DeTour - Lake Superior State Forest
Rachel
Reviewed Aug. 10, 2020

Private, spacious, with amazing beach. Just beware the sumac

Drive-in first-come first-serve camping through the Department of Natural Resources, this was my favorite place in Michigan's upper peninsula so far to tent camp. It offers a variety of twenty or so spacious sites for different camping needs - groups, RVs, or private. Multiple paths through the woods reveal sandy beaches and crystal clear water on Lake Huron.

We showed up to near max capacity on a Thursday night  and were lucky to grab site 14. Plenty of dead trees were to be found in the surrounding woods for firewood. However, while our camp site was clear and covered in pine needles, the edge and woods were packed with poison sumac - which we were warned about on the information board. Standing water was to be found in the woods around each site, which made for pretty thick mosquitoes throughout the day and evening. With a good campfire and bug spray, I felt able to deal with them.

The sandy beach was beautiful and so peaceful! Small rocks in the shallow water make it slightly uncomfortable wading in, but once you get past the small grouping of rocks, it's very sandy lake bottom to swim and play on. You can hear the lake waves hit shore from your camp site in the morning and it's a wonderfully relaxing sound to wake up to.

Multiple vault toilets were well stocked with toilet paper. A large dumpster is available for trash. A pump is available for water, although I did not test the quality of it and used my own bottled water. 

In the town of DeTour Village, a 10 minute drive from camp, you can find ice, bottled water, a grocery and a couple of restaurants.

I loved my time here and would absolutely return.

Site14
Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of DeTour - Lake Superior State Forest by Rachel , August 10, 2020
  • Review photo of DeTour - Lake Superior State Forest by Rachel , August 10, 2020
  • Review photo of DeTour - Lake Superior State Forest by Rachel , August 10, 2020
  • Review photo of DeTour - Lake Superior State Forest by Rachel , August 10, 2020
  • Review photo of DeTour - Lake Superior State Forest by Rachel , August 10, 2020