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

15 Replies

Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2015
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
scbwr
Explorer II
Mar 04, 2015
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.
rexlion
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
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.
Gigem
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
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.
michigansandzil
Explorer
Mar 04, 2015
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.

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Great North - Michigan, Minnesota, ND etc.

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