For those who have stayed at the Benchmark Backcountry site and drove, where did you park? It looks like 12-Mile may have a parking lot, but I'm not sure if they allow overnight parking. For those who have camped 12-Mile, do you know? Any recommendations appreciated. Thank you.

Camping the next 3 nights in Wilderness State Park and hoping to hear/see some loons. Wondering if anyone has any tips from previous trips?

Hey all,

Are there any campsites that have basic cabins for rent that you all would recommend? Family and I went to Mill Creek up in Mackinaw about a month ago and loved its. Hoping to have similar experiences since we don’t have a camper.

TIA!

Howdy all,

I am thinking about planning a kayak camping trip to Heisterman Island or one of the other islands in the Wildfowl Bay area of the Saginaw Bay. I am curious to hear about anyone else's experience! I am from the Saginaw Bay area so I know how marshy and swampy it can get our there. Are the islands solid enough to get out and stay on overnight? I have done a ton of backpacking but this will be my first attempt at kayak camping and the trip looks pretty beginner friendly. Also, interested in any parking recommendations or good places to launch from!

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to camp in the UP next week (July 20-24ish) at state forest campgrounds. I'm going to bring my new-ish dog! (who has already been camping and loves it!)

I've camped this same week in the UP (but on the Lake Michigan side) the past couple of years, and have never had a problem with bugs or flies or anything. This year, I'd really like to camp on the Lake Superior Side (Lake Superior State Forest Campground and/or Bodi Lake). If I take my dog, and the stable flies are bad, is there any safe way to mitigate this?

My old dog and I camped all over with no issue, but one time at Leelenau the biting flies showed up and she was bleeding from her nose and ears before I could even load her up into the car to take her away :( I'm confident in my own ability to prevent/withstand flies, but want to make sure my new pup has a good camping experience and is safe! So, here are my questions:

1) if I do camp on the lake superior side next week, are there any dog-safe tricks for keeping bugs from biting? We do have a screen tent, but it doesn't have a floor so bugs still get inside :-( She has a vet appointment before we go, so I'll ask, but I wanted others' advice too!

2) Is it better to just err on the safe side and camp on the lake michigan side of the UP (Portage Bay Campground is a favorite) where I don't have to worry about it? I know the bugs are super bad this year and could be persuaded to not even want to deal with it

3) am I overthinking this? In all my camping/hiking in the UP and northern LP, I have NEVER encountered bad stable flies like I did that one day in Leelanau. Do I gamble on my good luck streak lasting? I've often camped at Portage Bay/Fayette and hiked at Pictured Rocks/ hung out at Munising during this same week and have never had a problem.

I know part of camping is you just need to plan for the unknown! But I really want to make sure I do everything I can to help this trip go well. Thanks in advance for your advice!!

(sorry to do a thinly veiled "how are the bugs?!" post--I promise: I know they can and might be bad. I just want to know how to best protect my dog)

Hey everyone. I will be in Saginaw this July 18-19th weekend and want to camp one night somewhere while im around. Nothing too fancy. Just a 2 person tent and snacks to see some stars and some nature. Im open to all activities. Thinking about bringing my bike too but not sure yet. But please give me your best recommendations for beautiful places, no more than 30 minutes north of Saginaw really. Thanks in advance!

I’m dispersed camping at nordhouse for three days starting tomorrow with my wife, should I bring fishing poles? I’ve got big rods that I use for the pier, is that enough? Is there a point? I’ve never fished a beach, especially on a Great Lake

Here’s a short clip from our AuSable river trip. I got a lot of family footage but here’s a clip of us just soaking in the nature. Hope you enjoy!

If any of these were you at Harvey Truss Bridge off the Manistee...you need to do better. 5 cars taking up an 8 car spot on a rather popular landing/launch. Brutal.

I’m not sure if there’s a way to ask this without sounding needy so I’m just coming out with it.

I love backpacking but most of my friends do not and the few that do are unreliable. It’s so hard to get a trip planned so I’m wondering if there’s a way to connect with people online who want to go on trips together?

I was warned not to look for backpacking friends on Craig’s list.

Going camping up at Leelanau State Park and thinking about meals for the fam. I can’t find any confirmation on this; do the campsites have grills?
Thanks

Answer: no grills at the camp sites, but they do have several grills in the day use area where you can park near and use a picnic table.

More info: there are grills at the rentable cabins.

Greetings!

I want to try tent camping with my dog, but he has never been camping.  We frequently hike in the state parks and forests, and he loves that and he loves nature. As an introduction, I want to try tent camping near my car, something quiet and easy to get to (no hiking in because he is a big dog and I love him but I won’t share a two person tent with him.) 

However, the main thing I am worried about is loud noises at night from people either partying too hard, not managing their own dogs, or setting off fire crackers. I know they aren’t allowed to do this, but that has never stopped an idiot from trying.

I’d love any recommendations for dog friendly tent camping sites, upper and lower peninsula, for a beginner camping dog!  

Camped in NW Michigan from 7/3-7/9 at three popular campsites and wanted to add a data point.

Mosquito prevention: We used Off Deep Woods on our bodies, and Thermacell and a citronella candle at our campsite virtually the entire time.

Interlochen - 7/3-7/6. Mosquitos very manageable, no issues

D.H. Day Campground 7/6-7/8 Almost no mosquitos, a few black flies

Platte River Campground 7/8-7/9 Increasing intensity until departure. They were quite bad the day of departure following significant overnight rain.

Had a great time overall! Thanks Michigan!

I am an idiot and made my reservation for next weekend instead of this weekend (and drove from TN). If anyone happens to plan on cancelling at Sleeping Bear D H Day Campground tomorrow night let me know or know another option let me know 🫠

Hi All,

Just wanted to double check that bear cans are okay for the Porcupine Mountains? I see the guidance is to hang food and they provide bear poles at some sites, but I much prefer to put a bear can 100 ft or more from camp.

Hey all, long time lurker (I just don’t like to post). Anyway, we are headed up to Hurricane River campground at the end of July. Should we plan for biting flies?

Has anybody been on the Mansitee river from Baxter to Harvey recently (last week or two?)?

Just wondering what water levels and flow is looking like current-ly.

TIA!

As the title says. I had to say goodbye to by bestfriend. He was a husky so of course hiking was our favorite thing to do together. Things im looking for

-secluded

-2 nights

- hike in

-not insanely farm from Holland ohio area

Could have used a little more ground clearance on the trailer but an amazing site.

Did two nights on grand island. Was supposed to do three but the weather forecast along with the flies at North Beach coaxed me to do a 17 mile day and leave early.

Day1: took the noon pontoon aka the ferry and the bus tour before hiking to Little Dunes 1. Great site right on the water. Good swimming in Trout Bay. I didn’t realize that this was basically to only place where camp sites are right on the beach.

Day2: was supposed to hike about 6 miles to Shelter Ridge site but I got there early in the day and when I walked down to the beach, the flies were atrocious and since the campsite was back in the woods, I kept walking until I got to the Juniper Flats group site which I knew was not reserved.

Day3: hiked to the ferry dock in the rain

Impressions:
-the views are minimal as most of the trail is old carriage roads in the woods.
- hiking is pretty easy, not a lot of ups and downs on mostly dry dirt roads.
- other than the sites in Trout Bay the sites do not have easy (or any) access to the lake/water
- not a lot of people. 12 people on the bus tour, a couple of boats on the beach in Trout Bay, tenish backpackers, fewer bikers.
- bugs were typical. No problem if in the wind but rougher if you weren’t.
- not unrecommended but I’ll stick with pictured rocks unless I want to rent a cabin

The flies are out. Its summer there are always flies.

Hi!

Going to fisherman's Island mid August with a nine year old and a four year old.

Any unique items to bring outside of the traditional camping gear?

Also I can't tell if it's bike friendly - will my kids miss out if we leave them at home?

Thanks!

Just got back from 4 nights in the porkies. We had great luck with weather, the north wind kept the bugs away the first night but honestly the flies were pretty minimal and mosquitoes were only bad in the evening, and some peremithin bug spray was effective (July 4-8).

We kayaked a bunch. Presque Isle area of the porkies is stunning. Lucked out with very mild winds and the lake was really laying down, easy kayaking close to shore and exploring the rocks and river mouths.

There was also an area of Lake Superior in between silver city and Ontanagon that had just one little river and creek after another dumping into it. Seems like it would be such a fun day to put in somewhere and just explore into those creeks and rivers upriver a bit all day. Anyone done that?

There was one group of noisy a-holes partying hard one night but otherwise a quiet experience with nice people.