Big Knob is a rustic campground nestled next to Lake Michigan on the southern side of Michigan’s upper peninsula. My grandmother used to take my brother and I there every year when we were young. My favorite mornings started with the smell of the forest and sea fog, and a cup of coffee before heading out to pick wild blueberries for pancakes, or a stroll on the beach during sunrise with grandma before we might have to share it.

When I pump water from the old hand pump, I remember how my twin brother and I always wanted to be the first to pump the water every year. It was so cool as a kid.

Everyone visiting the campground always seems on the friendlier and more respectful side than I’ve experienced at some of the larger campgrounds out west. There is plenty of privacy when you want to look up at the stars, watch the sunset, or watch it rise. (Either by yourself or with a special someone.) The campers are friendly if you need to borrow an egg or half stick of butter, or need a challenger at lawn darts or a partner for Euchre.

My grandmother in her later years tried to take her large motor home there and it was a tight fit and branches and such mildly damaged the unit. We were all laughing, except for my grandmother who was driving and could barely see over the steering wheel. We never returned with the large motor home, and instead continued to use a small burro trailer and a tent. The grounds say less than 40’, but I’d say anything that big will have an interesting time settling in. I’d recommend something shorter, or be prepared for a tight fit if any.

There are trails not too far away, and pine needle thatched forest to wonder. It’s difficult to get lost because there’s the Lake Michigan, and all the streams flowing into it. As young children, my grandmother could let me and my brother explore for hours knowing that we would be able to find our way back ... and those late nights that took a while to find home, there were enough wild blueberries that we weren’t going to starve.

I must advise that these Big Knob wild blueberries come with a warning: they are so tasty that they will wreck blueberries for the rest of your life. You will be forced to compare every blueberry you ever taste to a Big Knob wild blueberry. So I would recommend that you do not to eat any of the wild blueberries. (So then there are more for me.) They are simply too good.

Next season I will be putting some of my grandmother’s ashes to rest at Big Knob with my brother and father. Big Knob was her most favorite place, and she has passed her love of it to my brother and I. This is the only place that she asked for some ashes to go, and I can’t think of a better place.