J.W. Wells State Park Campground

The views are beautiful but all the camping spots are grass, we instantly sunk the second we tried to park ! Bring blocks if you want to stay!

Great views of Lake Michigan! Beautiful sandy beach just a short walk away! Really nice playground for the kids. Overall, one of our favorite places to connected camp!

Again, we stayed here for one night on our way elsewhere. We have to come back and make it our destination next time. Clean bathrooms… excellent camp hosts. Weekdays in the fall.. so quiet and peaceful.

Beautiful park with lots of options to camp lakeside. Many sites are very close together, so if privacy is important… choose wisely. Wonderful camp hosts had hot cocoa and coffee to share… great for a cool morning. We happened to visit during the Halloween celebration weekend… so it was overrun with kids. Not a deal breaker at all… but I think we may have chosen a different park had we known. Neighbors next to us really enjoyed themselves… maybe a bit too much! All said… we would camp there again… but only if we can get a lakeside site.

Nice state park campground with grassy, but tight sites. Located right on Lake Michigan. Very nice beach. Showers were okay, but always seemed a little dirty

Had the best time staying in a very large and warm cabin

Simply because of the location, you are basically forced to relax and slow down and take it easy. There are some hiking and biking trails, and the water is OK for kayaking, but it is not near anything, so we had to make do with what we had. The park is a very nice state park with typical sites, nice bathrooms and showers. The beach at the south end of the park is very nice as well and we spent a lot of time there. The big bonus to being here was the amazing star gazing at night with very clear views and little transient light to spoil the night time wonder.

We don’t have a big rig by any means, and felt super cramped during our stay. It certainly takes some skill to get your rig parked which was evident by the person right behind us that practically was looking in our trailer the whole time since he had no room to maneuver and finally gave up trying. Doubt we would go back unless we were able to get a site right on the lake.

One line of sites is right in the water. Like all the Michigan SP we’ve been to, getting a big rig set on the site takes a bit of skill. Should have wonderful sunrises.

Stayed for 5 nights. The third party computerized reservation system gave our site to someone else. Fortunately, we were put into a first-come first-served campsite right on the water which is a major upgrade. All of the sites (except for a few paved handicapped sites) are grass. Perimeter sites can be muddy. Interior sites can have enough slope that the trailer A-frame is on the ground in order to level. Electricity is reliable. Restrooms are immaculate. Showers are nice. Dump station with fresh water is clean and works well (2 bay). 

My main complaint is a common, almost universal complain - people are right on top of one another. We have a truck camper 6 feet from our screen room with its AC on high and a very "fun" family sitting right outside our trailer on the other side. The "infield" is much worse - seems like each site has multiple vehicles and space is so tight that they are stacking kayaks. Family groups with clustered sites. Seems like a kennel as well with dogs everywhere. On the plus side: very little music being played, people were respectful, dogs well behaved for the most part without unattended barking dogs, people stayed quiet in off hours. The park itself is small with no biking trails or significant hiking trails. Not a lot of birdlife. They do have a nice beach which is a draw for families. We enjoyed our stay overall. We would return only if we had a waterfront site for a max of 3-4 nights. Off season would be better than summer.

We got a great spot with some amazing views and the lake breeze kept most the bugs at bay. Clean (and free) showers available for campers and a nice playground for the kids... rocky beach by the campsite but a long walk/short drive to the sandy beach... kids had a blast. Some sites don’t handle the rain well, but they don’t oversell in case people need a different spot. Lots of space, lots of fun...

This was our first experience at this park in the southern section of the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Many of the sites are just feet from Lake Michigan.  We listened to the waves all night long.  The park is very well maintained and clean.  We checked in on Labor Day just as the majority of campers were leaving.  The individual sites are grassy with many trees throughout the campground.  The restrooms/showers were spotless and constantly maintained.  While this was our first stop, it won't be our last.  Being that close to the lake is wonderful.

It was a clean, busy park. We had a nice shaded site along the woods great for tent camping. The bathrooms are kept up nicely, the only downfall of the trip was the rain and our leaky tent!!

For a modern campground it’s clean nice beach grassy campground clean showers and restrooms playgrounds for kids horse shoes Plus 22$ a nite with electric we stayed in # 33 nice view of the lake not obstructed by other campers

We stayed at rustic site 151, about a mile from the main campground. This site has easy lake views and multiple lake access points.

Camping area was clean and large. Has space for two large 6 person tents easily.

Surrounded by trees with a path to the lake. It is very quiet and peaceful.

This is a great campground not just because this was the first campground park I worked on but because after 40 years it is still great.   Most of the sites are beautiful grass sites, when we were there it was rainy so some of the sites where a lake.  So if you didn't get a bayside site you could have a lake side site.  Great place to tent cam.  They have a nice beach but no life guard.  They have a a lot of items for kids and families, such as the beach, basket ball court, hiking trails and great playgrounds. If you are a walker they have some great trails.  Just up for a day the picnic area is super.  

The bathrooms are clean and well kept up.  

The employees are very friendly and helpful.

I love that you can look up at night and see all the great stars.

We went to Menominee to see the launching of a Navy Ship from Marinette Marine and that is something you don't see everyday.

Enjoyed the craft fair for all the campers the weekend we were also there.  

Such a great camprgound.

We love it here! Stayed right on the water, tent style, quiet, big nice bathrooms, and easy check in

Water was gross and stinky from ships pumping their bilge.

This is the last Michigan State Park Campground as you are heading south and entering WI.

Beautiful views of the Lake looking east and south to Washington Island and Door County Peninsula. Nice stream and playground for kids to play in and on. Mostly grassy campsites so things get a little wet after heavy rains. Most sites have electricity and water.

some sites are low, so water flows to the site on rainy days. there are some trails you can walk, there is a ball diamond for kids and a small court for basketball. there is also some nice cabins and areas for tents. you can meet a lot of really nice people here.

We always make a point to stay at least one night here when passing through the UP. We stay at site 40 but all the spots along there are in the water. There is a tree line though and a small drop.

It is a quiet campground and everyone is very friendly there. Great playground for the kids the only problem is it is far away from really anything and the gas station near by charges and arm and a leg for food.

Wells State Park definitely has a lot to offer! It’s right on the lake and has a beautiful beach. There are events for kids to keep them entertained, especially on holiday weekends.

Fantastic.. group cabins available.. great for big family outings. But great facilities and camping sites. You can fish Lake Michigan or swim off the beach or hike the park.

If you like a party type atmosphere, this is the place. Super busy with lots of activity and tons of people. There is no privacy - it's more of a tailgate party that you sleep at. The playground was nice and clean, the grounds were well kept, the showers were pretty clean too. I only give it three stars because it's like camping in a parking lot. And to me, that's not really camping.

We got our new Marmot Tungston 4P tent so I took the wife and kids on a quick weekend trip to J.W. Wells State Park campground in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to test it out. I found J.W. Wells by searching for waterfront camping along Lake Michigan. There are plenty of state and national parks along Lake Michigan but not many where you can pitch your tent right along the waters edge like J.W. Wells. It also happened to be the only site within 4 hours drive of Northbrook, IL (N. Suburb of Chicago) with such close proximity to the waters edge that I could find.

The site itself is tucked right along the Green Bay coastline about 1 hour drive north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. There is a main campground for tent and RV but we chose to stay at 1 of 3 rustic tent sites a little north of the main campground. The campground was well maintained with picnic tables for each site, firepit, and a nice well groomed plot of grass for us to pitch our tent and setup camp. The main campground has showers and a playground right in the middle.

The view from our site was majestic, especially watching the sun rise over the horizon of Lake Michigan. The sunrise was the pinnacle moment of this trip. And that's really the only reason why I gave it 3 stars. The campground itself and the views are incredible, it's just that there isn't much to do around these parts. There are a couple short trails for hiking or ATV's and the Cedar River about a mile north of the site which I assume has some fishing and boating, but that was about it. The only other activity we found was to drive 30 mins north to check the small harbor town of Escanaba. Really not much to see or do there either.

I probably wouldn't recommend this campground for families or persons looking for lots of activities or places to see and visit while camping. It's great for a simple quick getaway with a great view to just sit around camp and relax.