Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79134_79210---,00.html

Brimley State Park Campground

Great camping location, with nearby beaches and playground. Sites are not huge but definitely roomy enough for bigger camping set ups. $16 Grant's you access to this national park and all others in the state.

Beautiful sites in Brimley Michigan 

I've visited Brimley State Park several times, always nice. Clean park, clean bathrooms. Close to beaches, Point Iriquois, Bay Mills Casino, Sault Ste. Marie. My most recent visit was over the weekend, it was very busy. I would recommend making reservations. 

Neat Local Spot 

This state park is a little smaller than most, but is a great location. The campground is on the Whitefish Bay and the beach area was very nice! The park has the old style bath houses, but they were fine and clean. The only real issue was the garbage buns and recycle center was overflowing and smelly. I couldn't believe how bad it was! There were seagulls in the campground looking for food at all times! The sites are grassy for the most part, but some were small and dirt.

Great state park!

Brimley is in great proximity to Sault Ste Marie and Tahquamenon Falls, so there is plenty to do in the area. I especially recommend driving down the Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway And also checking out the Bay Mills Farmers Market on Thursday evenings in the casino parking lot.

Right across the road from the campground is a small IGA store where you can get many different food items. Also down the road is Superior Pizza and Subs which is a great place for a quick and easy dinner.

In the campground itself, many of the sites are generously sized with electric access for those who need it. There are three bathhouses throughout the park, which is where Brimley loses a star. I am only familiar with the largest main bathhouse, but I imagine the other two are similar. The main bathroom is often dirty, and the showers (which are closed off little shower rooms) have no working ventilation and get super hot with mildew and mold growth on the walls.

However the shining star of this campground is the beach. The swimming is some of the best with a nice sandy bottom and no rocks. The water is generally cold, as Lake Superior often is, but it’s nothing too cold for swimming in. The view is lovely, and you can often see the freighters that pass through The Soo.

All in all, I highly recommend staying at Brimley State Park if you are in the area.

Nice campground, with the best swimming

This campground has everything you need whether you want to primitively camp or use a modern camper. Certain sites have private 20 foot sand paths to Lake Superior. The beach is sand and driftwood with no stones or shells. You can see Canada on clear days across the lake. The kayaking was amazing on smooth and glassy waters. Shower houses and bathrooms were decent. Beware of the critters and do not leave any food outside at night. The chipmunks ate out of our hands and the kids loved it.

Nature at Every Turn

We came at the very end of a holiday weekend so the park was packed.  The camp sites are pretty much on top of each other with a few random trees scattered throughout.  We could hear everyone else’s conversation and the lights of our neighbors interrupted camp fires.  

The bathroom are very out dated and the staff was trying to catch up in the morning but there were just too many campers compared to workers.  They also do not patrol the campground.  There were teenagers running all over camp until the early morning hours yelling profanity and racial slurs.  They finally went to bed and we got a little peace.

The lake front is beautiful as well as the park and playground (it is not next to the sites though).  These two things saved our stay.  The beach was fun and the park was new.

Packed in 

I’ll go with 4 stars, only because the bathrooms are allegedly outdated. Due to Covid, we are staying in our camper and not using them. The people are nice, the sites are mostly shady for part of the day. Some sites have trees in odd places, so positioning your camper can be a slight challenge, but the lake is right here and I love this park! 

Love it! 

Brimley isn't a big state park at only 160 acres; it consists of the campground and a small day-use area. 

The campground is the majority of Brimley State Park, with more than 230 sites. And the sites are crammed in pretty close to one another in a relatively open area with multiple rows.

A few of the sites around the outside edge back up to trees, while others back up to the day-use area. A few are technically on Lake Superior but there is a row of trees separating them so it’s not like you’d have a waterfront view.

The sites do come in varying sizes and a few are more pull-in sideways than back in. This helps with so much variation in rig size and type. There also are a few sites with 50-amp service. In addition, there is one mini-cabin.

There are three bathroom facilities in the campground. At least one is showing its age, with only 3 stalls and 1 shower each for men and women. The other facility is a newer, modern style restroom with 5 separate gender-neutral shower stalls. 

Brimley State Park technically has two beaches, or at least areas where you can reach the water. With lake levels so high in 2019 and 2020, there wasn't much of a sandy beach available, but there is a designated swimming area.  

The beach area provides a great view of the St. Mary’s portion of Whitefish Bay where you can watch all the big Great Lakes freighters line up as they prepare to pass through the Soo Locks. Make sure you head down at night, too, as the freighters often are parked offshore overnight and likely to be all lit up.  

We were there near the end of the fall season so it wasn't very crowded. But during peak times, you're going to be packed in pretty tight so think about that when booking a site and try to get out along the edges if you want more elbow room.

Decent UP basecamp, but could feel crowded

Not bad for a state park. Resembles more of a parking lot to me. Sites aren't very roomy. If you want a lake side spot you need to reserve very well in advance. Shower and restroom facilities could use an upgrade. Water levels were high during our stay so the beach was very small. However it's nice they have a beach to walk to, good for kids. Beautiful sunsets here.

Not bad

I took my wife here in 1981 when we were dating.  Tent site along the beach drinking Stroh's beer.  Beach is still as beautiful as I remembered.  Park facilities are a bit out of date but nice and quiet.  We took our maiden voyage in the RV we just bought to remember tge old times.  Brimley nice small town with good whitefish dinners at Cozy Inn.  Pickles goid bar too.  Visited shipwreck museum on Whitefish point which was good.

Brimley State Park-First Trip 1981

Vibe: It’s like a giant group camp with 250 other camp trailers. 

  

Cleanliness: Average. 

  

Facilities: On the outdated side. 

  

General spots: Grass squares that run together. Lake access is the redeeming quality. 

  

Privacy: None. 

  

Our site: 234. Same as the others. Can say we did have a trail to the lake directly from our site. Trees blocked the view of the lake. 

  

Noise: Quiet considering the number of campers. 

  

Cell signal(Verizon): Only showed 1 bar but was faster than I expected with some fluctuations but not bad. Very useable. 

  

Other: Beach looked awesome. Sadly for us the rain came in when we had time to go to the lake.

Very okayish. I prefer more natural settings.

Traveled here in August of 2020 with my family. (2 adults, 4 kids) Since there are a lot of us we got two joining sites so we could spread out a bit and we were glad we did. The sites aren't super tiny, but having two was worth the extra $$. The kids loved the beach and swimming in the clean Lake Superior water. 

  

Close enough to Sault Ste. Marie  and Taquaminon Falls. 

  

Very quiet but we were there mid-week so it wasn't too crowded either.

  

Facilities were fine, especially for a state park.

Great State Campground right on Lake Superior

Location is great...   when in town, you should visit the Dancing Crane Coffee shop.  It is awesome.   Stayed here in hopes we could see the Aurora Borealis, and we did!