Camping in the Midwest

ken56,

Only an issue getting reservations in the extremely popular Lake Michigan on the Lakeshore CG's like Grand Haven, Holland, Ludington, sometimes in Hoffmaster and Silver Lake State Parks. These CG's are usually booked full within a day or less when you are able to even reserve. Weekends are busier than weekdays like any where else. These Lake Michigan Beach CG's are of course extremely popular as is the area. However there are so many other good CG's near the Big lake in all these areas to also choose from and reservations are not that hard to get unless you wait until the week you leave home to reserve. In 55 years of RV'ing we have only gotten reservations 4 times total and never went without a place the camp yet. We live at Grand Haven and have for over 77 years so we know.

You have to remember that there are more than a couple dozen summer festivals in the communities along the lakeshore so of course the CG's would all be full for them for the festival time. Grand Haven U.S. Coast Guard national Festival annually has well more than 350,000 attending during the 10 day long festival so all the couple dozen local regional CG's are packed full for it. Also on the 3 major holidays weekends too. Must be a real reason for having such a high attendance each year for 96 years now!?

Usual camping season each year in Michigan is from late April until after Halloween but many CG's are open year around. Even Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the northern Upper Peninsula close to Lake Superior Lower falls CG is always open with kept plowed sites as are the snowmobiles staging parking areas for camping. Electric on all winter long at the open SP CG's. Some State Park CG's in the Lower Peninsula are too. Lots of snowmobilers, skiers, snowshoe, and just regular campers are in the CG's We have so many time in the past too before wife became disabled.

Beautiful in the winter and RV's have furnaces, are insulated (some better than others), have fresh water tanks and holding tanks too. That's all it takes and is why RV's even have the liquid tanks! We always used our large 5 gal Thetford Porta Potti as they can be dumped about anywhere in toilets or pit toilets. Don't need to take a 10 minute long shower each in the RV in winter but rather a short shower etc and most tanks will last well over a week or even more. Would be a tad chilly camping in a tent though...

Michigan and the North Woods. The season is shorter but really good. Lots of water and magnificent forests. Buy a canoe.

Michigan.
If you need a change, northern Wisconsin.
After that Minnesotta and the BWCA up by Ely.

Get a CG directory.

You will have a MUCH SHORTER camping season. Plus there is quite high pressure on all the campgrounds so getting reservations might be difficult too.

Lake Michigan Beaches (Michigan side of the lake) blow away the beaches near your current location.

Of course the west side it beautiful to and not too far to get up into Wisconson.

To the south and west you can get to the major rivers which have lots of beautiful areas to explore.

51% of Michigan is forested and has several thousand CG's total, The state has more than 100 state parks and more than 11,000 inland lakes not including 4 of the 5 huge clean Great Lakes with over 3200 miles of Great Lake's shoreline and gobs of sugar sand golden beaches and 87,000 miles of rivers and streams in the state. West Michigan is beautiful and so much to do and see. Lots of very large high (up to 450 feet high) public sand dunes with beaches and CG's too in West Michigan.

Elkhart is less than 10 miles south of the Nichigan border so it's really close and are so are vast numbers of state, county private owned, etc CG's for you. East side of the state and the west side of the state are apples to oranges diferent. The Upper peninsula is very different form the Lower Peninsula also.

Camping, boating, and fishing for so many very big and small good eating fish is a way of life in Michigan. Walleye, laketrout, salmon, great eating mild tasting lake perch, bass, and so many others. So much to do and see in the state that you'll always have new places to camp and explore each long weekend for the rest of your life.

Elkhart is 110 miles south of where we live and have for over 77 years on the Lake Michigan shoreline and have RV'd for 55 years so far and we also go down to northern Indiana a few times each year. Elkhart area is where 65-to 70% of all the RV's are made in North America and shipped all over.

Indiana is largly a farming state but does have a lot of CG's spread out arond the state. Lots of very nice ones too.

Your problem will be not finding a CG you desire but which one as there are so many. By count, there's more for you to chose from than all the CG's in SC, NC, TN, and GA combined and then some. Just our local less than 10 mile semi circle radius area has 12 CG's now and another big one is about ready to start building.

Indiana Dunes National Park

The National Park Service wrote:
Welcome to Indiana Dunes National Park. Stretching along 15 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan, this national park offers an incredible diversity of habitats and visitor experiences. Beyond the sandy beaches, explore rugged dunes, quiet forests and tranquil wetlands along 50 miles of hiking trails. World-class birding and over 1,100 native plant species makes this 15,000 acre park among the most biologically rich in the nation.

Check campgroundreviews.com by city and state to find a list of campgrounds in the areas you are interested in.

We just came thru southern Illinois and I was surprised to find quite a few COE cg. And I see a lot of them down below Louisville. So that's one option for you.