Orchard Beach State Park Campground

Large open spaces, partially shaded Nice breeze off the Lake Michigan Great sunsets

Our family and I stayed in campsite B at Orchard Beach, it is a new rustic campsite and it is on top of a hill. It was clean and spacious. The bathroom is a pretty distant walk so prepare for that. But the bathrooms and showers are clean. You will need some good tent stakes as the ground is hard clay. We would absolutely stay again.

People are complaining that there is no beach access anymore at this campground. That's correct. Because of erosion you can no longer access the beach from the campground. But a short drive up the road leads to a wonderful local beach. A short drive south gets you into Manistee with a great river walk and restaurants and brew pubs. The best part about about this campground is the availability of sites because people no longer come because they can't waddle 100 yards and put their feet in the sand. The campground is quiet, clean, and right on the water with fabulous sunsets. If you love to camp, and aren't looking for a beach vacation, you will love this park!

Definitely read the descriptions of campgrounds and do your research before staying here. We did and it paid off!! This park does not have a beach anymore and will bot ever probably. It was washed away by the waves and is inaccessible here. You must travel 4 miles away to Douglas park to use a beach. Anyway, we apparently had the best site in the entire campground. Site 53, was clean and beautifel for viewing the sunset and privacy. Our site faced east i to the woods as we didn't have neighbors on that side. We were also the highest campsite, so we could see everything in the end of the campground. Other sites are really jam packed ontop of each other, especially at the corner where 108, 52 and 54 are situated. We only stayed here to visit Ludington because that park was fully booked online but in person was half booked. Would not recommend if you enjoy activities outside of the campground.

Camp Ground was clean and friendly. Sites were pretty close together. Great view of Lake Michigan. No beach access. No WiFi or Cell service. No pool or store.

Beautiful clean camping area. Lots of shade trees. The bathhouse was tidy, hot showers. Plenty of room for our big tent, supplies, and two cars. Even our dog had a tent. The area was busy, but not annoying. By 10pm, it was quiet. Unfortunately the stairway to the beach was closed due to high lake levels. I enjoyed my stay.

Large packed campground. You are free to parks/pitch tent anyway you like in your site. Most are fairly level but the ones around the outside edge are a mixed bag of flat to rather sloped. We had site 6 and had to park our teardrop on a hill.

If you are camping in a group and get adjoining sites you can arrange campers to face each other. We used the campground as a base to explore The NW corner of lower Michigan.

Clean park with beautiful views of Lake Michigan. Unfortunately no access to beach because of erosion. Typical site sizes for Michigan State Park. Walk across the road for a 2 mile hike in the woods.

It was amazing staying here! It was my first time camping in 10 years! I plan on staying again! So close to Lake Michigan

Great campground. Very well maintained. Nice spacious sites, not a ton of trees. There is a nice hiking trail across the street. Only drawback is that there is not beach here anymore. You have to drive to get to the lake, erosion has completely caused the beach access to disappear.

A 30 Amp electric only, water & dump available site costs $30 a night plus an $8 reservation fee. But in addition to renting a campsite for $30 a night, we were charged $34 for the privilege of driving our camper to that site, and another $34 because we tow a car behind the camper. The total for 7 nights was $286 or roughly $41 each night. But one draw to this park is unavailable: the park is situated on a cliff, overlooking Lake Michigan, but the stairway down to the water level is closed and it appears to have been closed for some time. You can look “out” over the lake but cannot look “down” to where the waves presumably crash onto the shore, nor can you get near the water. And most campsites are perpendicular to the road, thus your neighbors are essentially plastered against your camper windows. Lakeshore Road that leads to the park has little traffic, which is fortunate, as you can hear it well. We will not visit Michigan State Parks again.

This is a nice campground with beautiful scenic views. Although the sites tend to be on the smaller side and there is no privacy at the sites, it is fairly a quiet campground. The bathrooms were kept clean and the showers ran nice and warm. There are many trails in the area and a cute downtown with small touristy shops. Be sure to check out the Manistee Riverwalk!

The bathrooms are clean, the staff is friendly, and the lake views are spectacular. Plus, the cute town of Manistee is nearby with three gorgeous public beaches, tasty restaurants, and ample shopping. Unfortunately, the sites are as compact and close together as possible. I usually enjoy the aroma of a campfire, but in the evening if all the sites are full, a smogtacular smoke cloud hovers over this campground - if you have breathing sensitivities then sleep will be difficult. Due to erosion, the stairs to the beach have been closed which forces campers to conglomerate even more closely together.

Due to high waters the past few years there is no beach. This is still a family favorite and perfect if you want to go into Manistee.

My husband and I grew up in Onekama. It was important for us to spend time with our kids near our favorite places and this park allowed us to do that. My favorite part is that we can see the sunset every night and go right across the street for some hiking! Our kids are grown up, but we have so many fond memories work time there and still enjoy camping there.

We were here over July 4 in mini cabin. We had been back country camping before that so were happy to have a cabin for a couple nights. Mini cabin is at tip of park with nice view of lake Michigan sunsets. Cabin had mini fridge, coffee pot, ceiling fan, and I think a heater for winter. 2 sets of sturdy bunk beds. Camp sites were packed with RVs and tents. I don't think I've ever seen a more crowded camp ground. Many campers brought their own bikes, kayaks, boats so there must be lake access nearby but definitely not from this park. Beach inaccessible due to high lake waters. Outhouse was clean and well maintained. Showers a short walk away.

I only stayed here because it was really close to a race I was running. To be Honest, this place wasn’t overly impressive. The sites were really small and not wooded, the beach was really rocky and difficult to get to, and also it down poured majority of our visit. I’d give this place 3 stars at best, even if it hadn’t rained. There are so many better places to stay in the area, opt for one of those.

We loved the views from this campground but the campground itself doesn't have much to do.

We went with a group of vintage campers so enjoyed our time and was nice to use the covered/enclosed pavilion area.

The stairs were closed so not able to access beach.

We loved doing the natural wonders tour while we were up there! Kids loved finding natural springs, seeing the over views, gravity hill and more! I highly recommend doing it if your visiting the area!

Not much to do other than looking at the beautiful Lake Michigan. Rocking as well. Off of a busy road. Great campground for landing along a route.

This campground has the best views. The sites closest to the lake are right on the bluff. There are stairs to walk down to get to the water. When we went the water was very high so there wasn’t really a beach. Such a great place to watch the sunset

Nicely shaded and decent state park, which is surprising for the limited area. There are stairs down to the “beach area” that is maybe a foot of shore. There’s a beach down the road further if you want, but it stunk like rotten fish. Still the facility was clean and moderately quiet.

We booked three neighboring sites on the interior of the loop for some group tent camping. The sites were generous, clean, grassy, with moderate tree cover. Theres an awesome grass avenue that runs down the middle of the sites in the inner loop, marked off so there are no tents in the area, but it gives you great removal from the campers behind you, and allows for all manner of games (KanJam, cornhole, ladders, etc).

The bathrooms are kept beautifully, there are great pavilions to gather under when it rains (which it did for an entire day of our trip), and the beach is stunning (small, but stunning).

They pack you in. It didn't feel like camping. Yes, there are sites with fire pits, but it felt like the designers said, 'let's see just how many people can we fit into this space.' Restroom facilities were nice. The stairs going to the beach gave been closed for a while with the closest beach access is not within walking distance, unless walking a few miles is your thing.

Pretty standard Michigan State Park campground. Nice staff. Park maintenance is currently building a wood fence to keep folks away from steep bluff edge. Views of Lake Michigan fairly limited. If these were improved, this would be a much more popular park. I was very disappointed that their stairs to beach had been eroded near its base so you could no longer access beach but had to drive to one of two local beaches. I stayed one night and unfortunately had to camp next to a group who had a very barky, anxious large dog. Some folks need to leave their poorly trained dogs at home.

older campground high above beach, couple camper cabins. beautiful views of lake michigan. can get to beach by stairs or short drive to beach without climbing stairs

This is a clean and beautiful campground nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan however due to high water levels there is no longer beach access. You need to drive to the beach. The lots are very large and mostly grass. The sites on the southern end of the campground have amazing views of the lake. The pull through sites are the best. Be careful as some fire pits are very close to other campers.

This was a very nice campground, although it was pretty crowded and noisy. The facilities were nice, but very hard to keep clean when that full of people. Our favorite part was the trails down to the lake, and the beautiful overlook spots!

Great place to camp without the crowds, but close toTrsverse City, Sleeping Bear, etc

This was an awesome campground but was kinda tight getting camper into our campsite. It's really nice that it's a short trip down the road to Manistee.

This was a great location to stop over for a rest day on my bicycle trip. After setting up camp I walked down the road to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. I didn't see many birds but I did get to see a giant sequoia and Michigan's' champion sycamore maple trees. I followed the path down to the beach and walked back to camp along the water. The sound of the waves massaging the sandbanks is very relaxing. The beauty of this state park as well as the area around it were relaxing.