Perkins Park & Campground

This is a very quiet and remote area. The campground and town are both very calm and quiet. The beach is very nice and the water in Wilderness Lake is clean. There is an older playground that our kids still enjoyed, and an old abandoned railroad line that is now a trail. Town is tiny with a store or two . About a mile down the road to Lake Superior shoreline- there's a cool little park with a boardwalk and place to launch kayaks. The full hookup sites were nice and long and well spaced, but they were dirt so could be muddy in the rain. There were a lot of mosquitoes, but we kept them at bay with tiki torches and bug spray. Nice place to chill.

Many campers have enjoyed the swimming beach and the nearby boat launch, making it easy to get out on the water. Solar  As one happy camper noted,“The beach area for swimming in Lake Independence is nice with a pavilion, volleyball, and ping pong nearby.”

Good campground for tenting. Our no electric tent site was right on the water which was great for a quick cool off in the hot weather. Bathrooms were clean. Full hook up sites looked to be pretty uneven so be sure to bring options to help with leveling.

Vibe: Mix of retirees and families. 

Cleanliness: Above average. 

Facilities: Average. 

General spots: Varies from right up next to each other to odd shaped spaces that have extra room and trees. 

Our site: 40. One of the odd shaped spaces that had extra buffer room and big trees for shade. It was at an intersection at the camp and traffic was pretty steady during the day. 

Noise: Mostly quiet. Kids played well after dark in a parking lot across from us, but quiet hours didn’t start until 11 and they were never a problem. 

Cell signal(Verizon): Full bars. I streamed a movie (Anatomy of a Murder...see below). 

Other: You can swim at Independence Lake right at the camp. If you want to swim in Lake Superior, Squaw Beach is about 10 minutes away. Ate the Lumberjack Tavern and found out about“Anatomy of a Murder” and that it took place at the tavern. Turns out the couple involved had a trailer at the campground.

We stayed in our tents at this site. The sites are reasonably sized and well described on the county website, even details about how level each site is. There seem to be sites available for all sizes. Showers are great ($.25 for 6 minutes) and bathrooms are really clean. Great park for kids, boating (kayaking, etc). Laundry facility is outside the camp (private) but worth noting.

Close to Lake Superior, just off of the Circle Tour. Marquette is within 30 min.

Views of Lake Independence from nearly each site and beautiful sunrises.

Overall, this is a good option for coming near Marquette, especially if you have a trailer, a family, or are looking to post up for a bit.

Pros: The campsite has a lot of amenities that are easily accessible. Each site has a table, a fire pit, potable water nearby and most have electric hookup. The beach area for swimming in Lake Independence is nice with a pavilion, volleyball, and ping pong nearby. You can launch your boat or fish from the dock. The views are beautiful.

Cons: It's a crowded location that doesn't offer a lot of privacy. At 2am we were woken up by a boat coming back in from the water blasting it's music while the whole crew was loud and obnoxious.

It’s a County Park in Big Bay on beautiful Lake Independence. They have full hook up sites to primitive sites. You can walk/ride bikes to a convenience store, gas station, laundry, and restaurant. Golf driving range behind the convenience store, bucket of balls $5 and you don’t have to pick them up.
Marquette is a 30 minute drive.

This campground was really nice! I’ve tent camped here and camped in a hammock. Both were so fun!

Tent camped here one night, nice quiet place

Quite a few full hook up sites or camp with just electric. Lots of shade, a nice swimming beach, and great fishing.

As an avid hiker, I love this area. However, this campground has a lot to offer. First, it's close to the Lumberjack Tavern. Around 1:30 a.m. or so, the people from the bar came back to the campground...and continued to drink, very, very loudly. When they finally settled down, I got an hour or two of good sleep before the kids woke up and started riding their bikes and yelling.

The campsites are pretty close together and have no privacy. I was grateful that I was only staying one night.