Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The LeRoys wrote:
We are considering camping in the UP in mid to late August. What are some of your favorite campgrounds in that area, and why? What is the weather like at that time of year?

We are a family with 4 kids all under 10. We love state parks as well as RV parks depending on weather.

Bring sweatshirts, jackets and gloves just in case. It was 28* at night last year on the fourth of July.

We have stayed at Brimley state park and Tahquamenon State Park Rivermouth campground, and gone on day trips to visit Mackinac Island, Sault Ste Marie, Pictured Rocks, and Whitefish Point. Our kids have been between 2 and 11 on these trips and here's what they enjoyed the most:

-Mackinac Island. Spend the day here. They'll love it. Go see the Fort as well. Take a horse drawn carriage ride. You can get the ferry from St. Ignace.

-Playing on the beach and swimming in Lake Superior at Brimley state park. You can't always swim in Lake Superior, but if the weather is warm enough that year, Brimley is the warmest part of the entire lake. The campground is in the middle of nowhere, but my kids love to play in sand and water and this suited their needs for down time. They also found a stream with tadpoles in it. I would choose this park over Tahquamenon Rivermouth campground simply because at Tahq, the kids kayaked in the river which was fun, but there was no beach to play on. My kids like the beach.

-Whitefish Point. It's a beautiful beach. You can collect rocks. Last year the kids found tons of driftwood and had a pretend fight and built a fort. The also liked the lighthouse tour and even the Shipwreck museum. It's small and they went through it fast, but still enjoyed it.

Mixed reviews:

-Pictured Rocks boat cruise. Adults love this. It's beautiful. My 5 year old daughter loved the cruise this year. When she was 2, the cruise was too long and she had a tantrum the entire last hour. We had 13, 11, and 9 year old boys with us this year and they didn't like it at all. Sitting on a boat looking at rocks for three hours isn't their idea of fun, they wanted to be on the beach picking up driftwood and building forts.

-Sault Ste Marie, Soo Locks. We timed our arrival to watch a freighter go through the locks and believe it or not, all four kids with us (aged 5-13) were bored out of their minds. They didn't care for it. All of the adults liked it. IT took about 30 minutes for the boat to go through.

It's very unpopulated up there and there's a lot of driving to get anywhere you want to go, but there's virtually zero traffic.

Have fun.