelvemile Beach Campground
• Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park: Presque Isle Campground
• Portage Bay State Forest Campground
• Pretty Lake State Forest Campground
• Sylvania Wilderness and Recreation Area: Clark Lake Campground
• Tahquamenon Falls State Park: Rivermouth Pines Campground

Appendixes and Index

• Appendix A: Camping-Equipment Checklist
• Appendix B: Sources of Information
• Index

About the Author