Hello all, I haven’t posted in a while but would appreciate some suggestions. Everyone in the forum has the best suggests on things to see and do and great RV sites. One of the few areas of the country we haven’t had a chance to explore is the northern Michigan area. We’re planning about a 2 month trip leaving Texas towards the end of May. We’d like to spend some time in the great state of Michigan. We’d also like to spend some time in Minnesota and North Dakota. It looks like a lot of the RV sites in northern Michigan are state sites with minimal hookups? We’ve been to Alaska so we’re not afraid of “some” roughing it but we prefer full hookups. Suggestions, comments and thoughts.

The state parks in Michigan are all electric only......aside from about 3 that have a few FHUs. It's safe to assume that you'll get electric only unless you go to a private campground. The UP will be more available, but if you want to stay at a popular LP state park in the summer near a lake, particularly Lake Michigan, you will need reservations.

MichiganSandzilla, thanks for your comments. I'm learning that the season is short in the north and popular state park areas in Michigan become very full in the summer and it can be a challenge to just show up without a reservation? This is a lot like the Adirondacks in upstate New York. We typically, don't do reservations but for some of this trip we may need to be a bit more creative. Thanks again.

Many people like Mill Creek near Mackinaw City. Good location to explore the northern tip of the lower peninsula and eastern UP. Another possibility is Magnus Park city CG in Petoskey; we camped there on 4th of July one time (no reservations, we just showed up) and watched 3 sets of fireworks at once from 3 towns around the shoreline.One nice place in the UP with FHU is the City of Houghton RV CG. From there you can visit the beautiful Keweenaw Peninsula or take a day trip to the Porcupine Mountains.In MN, be sure to drive north from Duluth along the shoreline at least as far as Grand Marais. There's a big FHU CG there.

The west coast of MI is incredible....beautiful sandy beaches. There are a lot of private campgrounds as well as the state parks. Sleeping Bear Dunes is incredible. Ludington SP is also really nice and you can take dune buggy tours of the dunes. The Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids is very interesting, as well as the Frank Lloyd Wright house. And, check out tulip festival related stuff in Holland! We didn't know about that beautiful west coast of MI until we went out there the summer before last, after stopping at the Winnebago factory to have a ladder installed on our Minnie. We went back last summer to Ludington, and will head over there again, I'm sure as it's not that far from us.

Gigem, Michigansandzilla has real good information. The first thing that I would tell you that he didn't cover is about late May- Early April. Be prepared for cold. When it isn't cold, have bug repellent. It is Worth it. There are FHU campgrounds, but they are private and they know that they have a short season to make money. This is true across the UP of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. I don't know about North Dakota, we were only there for a week and the camp we bought was in Abraham Lincoln SP. Matt

Great North - Michigan, Minnesota, ND etc. | Good Sam Community

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Mar 05, 2015
We have reservations for Munising Tourist Park Campground in the U.P. supposedly one of the nicest places in the U.P. located right on Lake Superior (we have a lake front site). it is very near Pictured Rocks. The Porcupine mountains are supposed to be very nice also.
Nels_Connie
Explorer
Mar 05, 2015
This is a nice park on the big lake in Grand Marais.
(if you were to go in the first week in October the colors are great)
http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.grandmaraismichigan.com/woodland-park.php&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=_Qr4VJ7nOcS7ggSs0YGwCg&ved=0CBUQFjAA&sig2=6lOL8o1jzuIT-vSfd0VNyg&usg=AFQjCNFL7kHSfV1x-W6F66yqOBTQVuKPPA
Gigem
Explorer
Mar 05, 2015
Lots of good information, wanted to thank everyone that has offered their help. Wow, 28 degrees on July 4th, that is brisk.:D
michigansandzil
Explorer
Mar 05, 2015
Gigem wrote:
I'm learning that the season is short in the north and popular state park areas in Michigan become very full in the summer and it can be a challenge to just show up without a reservation?

That's correct. You will have more flexibility in the UP b/c it's less visited up there but the LP may cause issues.

For reference, MI state park reservation site
You can plug into the map with your info (location, dates, and site size) and it will immediately show you what's available or booked. You can book all Michigan state parks through labor day so you can certainly see what's available for your summer trip.
For a quick search, I typed in the last weekend in June and many in the UP were open, but there were only a couple of sites available on the entire Lake Michigan shoreline for your sized rig.

Looks like you're from Texas? Just be prepared for cool weather while you're up here. We were in the UP for July 4th 2014, and on our first night, it was 28 degrees! It was an unusually cool year last summer, but bring sweatshirts, gloves, and bug spray.
sweetnoni
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
We traveled from MO. to ND last summer late. We stayed at a nice little campground off the interstate at Ashby,MN. Quaint, quiet and cool. We went from there to Teddy Roosevelt National Park and stayed in the campground right outside the park. Was the pitts. Bathrooms dirty, low spot with lots of muddy puddles, and packed in like sardines. Can't recall the name of the berg right now, but it was the town right at the mouth of the south part of the park. There were sites inside the park, but I don't think they had FHU. I think if there is a next time, I'll forego the hookups as the park's sites were much nicer.(Medora was the name of the berg, typical tourist trap)
Islandman
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
In ND you will want to visit Theodore Roosevelt NP and the Mandan area. TRNP has some pretty neat badlands and Medora ND where Roosevelt lived for awhile is a neat town. The Mandan area is where Lewis & Clark spent the winter of 1804-05 and a lot of history was made there. In MN you will have fun in Bemidji, the hometown of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
Jim_Shoe
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
If you're going to explore North Dakota, you may want to stay near or south of I-94. Just 100 miles north of there is Williston, ND. The site of the big ND Bakken oil boom. The area around Williston is overwhelmed with oil well workers - still. They've found a way to extract oil from previously unreachable spots in the area. And then there's the trucks hauling it out of there.
agb2529
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
As you head west from Duluth towards ND, an absolute must is Itasca State Park. 30,000 acres of woods and the headwaters of the Mississippi - you can walk across the river where it begins (since it's only about knee deep!). Great hiking & biking trails and Lake Itasca w/boat rentals and fishing.
shayerk
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
Duluth, Minnesota is a great town to explore. Lots of unique shops and restaurants, an excellent Great Lakes museum, a Great Lakes aquarium, hiking and biking paths, and of course, ships! There is an RV park right on the harbor. It's really a marina parking lot, but there are full hookups, plenty of room between campers, and a view to die for! It's called Lakehead Boat Basin.

http://www.lakeheadboatbasin.com/rv.html
APT
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
Our family loves Michigan's west coast, from Grand Haven up to Mackinaw City. While we generally prefer the state parks I do not know of any on the west coast that have full hookups. We have stayed at South Higgins Lake State Park with full hookups which we enjoy, but I wouldn't recommend it for people from out of state. Michigan's great lakes are IMHO worth more of your time.

We have stayed at and recommend Indigo Bluffs in Empire, MI in the middle of Sleeping Bear National Park which offers full hookups as well.