Learned something new about camping....

Gordon Three,

How did you like the 2-1/2 miles of pristene pure sand beach and Lake Michigan bottom and the huge tall dunes at Hoffmaster that turn your you thought athletic legs to rubber when climbing them for the lookout views etc? Miles of hiking trails that vary from along Black Creek to very dense hardwood and pines woods/forest to pure soft sand and a steep sand climb and back down again and then to the flowered meadows teaming with colorful birds and butterflies and with gobs of wildlife both large and small including many whitetailed deer from spotted babies to 12-14 point bucks? Lots of wild purple concord grapes to pick and safe to eat on the dunes. The wild flowers abound from early spring until after the first frost in later fall.

Those pure soft sand dune climbs are 2 steps forward and slide back 1 so it as if the dune is twice as high and so steep in many areas and makes your ole ticker pound so hard clear up thru your ears and head! The inland side of the dunes are extremely steep and more like 6 crawls forward/up and slide back down 5 crawl distances. Seems like it takes an hour to get to the top but the views are more than worth the torture!

Years ago before it was a state park, there were long stretched out motorcycles with wide paddle tires that couldn't even climb halfway up most of the dune inland sides. Just north of the state park is the Mt. Garfield professional Hill Climb site (the first in America) Google it for various articles and pics: www.mlive.com/.../all_star_pro_hill_climb_return_1.html

Last about 30 year they've planted grass to help with tire grip and stabilize the steep hill and they only have the climb every 2 years there so the grass roots can grow deeper. Used to be that out of 50-60 climbers only a couple wouldn't make it to the top and there were so many spectators injured badly with motorcycles that flew or tumbled down the hill with no rider on it and they were forced to make it safer. It now a timed climb rather than can you even get to the top! A mind boggling sight sitting and watching them go up that hill burning nitro etc.


We used to love climbing the 9 tall dunes as fast as we could for over 30 years but at almost 73 it's a bit much now and especially can't now because my wife is disabled now so it's a no no. Not sure I could do it either today! No one can ever take the fabulous memories of the fun we'd had there. It's our forever to remember and enjoy!

The 2 story Gillete visitor center between the dunes with it's displays, shows, and many programs for adults and kids and even classrooms for kids with live animals from the park is very unique? Where Little Black Creek flows into Lake Michigan near the campground beach changes constantly. The flow will move from almost in front of the stairway down to the beach at the end of the beach path all the way north to past the dune on the north side of the creek. Varies about 1/4 mile from year to year or over a few years and that's what forms the usually large little kids shallow playing in/wading pool that forms a hundred feet or so before the sand dammed water spill over into the lake. Very popular with little kids! Don't be surprised if the creek and the camping area big beach looks different the next time you go there. It changes constantly with the shifting sand!

We were at a park near Pensacola Fla a couple of years ago. It was a nice evening, clear skies and a warm breeze. Around mid night it started to sound like a thunder storm moving in off the Gulf, but the thunder didn't sound quite right. Didn't see any lightening either. hmmm. Went back to sleep. The next morning I talked a camper who lived nearby. No, that wasn't thunder, it was live artillery shells the Air Force was running drills with!

The squirrels use my metal roofed pole building for a nut cracker. It is surrounded by oak trees. They only do it in the early morning and at dusk. Guesss squirels only eat two meals a day. Learned the hard way to never park anything metal under an oak tree in early fall. It can be as bad as hail damage.

Bigdog wrote:
Living here in the AWESOME northwest,we do a lot of camping at the beach and one of the problems we have is seagulls and low tide. They are able to get clams from the beach and then soar to great heights and drop them on the roof of your rv.WHAMMMM!!!! :MIt can be rather disconcerting if it's early in the morning as after they drop the clams and crack them open,they land and walk around making a skittering sound. There are also times when several of them want the clam and you have a seagull fight on your roof. Oh, and then there is the accompaning white stuff that they usually leave behind as they leave,mostly on the tablecloth,your chairs and BBQs.:(

While I don't have experience with clams being dropped, being near the Great Lakes we have tons of seagull experience. Yep, they are terribly annoying! Running back and forth on the roof or fighting over leftover food scraps the campers have out. Makes you rethink the beach front site!

WD-40 does a pretty good job of taking Douglas Fir sap off roofs/hoods, etc...:B

travelnutz wrote:
Ahhh, site 35 on the end right across the loop 1 road. The path that goes between the dunes to the beach! That's the same path that was there back 40+ years ago before those campsites were built. The path went thru and from the then parking area to the beach. Cars got there by going across the creek on a cement bridge from the north side. You can still where the road went down the hill from each way to the bridge. The old entrance blacktop road (still there) went on the north side of the baseball field.

From where you'd started from your campsite 35 towards the beach, the now very grown over area to the between the dunes was the long ago parking area on both sides of the path and the yellow concession stand/bathrooms building sat on the small knoll on the north side of the path. The parking area could only hold about a max of maybe 60 cars between the creek and the high dune to the south so the day use/beach lot was moved to where it is now. You probably noticed the many stumps at ground level around site 35 and that end left from the gobs of trees they'd cut down on that end of loop 1.

Windshield sticker? Haven't had a windshield sticker since the "P" on the plate year colored tag came out about 3-4 years ago or so. Only $10 per vehicle added to the yearly Michigan registration fee when you renew so why not? Same for all our vehicles and all have handicapped plates. All they ask us at the entrance/checkin is if we have a yearly pass and I say: Yes.

I'd have no problem also having a windshield sticker also as the "P" on the rear license plate is so small and hard to see by the person at the entrance check window and of course cheap people etc will lie and claim they do have the "P". Even a much larger "P" might be smart also. We'd seen several vehicles getting tickets for lying at Grand Haven State Park the last couple years but they were beach users going to the left at the main entrance, not campers as the campers now use a different entrance. Having about 2 million visitors each year means the booth person doesn't have even squat time to look at the license plates. So the rangers do patrol the beach and also the parking lot there on the ATV vehicles and look at each vehicle plate for the "P" and if no "P", they check for or a daily tag on the windshield. None, write a ticket and it's not cheap, many times the $10 for a yearly pass good at any of the over a hundred state parks.

I must have come across that old road, called the Ridgeview trail now? Wondered why it was paved and now I know!

Regarding the tiny "P", I agree it's hard to see for folks working the gate. I would think surely the State could print the sticker in a different color for those with the rec-pass without breaking the bank, or sell us an upgraded license plate like they do for the sports teams, sunset plate or bridge plate, that would make it super easy... who knows? I like the program and have been on board for both my cars since it started.

Ahhh, site 35 on the end right across the loop 1 road. The path that goes between the dunes to the beach! That's the same path that was there back 40+ years ago before those campsites were built. The path went thru and from the then parking area to the beach. Cars got there by going across the creek on a cement bridge from the north side. You can still where the road went down the hill from each way to the bridge. The old entrance blacktop road (still there) went on the north side of the baseball field.

From where you'd started from your campsite 35 towards the beach, the now very grown over area to the between the dunes was the long ago parking area on both sides of the path and the yellow concession stand/bathrooms building sat on the small knoll on the north side of the path. The parking area could only hold about a max of maybe 60 cars between the creek and the high dune to the south so the day use/beach lot was moved to where it is now. You probably noticed the many stumps at ground level around site 35 and that end left from the gobs of trees they'd cut down on that end of loop 1.

Windshield sticker? Haven't had a windshield sticker since the "P" on the plate year colored tag came out about 3-4 years ago or so. Only $10 per vehicle added to the yearly Michigan registration fee when you renew so why not? Same for all our vehicles and all have handicapped plates. All they ask us at the entrance/checkin is if we have a yearly pass and I say: Yes.

I'd have no problem also having a windshield sticker also as the "P" on the rear license plate is so small and hard to see by the person at the entrance check window and of course cheap people etc will lie and claim they do have the "P". Even a much larger "P" might be smart also. We'd seen several vehicles getting tickets for lying at Grand Haven State Park the last couple years but they were beach users going to the left at the main entrance, not campers as the campers now use a different entrance. Having about 2 million visitors each year means the booth person doesn't have even squat time to look at the license plates. So the rangers do patrol the beach and also the parking lot there on the ATV vehicles and look at each vehicle plate for the "P" and if no "P", they check for or a daily tag on the windshield. None, write a ticket and it's not cheap, many times the $10 for a yearly pass good at any of the over a hundred state parks.

I had a great time at this park, acorns at all. I stayed near the end of the first loop on site 35. I got used to the banging acorns pretty quickly.

The park was quite busy, lots of young campers and families and lots and lots of tents ... it was refreshing to hear the activity compared to other parks I've been to recently where all I heard is folks showing off the pipes on their hogs or having diesel motor-idling contests.

I will say, the online reviews about the DNR being strict at this park were not an exaggeration. They were very vigilant about people paying not only to camp there, but also for their automobile pass. Even rec-pass holders like myself had to display a separate windshield sticker to confirm I had the rec-pass... and here I thought the purpose of moving the rec-pass to the license plate was so we didn't have to have the windshield sticker anymore.

Stupid nature, Ruining everything!!!

Nothing says fall more than pine and fir cones mixed with raindrops on the roof
here in Western Washington.