Covert Park Beach & Campground

This was our first time staying at Covert Park Beach + Campground. We stayed in site 52 with our 21 ft travel trailer. The site is a good size. Tree placement made it a little tricky to back into, but nothing crazy. We stayed Sunday to Saturday, so we got to see it at its bustling weekend peak and the quiet, cozy weekday vibe. Family friendly, dog friendly and kid friendly. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach, but there's a beach a few minutes down the road (Hagar Beach) where you can bring leashed dogs. Sunset views were beautiful. Bathrooms were very clean and showers nice and hot. The two guys who were running the check-in and campground operations were super cool- they were the perfect mix of attentive and laid back. No sewer on campsites but there's a dump station when you enter/exit. Ice and firewood are abundantly available and can be delivered to your site. We loved our stay here. Tree cover is generous, and it really preserves the camping feel. Weekend crowd was fun, friendly and lots of locals. Would definitely stay again!

We have been camping here for 9 years. This year there is a new management company. This by far has been the worst experience we have ever had camping ANYWHERE. We were micromanaged from our sleeping arrangements, to our fire wood, and we’re told that we needed to get in our tents and go to bed. We were not being loud. Simply enjoying our fire. We had three sites and 6 kids camping with us and we’re told to leave the next morning. Multiple other campers came over to us telling us they didn’t hear a sound coming from our site. Management claimed the received 14 noise violations. If you have ever camped here, everyone knows you don’t even get a half bar of cell phone service anywhere in the campground. This place is not what it once was. Strict rules and strictly enforced. If you want to be treated like you’re 10 at summer camp then this is your place. If the township knows what is happening here then shame on them. It will not be long before this place is a ghost town. There were more empty sites then I have seen the week of 4th of July.

Great campground. Better cared for than a State Park and better accommodations, too. Newish shower house with 6 uni-sex showers (all with their own locking doors). Water mechanisms on several made hot water a little tricky… test before you undress haha. If 5+ showers are in use, don't count on much hot water.

Very friendly operators and employees. Genuinely interested in how you're doing. Above average camp store and they even deliver your firewood order to your site for you ($7 for a 15"x15"ish bundle).

Beach access is easy and the beach is nice. On the cooler week we were there, would only see one or two other people out if any, but when school gets out mid-June, sounds like it gets busier. Our Monday-Friday stay saw us as the only tent campers which was great. Our kids enjoyed the playground and we made use of the grills by the picnic shelter a few times.

All tent sites (except for T12) are walk in (but most are only 100-300 feet).

Tent Sites 1, 2, 3, 11 and 12 as well as the group site are on their own away from the main loops. They are served by a flush toilet with running (cold) water. Or you can make the slightly longer walk to the shower house.

Tent 1 is 100 foot walk, small site, easily visible from T-2 and 3 as well as the group site.

Tent 2 is medium sized, across from T-3 and visible from T-1 and T-3. 

Tent 3 is large. Slightly overlooks the group site and can see T-1 and T-2.

Tent 4 is large, but almost totally isolated. It's surrounded by hills (although T-5 is on one of those hills so could overlook it. Long walk to bathroom.

Tent 5 overlooks 4 a little and is a medium sized site. Also long walk to bathroom.

Tent 6 is elevated above everything so overlooks T-5, T-7 and the RV loop. It's a huge site with nothing but nature around and above you. Long walk to bathroom.

Tent 7 shortest walk to car parking, but surrounded by other sites. Access to other sites runs through site as well.

Tent 8 and 9 are basically one large site with two tables and fire rings. Requires a walk up several flights of stairs, but puts you on top of a bluff that, without trees, would give you a view of the lake. They charge a premium for these sites.

Tent 11 is probably the longest walk… you walk past T-1,2,3, then up 70 steps to the top of a ridge. You cannot see or be seen and the picnic table is covered with a shelter. Not a ton of space, but a great site for a lite packer.

Tent 12 is a drive in site right next to the bathroom and the main drive into the campground.

We were pleasantly surprised and, outside of a cold shower or two, never disappointed in our stay.

Cons: The actual campground was disappointing, the map was not true to date and most sites the electrical box and water hook up is on the wrong side of the site.

Bring extra line... we have 50ft hose so we were fine there ( line goes through the middle of the site) and 25ft electrical and had to re adjust the camper a few times so it would reach.

The campground allows anyone to buy daily passes for the beach so the beach can get crowded. Lots of traffic in and out.

Beach is washing away, black sand for most of it, maybe due to storm. Still plenty when we went 7/2020 for kids to play.

Pros: Lake Michigan is right there! We walked down to sunset and it was a 5 min walk max.

I’ll stay at any campground to have Lake Michigan in walking distance

They do have two separate paths to the lake, one stair case (several steps) and other was a flat path 100 yards or so then maybe 10 steps down to beach. The flat path had a lot of traffic from daily users

Play set was ok. One for smaller kids and one for bigger. Slide, few swings, nothing to big.

New wash house, rinse off after lake play.

Seasonal members were very informative and friendly, not so informative in office.

Campground was very quiet at dark.

I will give a 4 because we could walk out of our camper to Lake Michigan, beautiful!

Cute little camp store, and definitely well removed. The site is situated in a little valley between the dunes and the hills of town. The sites are surprisingly large, but the rules are insanely strict - this is definitely a site catering to RV campers not tent campers. We were admonished for having 3 medium tents on a site that easily could have facilitated 5, while nearby RVs had their unit, a screened gazebo, a regular tent, a shade tent, multiple cars, and jetskis on their sites. Most of the RVs here seem to set up camp for weeks at a time, meaning there is a LOT of ambient light from their laser shows, footpath solar lights, fairly lights, etc.

Other reviews I read online warned the bathrooms were bad - if you get the north loop the bathroom is passable. Cinderblock walls, and ineffective fans make for a pretty swampy experience, but it IS a camp bathroom. The main bathhouse really is disgusting, even by camp standards. It is the one the day trippers can use when they come to the beach, and it shows the wear. Many of the stalls don't have doors, several toilets were totally clogged, and there are June bugs and mosquitos swarming the place.

The beach is great, removed and uncrowded even with the day trippers, the access to Lake Michigan was definitely appreciated in July!

We did pass by the hike-in rustic sites and they looked great. Situated at the top of one of the dune hills, very forested and removed from the nonsense RV campers bring, I'd be willing to come back and try these sites.