Forum Discussion

loulou57's avatar
loulou57
Explorer
Sep 18, 2013

Michigan

Hubby and I like to go to Michigan quite a lot. We usually do the Hampton Inn route but are thinking we might like to do some camping instead.

Can anyone suggest CG that are much like our provincial parks. Lots of trees, privacy, good hiking and wildlife.

We have noticed in many magazines and information booth brochures that many CG have cement pads and patio areas. While these may be handy occasionally, they really are not our cup of tea.

Any suggestions of places to stay would be appreciated.

Other places of interest are Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Thanks in advance.
  • Some Michigan campgrounds are like sardine cans and others have large private sites.
  • Double towing in Michigan is legal but requires towing behind a 5th wheel trailer. Double towing behind a Travel Trailer (TT/bumper pull) is not allowed.

    Nearly half of the Michigan State Parks have very good marked trails for hiking and lots of forests and also are on rivers or lakes. Beside those already mentioned here's a couple more with serious hiking trails: Hartwick Pines near Grayling (9,700 acres, Tahquamenon State Park - eastern U.P.(huge -50,000 acres), The longest S.P. trail is Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park that goes 92 miles from Grand Rapids to Cadillac (old RR bed - about half is paved and the rest is gravel or packed cinders.

    Then there's the huge Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore N.P. with a gorgeous CG at Platte River and more trails than you can do in a month right from your CG site. Over the dunes and/or thru the valleys and thick forests with lakes, rivers, and streams all over the place. Boating and/or fishing in a different lake every day for a month stay. Even go over to the 2 big islands (Manitou's) for more and more hiking until you drop! Virgin forests of still growing HUGE cedar trees that had started growing before Columbus crossed the Atlantic on South Manitou Island. Trees over 500 years old!

    The to top it off, there's over a hundred State and National forest CG's that have untold miles of serious hiking trails right from your site. Most sites have no kookups.

    So many choices and so little time!

    Camping, boating, fishing, hiking, and hunting is king in Michigan.
  • You will more than likely get stopped in Michigan with that set up. Michigan you can only double tow behind a fifth wheel. Suggest you make a call to Michigan highway patrol before you come across the border towing anything behind a TT. Your ministry of transport sounds like they gave you some miss information. Each state has it's own towing laws, they are not all the same, and they will stop you if you are not in compliance with there laws even if it's legal were you are from.
  • Michigan does NOT allow you to pull a trailer with another trailer behind it. If you are pulling a 5th Wheeler then you're allowed another trailer behind the 5th Wheel. I see many 5th Wheelers with a fishing boat being towed behind it.
    NOT TRAILERS..
    Happy trails,
  • Thanks for the info. We usually cross at Port Huron but we are up to going anywhere. We spend most of our lives on the road, LOL. We also have been known to travel 14 hours one way, only to have one night stay atvthe perfect place and drive home. LOL


    Another question.....we pull our 27ft TT as well as our boat sometimes. We are 72ft in length. Now, according to our ministry of transport, we are allowed to travel through the US towing both. Apparently, we are legal as long as we are legal in Ontario. Has anyone seen or heard of anyone having issues with this in your state?
  • In the U.P. I would suggest Porcupine Mountains State Park at the western end of the peninsula. Rather than use Union Bay campground at the north end I'd use the rustic campground at the south end of the park near the Presque Isle River. The hiking trails in this very large park are some of the best in the eastern U.S. You can do some back country hiking or there are shorter trails too.

    Also in the U.P. is Ft. Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor, at the very northern tip of the U.P. in Lake Superior. There are hiking trails in that area as well as some great scenery. You can also opt to take the boat up to Isle Royal National Park in the middle of Lake Superior from either Copper Harbor or Houghton, further down the Keweenaw Peninsula.

    Another U.P. destination is Munising. There is a tourist park campground just west of the city on Lake Superior. There are also plenty of hiking areas where you can hike back into some waterfall areas. Just east of Munising about 30 +/- miles is Grand Marais which has a great little municipal campground on the east side of town called Woodland Park. Between Munising & Grand Marais is the Lake Superior Trail for hiking. You can hook up to the trail just west of Grand Marais.

    In the Lower Peninsula just north of the small town of Atlanta is Clear Lake State Park. You can go right from the campground and hook up to the North Country Trail for hiking. There are a lot of elk in the area as well as bear if you're interested in wildlife.
  • State campgrounds would be your best bet. We prefer Lake Michigan, northern lower and lower upper peninsula areas but most would fit your needs.
  • How far do you want to travel? It says you are from Ontario, are you coming in to Michigan at Detroit/Port Huron or at the Soo?

    Three parks come to mind with what you describe. They are Sleepy Hollow, Ludington and Wilderness. Sleepy Hollow might be considered outdated to some of the state parks like Holland and Grand Haven that have been updated. But there are several private camp sites and they have hiking trails around the park.

    Ludington offers everything you mention. If you are considering camping there, mark your calendar 6 months ahead of your trip to make your reservation as that park fills up fast.

    Wilderness State park west of Mackinaw is also excellent.

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