Black River Harbor Campground

This is one of the nicest USFS campgrounds we’ve stayed in. It’s freshly paved, including each camp spot’s parking area, so they’re relatively flat. It’s more open and clean and cared for than most USFS campgrounds we’ve stayed in.  

It’s $16/night, self pay at the iron ranger. No host, no dump station, no recycling. There’s water (closed when we were there though), a trash bin, and vault toilets. 

There’s a nice walk near site 18 to a scenic overlook of the lake, and if you keep going past the overlook there are stairs that take you down to the boat ramp, beach, day use area, trail to the falls, etc. Really nice lush beautiful green trail. 

A few sites have a “view” of the lake, meaning you can see the water through the trees. #18 has the best view of the water. No cell service at the campground but Verizon and ATT had a very weak sporadic signal from our site (#20). This signal went away everywhere else in the campground though. 

Flies and mosquitoes were annoying!

This is probably the most magical camping experience. No water or electric. No firewood to purchase nearby. Big sites. Great fire pits. Clean Pit toilets. It was a peaceful spot right next to Lake Superior! Close access to beaches. Amazing hiking. The most beautiful sunsets. The northern lights (Aurora borealis) can also be seen from the beach. This is a must on your camping check list.

Very nice larger campground. A few views of Lake Superior from some of the sites. Great hiking and waterfall viewing .

We stayed here over the 4th of July and it was very quiet. It was a nice tranquil place to stay. It was very private and a nice place to relax, especially seeing as it was the 4th of July. However, there is no cell service and the nearest town is a decent drive away. Also, we were there a couple days prior but on the 4th sand flies were absolutely terrible. To the point you almost couldn’t be outside. But the days leading up to that we hardly had an issue with the bugs minus the mosquitos at night.

This campground was decent. It was quiet with primitive sites and pit toilets. Bathrooms were fairly clean. One thing we weren't completely satisfied was the site itself. There wasn't a good level area to put our tent and we ended up feeling like we were constantly slipping downward because of the incline. It was also a little muddy throughout. Established raised tent pads would be a nice addition. The firepits were nice with new cooking rack. We wish we would have picked the site directly across from us, as they had views of the water. We were site 17. We did like that we were near a lot of waterfalls on Black River. Oh also, not any fault of the campground, but we went at a terrible time - the black flies were relentless and no spray would help, so we didn't actually get to enjoy much relaxing time outside at the campground.

This Forest Service campground is in a beautiful wooded setting with gorgeous Lake Superior Views. The Vault toilets are kept clean(I appreciated the pine tree air fresheners!). Campsites are large, some with gorgeous views of Lake Superior. We had site 18 and it had the best view. Sunsets were gorgeous.

Was looking for a remote, simple camp ground in the U.P. and was not disappointed. With a small walk to the beautiful beaches, a long day hike of the waterfalls, with access to the Porkies you can not find a better place. Yes, the only thing you will get is running water and vaulted toilets, but the campsites are clean, and well kept, good for just popping a tent and sleeping after a long day of playing in the U.P. play ground.

Good base camp for exploring the porkies and the nearby waterfalls of the black river

Well this is so beautiful and exotic.  It is on Lake Superior but it is up high, so there are beautiful views.  

In the evenings, we followed the trails to the Harbor and caught a gorgeous sunset.  

The campground has adequate bathrooms.  

The sites have sone privacy but not a ton.

Gorgeous place to stay that is near all the waterfalls in the recreation area.

The road that brings you off route 2 towards this campground brings you past the powderhorn ski resort and then past 3 gorgeous waterfall sites, which are clearly marked. Don’t miss the black river harbor where the mouth of the river pours out toward Lake Superior. We didn’t have reservations ahead of time but there were plenty of first come first serve sites which were wooded and somewhat secluded. The sites along Lake Superior itself were reserved but we walked down to the harbor and beach and strolled for almost an hour on the beach without seeing anyone. The water is turned off for the 2020 season so just pack in enough water.

We stayed at Black River Harbor Campground last week, in a year that the water supply was never turned on due to Covid. Nevertheless, we had an amazing time. We stayed in one of the many first-come-first-served campsites (which seemed to be available late into the afternoon, but filled most nights) and enjoyed a large site, separated by a pretty dense forest in between our neighbors. We had easy access to nicely maintained vault toilets, and had there been water available this year there were plenty of spigots—no hand pumps here. The fire rings were solid and had cooking greats on each one, and the picnic tables in many cases were new. If you are heading here during the wetter season, know that the ground will likely be soft, but every site we looked at had some effort taken to make sure it stayed dry.

The real gem of this place is the location. The Black River Falls are an astounding bit of Michigan scenery just minutes away by car. We decided to take a 7 mile out-and-back hike that brought us past five of the falls—each one far exceeding the expectations of this downstater. Next door to the Black River Falls are the Presque Isle Falls (though next door still means about an hour drive due to following the valley roads). The Presque Isle Falls are part of the Porcupine Wilderness State Park, and are gorgeous and even more accessible than the Black River Falls.

Beyond hiking we had a great time hunting for agates on the beach and enjoying the marvelous spectacle of Lake Superior, including its unpredictable weather!

Rustic, cliffs of Superior, near an abundance of nature and waterfalls. Not much more you need.

Close to 4 beautiful waterfalls and a nice beach. Very pretty rustic campground.

We went second week of August. Campsite 21 has a small path directly to lake Superior. The real gem here is all the waterfalls nearby. Exhausting but breathtaking. My only complaint would be the flies not the biting kind but the annoy you to death kind. The campsitea aren't really as secluded as they depict online but still pretty private.

Black River Harbor Campground is a rustic campground on the shores of western Lake Superior. It’s a 38 site campground, and accommodates everything from tents to RVs; however all sites are non electric and there are no pull thru sites or dumb stations, so keep that in mind. It’s part of the the National Forest, so going online and reserving it was super easy. The sites are large and give you plenty of privacy, and we even scored an awesome view of the lake. Unfortunately there’s no lake access, but we weren’t upset by that (Lake Superior is like 10 degrees anyway). The vault toilets were... well typical vault toilets. There were also water faucets around, which was really convenient for cooking and drinking water! Now for the down side: black flies. They. Are. EVERYWHERE. We went early-mid July and it was so bad we left with at least 20 bites each. Deet does nothing. In fact, we were told by a local that “no bug spray works, any spray that says it does is lying.” All you can do is either hide in your car and hope they don’t fly in or buy a solid anti-itch stick. Although we loved the campground setup and location, the black flies alone were enough to dock a star.

As far as things to do around the area, there’s PLENTY! At the harbor, there a place to put a boat in and a large picnic area that was actually kind of busy for such a hidden gem. I’ve read that there are fishing charters that’ll take you out on Lake Superior from there as well, but we didn’t look into them since we were only there 1 night. The main attractions are the 5 waterfalls, each with their own short trail and parking area. There are all along Black River Scenic Byway, so they are easy to find. The NCT also runs through the area, and if you’re looking for a longer hike, it connects all 5 falls. My personal favorite was Sandstone falls, we were able to walk out on the falls themselves. About 20 minutes away is the worlds largest freestanding ski jump, it’s called Pine Mountain Jump and it’s in Iron Mountain. Being in the heart of the Ottawa National Forest, there are plenty of trails and things to see, these are just some suggestions (:

Overall, it’s an awesome campground in an AMAZING area, but don’t forget your anti itch stick for all those flies!