Big Bay Town Park

Super cool place to walk the boardwalk down the side of the lake. Or even walk in the water. There were people swimming in the bay, a little too cold for me. We saw turtles on our hike too! Highly recommend stopping if you have the chance! One note, little to none phone service.

This is a trip we make every summer and it’s always magical. The campground is perfect for us. Some sites are closer to each other and privacy is a little hard to come by sometimes because the camp is almost always full. Because it’s not an easy place to get to (you have to take the ferry. It’s not cheap) the people that do come are top notch. There’s an electric area and a non electric. The camp host is a little out there but in a good way. They do sell ice and wood and have WiFi at the camp host building. There are nice flushable toilets and showers (Bring quarters). The walk to the beach isn’t terribly long but there are quite a few stairs so a wagon isn’t really a good option. We wish we could bring kayaks but the steps also make that a little hard to maneuver through. Someone with lots of man power could probably swing it. We love spending days out on the beach searching for agates and other cool rocks. We have picnics, take floaties, and bring our giant bubble wands to keep us entertained. We spend another day at the state park hiking. We always pack a lunch and spend the entire day out there because you don’t want to leave!! It’s so much fun!! There are rocks you can jump off to go swimming and it’s actually pretty safe considering it’s the Great Lakes. I’ve never kayaked there yet but we see kayaks all the time. It’s usually just a little too choppy for my liking. The water isn’t the warmest but who cares! It’s amazing. We also take one day to head into town and hang out at Tom’s burned down cafe. Usually we get one rainy day when we’re there (last year we were lucky and no rain!) so we throw on our rain gear and head to Tom’s for bloody Mary’s. Their bartenders are a hoot. The place is so easy going. The roof is definitely a tarp 😋 so dress accordingly if the weather isn’t perfect. There are places to rent mopeds and bikes in town. There’s an ice cream shop and a few markets if you forget anything they probably have you covered. We’ve never really went to eat in town so I won’t be helpful in that area. I know the hours are weird on the island so that’s always something to be mindful of. The place is epic. I would say Madeline island is one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. I look forward to this trip every year.

Beautiful campground on an awesome island. Private spots, updated campground with clean facilities. Walking distance to huge sandy beach with a lagoon for small kids to play in the warmer water. Board walk that starts at the beach of the town park and brings you all the way to the cliffs of the state park!