Perkins Park & Campground, near Big Bay, Michigan, is a fantastic spot for campers looking to enjoy the beauty of Lake Independence. With a mix of tent sites, RV spots, and even cabins, there's something for everyone, whether you're roughing it or seeking a bit more comfort.

The campground boasts clean facilities, including well-maintained bathrooms and showers, which visitors appreciate after a long day of outdoor activities. Many campers have enjoyed the swimming beach and the nearby boat launch, making it easy to get out on the water. As one happy camper noted, “The beach area for swimming in Lake Independence is nice with a pavilion, volleyball, and ping pong nearby.”

For those who love to explore, the area offers great hiking and biking trails, plus the stunning views of Lake Independence are hard to beat. You can even take a short drive to Lake Superior for a change of scenery. Just remember to stock up on supplies in Marquette before heading out, as the campground has limited on-site amenities.

While some sites can feel a bit close together, the friendly vibe and variety of activities make Perkins Park a solid choice for families and groups. Whether you're here for a weekend or a longer stay, you'll find plenty to enjoy in this beautiful lakeside setting.

Perkins Park & Campground

Big Bay is the perfect place for adventurous campers and RVers. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in. Experience some of the most stunning views that Michigan camping has to offer. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Big Bay camping trip.

Big Bay

The Best Camping Near Big Bay, Michigan

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.

Nice area but the campground was VERY noisy

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

Fishing Family Fun

Tent camped here one night, nice quiet place

Nice place

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

Nice!

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.   

We like it there!

On the shores of Independence Lake, just south of Lake Superior, sits this gorgeous, sparkling clean county park with a well-managed campground. Wasn’t expecting much, so was blown away by the facilities for the low price. Lots of site options: non-electric, with electric only, with full hookups, walk-in or boat-in sites on the water, as well as a couple cabins. Sites are nicely spaced apart, but not much privacy between them. We chose the site right by the boat launch, which definitely has the most privacy when it’s not boating season. Lots of deciduous trees, making the fall truly glorious! 

  

The campground was about 10% full upon arrival, and everybody left before we did, so we had the place to ourselves. Did we mention how much we love fall camping?!? Bathrooms and showers are clean and well maintained and spread out throughout the campground. 

  

Tons of hiking, mountain biking, and water sports of all kinds around. Nice boat launch facility, as well as special place to launch canoes/kayaks. A large picnic pavilion with stone fireplace sits right at the waterfront. This is a reservation only type of place (with a $3 nominal fee), but the website allows you to book for the same day, and there is decent cell service at the campground. Win win! 

  

Stock up in Marquette before heading out here as there is only a small gas station convenience store across the road from the campground, as well as a small café and laundromat.

Wasn't Expecting Much, but Blown Away!

Perkins Park is a county-owned park situated on beautiful Lake Independence. The lake and beach are gorgeous. There is a boat launch near the beach and there’s ample room to park to watercraft there. The beach is easily walkable from any campsite, and there are nice walking trails around the park. 

Visitors to the park must pay $2 per vehicle per day to enter the park, and this is payable at the entrance. 

There is no store on site, but Cram’s General Store is right across 550 from the park. They do sell and deliver firewood at the park entrance. 

The sites on the north side of the park were all fairly small. We travel with a 34’ trailer and managed to squeeze in to site number 5. If you have a large trailer, you’d be much happier on the south side. 

There is a great mix of site types in this park. A lot of the sites are very small, on hills, or in tricky places, so be sure to carefully read site descriptions when reserving. They crammed too many sites in on the north side of the park. Sites number 1 and 24 flank the bathroom building (which I mention in the next paragraph) and people will be walking through your site to get to it. 

There is a small bathroom building on the north end of the park which left a lot to be desired. The doors and walls were covered in mayflies and there were a lot of insects inside of the bathroom building. The toilets didn’t work very well and it wasn’t the cleanest. The large bathroom/shower building in the center of the park was the nicest. The beach bathroom/shower building was outdated but otherwise okay. One thing not well-advertised was that showers cost 25¢ per 6 minutes, so make sure to bring change; we did not note a change machine anywhere. 

We managed to squeeze in to site 5, which was very narrow. We travel with a 34’ trailer. The site backs up to woods and a walking trail. There were tons of tree roots and a large tree in the site. 

Pros:
Beautiful lake and swimming 

Full hookup sites

Great mix of site types

Walkable to amenities 

Playground at the beach 

Cons:
Cell service is poor to so-so

Some of the sites are narrow, unleveled, or just plain small 

Coin operated showers 

Most sites have little to no privacy 

Fill station is in a very weird place and you have to make a tight U-turn to use it. 

Perkins Park

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.

Family friendly and crowded

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. 

A nice beach park, great views.

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.

Fun lake exploring!

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. 

Great for Tents

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

Good

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.

Photos of Perkins Park & Campground

Real photos from real campers