Watch out for cost of Michigan State Parks

[Jayco-noslide]

I've complained before and am again though I don't expect it to change anything. But sometimes I wonder if anyone really complains about price any more so the seller never knows?? We are from Illinois and were just camping at Sleeping Bear Dunes NP campground. No hook-ups but nice campground for $6 (senior pass). We called to see about reserving Ludington St Pk. It would have totaled $49 for 1 night. Rediculous. This crosses the line! This includes entrance fee(which many states waive if camping and I think maybe it's more for non-residents), The camping fee and a way too high $10 reservation fee. Most of the states which charge a daily entrance fee have a lower camping fee so that the total is around $30. PLUS the sites have only elec, no water. So we found a public park several miles away for $30 with full hook-up plus Wi-Fi. We drove through Ludington SP for a look and I've never seen a sate park campground so crowded and with sites so close together. Boy, I sure am glad it was so outrageously expensive so that we did not stay there.

[wbwood]

travelnutz wrote:
A little explanation:

Have to read the OP's post as he was only going to stay one night and a very busy huge extremely popular Michigan SP and why was the cost was so high? There's more than 100 State Parks in Michigan and most are a lot cheaper than Ludington SP, Grand Haven SP, Holland SP or PJ Hoffmaster SP and you can include Silver Lake SP in it too just on the West Michigan shorelie of less than 100 miles length of its 586 miles of its West Michigan shoreline length. These parks are fully booked all summer long and have a very long waiting list. Must be a lot that don't think the fees over a length stay is too high as these SP's sure don't hurt for campers ever, for the last 50-60 years or more!

For most campers in MI SP's, it's a 1 to 2 week long stay there or in other MI SP's. So that reservation fee is a one time charge of $10 divided by how many days stayed. 10 days = $1 per day! Remember that the SP doesn't even get that $10, the reservation place does! It's your option to have or not have a reservation and you know the reservation cost even before you reserve or don't.

The OP is including the 1 day entrance fee and if staying in any MI SP of any combination of MI SP's for a total of 4 days in an entire year's time, it's much cheaper to buy the annual pass as it's good in any SP anytime in the state for the year.

So that $49 number comes way down to under $40 or even down to approx $32 at these popular shoreline SP's and still much lower staying at the less popular SP's. Mid $20's would be an approximate average including your annual pass and with no reservation since in many MI SP's parks, reservation are not really needed other than on holiday weekends. Ludington SP is a very old park and the sites were built when RV's were very small. Most MI SP's have much larger sites and many are paved rv and vehicle areas on the site. There are way over a thousand good camp grounds in Michigan to choose from with hundreds of thousands of sites. On average, camp sites in Michigan are well below the national average in cost to stay at. Been several threads here on rv.net forum giving daily CG cost per day to stay and even $49/day isn't high according to what had been posted.

Why stop at 10 days or so? Of course the longer you camp the cheaper it will be. AS far as the "reservation place" getting the money, they make the deal with the state. If they Reserve America like North Carolina does then the fee is based upon the contract with the state. North Carolina charges $3 per day for reservations. The park I mentioned is probably the most expensive NC park. Matter of fact not many other state parks in NC have hookups. But they also only cost about $20/day including the $3/day reservation fee. Matter of fact you can camp at the same campground I mentioned for $30/day without hookups there. And as I mentioned, no entrance fees to the state parks. But it's not really a good comparison either way, when you can say well if you stay longer or if you stay only one day.

[pegdiver]

$20 campsite for NJ residents - $25 for out of state.
Plus now they have added a $5.00 reservation fee for walk-ups.
They have yearly passes to parks that goes by resident / non resident AND by size of the vehicle for parking. Yearly passes are expensive! But then this is a tax driven state and we are still in debt.
We don't camp in NJ state parks - sites are too small and no electric.

[lbrjet]

RedRocket204 wrote:
Spend tens of thousands of $ on an RV, TV and supplies.

Complaining on the internet about $5 - $10 extra a night for an out-of-state charge = priceless

Agreed. I grew up in Illinois and this original poster made me embarrsed to say that.

[wing_zealot]

Yes Pegdriver, you are right. I was wrong. Upon further checking I see that the fee for non-residents is $31.00 per year for the Recreation Passport. I didn't know that, I thought it was the same price. I don't know about the day fee either, I thought that was abolished. That must be in lieu of the annual Recreation Passport cause you don't need both. But in the end, is it any different then New Jersey. They charge more for non-residents also.

[pegdiver]

Little bit of misinformation here.
In response to the comment below -
As a non-resident of Michigan, we pay the annual park fee of $31.00 - for each motor vehicle! We have a motorhome and tow a car. We could get away with paying the $6 for the car at each park but then since we stay at several parks that would add up. Everyone has to pay the reservation fee for that service.
But for a one night stay, for a non-resident, it does get expensive.

Now if you want to talk about things not being fair - why do we have to pay for a state park sticker or day fee for the motorhome when a 5th wheel does not! We don't move out of our site during our stay. And that is applied to both state and non resident campers.

First, There is no "resident" and "Non-resident" fee. Everyone pays the same price. At The vast majority of state parks, camping fees are less than $30.00 per night.campground prices
Secondly, there is a yearly fee called "Recreation Passport", everyone, resident and nonresident alike pay the same fee and it's good for any state park in Michigan for the whole year. It's $11 for a year.

[winger999]

We are Michigan residents and gladly pay the extra 10 bucks for a licence plate with the park pass for the year.

Ludington State Park is the closest state park to my house, about 80 miles. We never go there due to the smaller sites and crowds. My theory to get to a less crowded park in Michigan is to find one that is not easy to get to. Our favorites are always off the beaten path, are just as clean and nice as the bigger, more popular parks. The Lake Michigan parks are also more popular due to the sandy beaches and sun sets over the lake. The Huron side has some outstanding state parks (that we frequent), but the beaches are not as big and the Lake Huron will often have rocks along the shore.

[RedRocket204]

Spend tens of thousands of $ on an RV, TV and supplies.

Complaining on the internet about $5 - $10 extra a night for an out-of-state charge = priceless

[steveh27]

Many Michigan State Park campground sites are way too close. It feels like a ghetto & I don't like staying so close. Some more isolated ones are better. I have found private and county campgrounds that give more space between sites.

[wing_zealot]

jaycocamprs wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

There is no one in Georgia who was planning to spend two weeks in the Upper Peninsula but cancelled the trip because the state park's camping cost out of state residents $49.00 while in state residents only Pay $44.00.

No we did not cancel a trip due to the resident/non resident price differential. But we did change one because Michigan charges that high entry fee every day of the stay. That was 4 years ago. Michigan lost out in the planning of next years trip also. Still going back to the Great Lakes, just not Michigan.

Little bit of misinformation here.
First, There is no "resident" and "Non-resident" fee. Everyone pays the same price. At The vast majority of state parks, camping fees are less than $30.00 per night.campground prices
Secondly, there is a yearly fee called "Recreation Passport", everyone, resident and nonresident alike pay the same fee and it's good for any state park in Michigan for the whole year. It's $11 for a year.

Jayco-noslide wrote:
... We called to see about reserving Ludington St Pk. It would have totaled $49 for 1 night. Rediculous. ....

If you want to roll all the fees into a one night stand sure, it's $50.00 per night. But if you want to roll it into a 2 week stay, it's $31.50 per night. Let's be a little honest here and tell the whole story, not the glorified "on my high horse" story.

[Executive45]

Obviously the OP has NEVER camped at a California State Park...:E...and most likely never will..:)..Dennis

[rexlion]

Yep, they did you a favor. Too crowded anyway. I don't like crowds, either. My favorite type of campsite is one where I'm the only camper.

[dewey02]

We just spent a week in MI and stayed at 5 state parks. We bought a season pass for out of state.
We found the MI state parks to be very nice and well kept, and reasonable in price. I used to live in Illinois and it is one of the few states that do not charge a fee to enter state parks.

I am fine wwith paying out of state fees. People who live in a state and pay taxes should pay less to visit their own parks than visitors from out of state.

Everyone has their own opinions, and the OP is welcomed to his, but we had a GREAT and affordable time visiting the beautiful Michigan state parks (and their national parks and national forests too!)

[darsben]

kknowlton wrote:
Silver lining: Michigan state parks are generally nicer & in better shape than Illinois ones, which do not charge an entry fee. You get what you pay for, sometimes - and we have found that usually applies to state parks.

Not that it seems to be an issue with the OP, but some on this forum have from time to time complained about states that charge more for non-residents. I have never had a problem with that, since state income taxes often are used partly to support the state parks. Nonresidents don't pay those income taxes (though they may pay their own states), so it's only fair, IMO, to charge nonresidents a bit more to use facilities in another state whose own taxpayers help foot the bill.

yes silver lining the OP found a park he likes better for less money

[valhalla360]

OP took the worst possible option to figure a per night rate.

Recalculate with a weeks stay, and it drops drastically. Also, you won't find many private parks on Lake Michigan (except for the state parks) and when you do, they won't be cheap.

[travelnutz]

A little explanation:

Have to read the OP's post as he was only going to stay one night and a very busy huge extremely popular Michigan SP and why was the cost was so high? There's more than 100 State Parks in Michigan and most are a lot cheaper than Ludington SP, Grand Haven SP, Holland SP or PJ Hoffmaster SP and you can include Silver Lake SP in it too just on the West Michigan shorelie of less than 100 miles length of its 586 miles of its West Michigan shoreline length. These parks are fully booked all summer long and have a very long waiting list. Must be a lot that don't think the fees over a length stay is too high as these SP's sure don't hurt for campers ever, for the last 50-60 years or more!

For most campers in MI SP's, it's a 1 to 2 week long stay there or in other MI SP's. So that reservation fee is a one time charge of $10 divided by how many days stayed. 10 days = $1 per day! Remember that the SP doesn't even get that $10, the reservation place does! It's your option to have or not have a reservation and you know the reservation cost even before you reserve or don't.

The OP is including the 1 day entrance fee and if staying in any MI SP of any combination of MI SP's for a total of 4 days in an entire year's time, it's much cheaper to buy the annual pass as it's good in any SP anytime in the state for the year.

So that $49 number comes way down to under $40 or even down to approx $32 at these popular shoreline SP's and still much lower staying at the less popular SP's. Mid $20's would be an approximate average including your annual pass and with no reservation since in many MI SP's parks, reservation are not really needed other than on holiday weekends. Ludington SP is a very old park and the sites were built when RV's were very small. Most MI SP's have much larger sites and many are paved rv and vehicle areas on the site. There are way over a thousand good camp grounds in Michigan to choose from with hundreds of thousands of sites. On average, camp sites in Michigan are well below the national average in cost to stay at. Been several threads here on rv.net forum giving daily CG cost per day to stay and even $49/day isn't high according to what had been posted.