Where to camp on Michigan rivers ?

travelnutz wrote:
I made lists as requested by some of all the CG in Michigan on the shoreline alone just for Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and some on Lake Huron near the Straits area and posted them on this forum several times. The lists are long. To do the all the CG's on rivers & streams in Michigan would be 4 times + as long even if not including those on inland lakes.

OK I should be able to search the forum. thanks!

I was looking for for CG's with access to a fly fishing river. There used to be a place near Lovells called Sheep Ranch on the north branch of the Au Sable river which is now closed to camping, all of the sites were right on the water, very nice. I also heard that Conners Flats is also closed to camping.

When I was van camping I never had to think about things like site sizes or turn a rounds. I did think of going up to a known CG near the Au Sable and taking a scouting tour without the trailer,and see what I could find.

I don't really like the State Parks they tend to be crowded and noisy, there OK for an overnight stop over, but I was looking for more of a rustic camp experience, even tho the trailer has everything under the sun LOL.

BTW What is a reverse three point turn?

Thanks for the replies.

Whether it's a state forest campground, national forest, county or private park, all you have to do is call and see about the site sizes and access road.

For national forest here is the site we used a lot for our 40' motorhome:

Dow's National Forest Reference

You can always drive through a CG with just your tow vehicle before making the commitment to drag the TT in. Either by unhooking the TT for a few minutes, or by spending a day just driving (day trip) to some likely CGs with the idea of finding campsites for the future.

What type of place specifically are you looking for? A well developed CG with a 100 yard walk to the river? Or a rustic CG with sites right next to the riverbank? Small, narrow stream? Big, wide river? Fast water? Slow water? You want to fish? Or listen to the water babble over the rocks? Or what?

39,842 miles of rivers and streams in Michigan and 602 miles distance from the southern border south of Detroit to the Wisconsin border in the Western U.P. So what area of Michigan are you wanting to put your 27' TT at? Also, there's over 11,000 inland lakes and more than 3,200 miles of the Great Lakes shoreline in Michigan. Nearly 4,000 total CG's in the state (NP, SP, Nat For, State For, County, TWP, City, Private, Casino, church owned, etc) and over 1/3 of them are on water's shores. Hundreds of the CG's can easily handle even a 40' TT and the roads going to them also. Full hookups, partial hookups, no hookups, or rustic is also a choice to be made.

I made lists as requested by some of all the CG in Michigan on the shoreline alone just for Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and some on Lake Huron near the Straits area and posted them on this forum several times. The lists are long. To do the all the CG's on rivers & streams in Michigan would be 4 times + as long even if not including those on inland lakes.

brebar wrote:
Does anyone know where I could camp along a river with a 27ft TT. In the past I've always camped in a van with a tent and could go anywhere I wanted. This trailer seems to big to drive down two tracks to the river. It's very hard to tell on a map if the campground could accommodate a 27 footer. My biggest fear is getting trapped in some remote campground.

Thanks!

Michigan's a big state with lots of rivers - what area are you looking at?

There are govt cg's that'll accommodate your size on these rivers: Manistee, Pine, Little Manistee, Betsie, Platte. There's also several nice private CG along the Manistee, Pine and Betsie.

Learn to do a reverse 3 point turn, it's not that scary actually :) Even the some of the govt's tiny tents-only CG I've blindly driven into had a loop for easy turn around.

Edit: I should add, the govt is pretty strict about camping too close to a river, public or private... so even cg that advertise being on the river, you're not going to be able to sit under your rv awning and cast.

Ludington State Park has a lot of sites very close to Hamlin Lake, which I believe they stock. You can walk 20 ft from your RV to a fishing dock.