Advice on Lake Erie Camping

lol. lots to do there in the town?

jbres wrote:
is there a town in Ludington with shops? restaurants? etc?
thanks!

Ludington is the town. :-)

is there a town in Ludington with shops? restaurants? etc?
thanks!

michigansandzilla wrote:

jbres wrote:
thanks for all the replies, great info so far! My daughter will just be about year and a half when we go and my nephews will be a little over 3 years old. Looking for a nice place with a clean beautiful beach, with a city with nightlife and things to do for kids close by. Also, campground must have a pool.
I researched a little bit on the Ludington area, and it seems maybe that area would fit my descriptions best???
thanks for your time and advice!

Right by the marina in Ludington, there is a really nice park that the little ones will enjoy. If you're there at the right time, you can even see the Badger go by (ferry from Michigan to Wisconsin).

Ludington is a great place to spend some time at. Beautiful beach!

jbres wrote:
thanks for all the replies, great info so far! My daughter will just be about year and a half when we go and my nephews will be a little over 3 years old. Looking for a nice place with a clean beautiful beach, with a city with nightlife and things to do for kids close by. Also, campground must have a pool.
I researched a little bit on the Ludington area, and it seems maybe that area would fit my descriptions best???
thanks for your time and advice!

Right by the marina in Ludington, there is a really nice park that the little ones will enjoy. If you're there at the right time, you can even see the Badger go by (ferry from Michigan to Wisconsin).

thanks for all the replies, great info so far! My daughter will just be about year and a half when we go and my nephews will be a little over 3 years old. Looking for a nice place with a clean beautiful beach, with a city with nightlife and things to do for kids close by. Also, campground must have a pool.
I researched a little bit on the Ludington area, and it seems maybe that area would fit my descriptions best???
thanks for your time and advice!

jbres wrote:
Have not tried Michigan yet because I have heard its too cold to swim in the lake up there even during the summer months. Any truth to that?

michigansandzilla has given you some great information. To go with it, here is some additional insight...
You can certainly swim in Lake Michigan. This summer the temps were definitely cooler but I do remember the weather forecast showing a time or two were water temps were close or just into the 70's.

The thing is that even with the warmest winter and hottest summer, you could be at the beach and the water temp could be 55 degrees. The lake will "roll" over with an offshore wind. I remember seeing data from one of the local bouys that showed the water temp dropping something like 20 degrees in a half a day or less. But with that, I can tell you we have swam in the lake in early June when it was still freezing cold and we have swam in it when it felt like bath water.

We have been in the Holland/Grand Haven area for over 16 years and love the area. We actually often camp at Holland. We like the beach and we like to bike. There are probably hundreds of miles of paved bike paths in and around Holland and up to Grand Haven.

How old are your kids and what do you like to do? Honestly, if you made base camp at Grand Haven or Hoffmaster, you would be within about an hour (north or south) of tons of things to see or do. Let us know what you like to do and I am sure that some specifics could be pointed out for you.

Presque Isle state park near Erie has a campground near the entrance. It is small, but lots of fun things to do nearby.

Yeah, a few years ago Superior was really warm and was pleasant to swim in. This summer, NOT. I wouldn't let that discourage you from enjoying the northern great lakes. I still remember my first plunges into a frigid Superior when I was a child with fondness. My 4 year old granddaughter had a blast splashing in Superior this summer.

jbres wrote:
Michigansandvilla-
any specific area in Michigan you suggest I go to? Looking for an area/city where there is lots of entertainment for kids.....

Anywhere Mid-Michigan on Lake Michigan is my favorite. Many many state parks but spots fill up quickly, like at 8am 6 months in advance. How old are your kids?

The most popular is Ludington State Park. Honestly, you might not get a spot in the state park campground but if you go to Poncho's Pond in town you can drive the few minutes into the state park. Great for fishing at the dam, riding bikes, hiking, tubing down the river, and of course beautiful beaches. Beautiful, beautiful beaches.

Ludington, Silver Lake, PJ Hoffmaster, Muskegon, Holland are all great parks with different things to offer. And they are close enough to a city to give the kids entertainment. Muskegon is great because it has Michigans Adventure (a smaller version of Cedar Point. Great park for kids that aren't yet huge coaster enthusiasts that want to wait in line for 2 hours to ride the newest coaster, plus it has a water park with no extra charge.) and we really like USS Silversides a WWII submarine that you can tour. If you like off-roading, Silver Lake is the place to go. PM me for specific info. We've been there 18 consecutive years.


Here's the state park link. You can click on the pics to see campsite photos. https://www.midnrreservations.com/MichiganStateParks/SouthernMI?Map

There are many threads on here about Michigan parks if you do a search.

Lake Huron is nice too, but it's not as sandy and nice as the Lake Michigan side.

Silver Lake 2014

This is my kindergarten running up and down the dunes.

Ludington 2013


And with the right timing, you can even swim in Lake Superior. Here is my daughter when she was 2 swimming in Lake Superior.

You obviously can't count on this though. We just had good timing. If you ever want to visit this lake, the color is spectacular! Especially over by Munising and the Pictured Rocks.