Petoskey State Park began its service as a public recreation area in 1934 as the Petosky Bathing Beach. Prior to that, the area was privately owned by a local tanning company. Located on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay, Poetoskey camping is a 300-acre park is popular for its mile-long sand beach and forested campgrounds. Within the park are nearly 3.5 miles of walking, hiking, and biking trails that wander among the park’s wooded dunes. Summer months bring out scores of sunbathers, swimmers, paddlers, boaters and water skiers. The nearby towns of Petoskey and Harbor Springs offer a variety of local arts and crafts shops, cafes and charming Victorian architecture.

The two campgrounds at Petoskey State Park offer 180 tent and RV sites situated among shady woods near the lakeshore. The Dunes Campground, on the north end of the park, has 80 smaller sites suitable for tent campers, while the Tannery Creek Campground, on the south end of the park, has 100 larger sites ideal for RVs and trailers. Each site is equipped with picnic tables, fire pits and electrical hookups, and there are restrooms, showers and drinking water available in both campgrounds; a dump station is located near the park entrance. Other park amenities include a picnic area, beach house and concession stand. Dogs are permitted, but must remain leashed. Seasonal campsite rates range from $33–$37/night, plus park entrance fee.

Petoskey State Park Campground

Excellent camoground.  We went as kids and revisited a couple weeks after labor day.  Quiet campsites, nice neighbors, mostly retirees, friendly staff.  Lake Michigan beach, bith stones and sand, hiking trails from easy to medium hard.  On bike trail that extends north to Harbor Springs and south to Charleviox - scenic and paved.  Some hills but mostly flat.

Fall getaway

Great place to bike, hike, run, camp, and even spend the day at the beach. The beach is close to all of the campsites so going for just the sunset is very doable. Not many rules other than just being respectful of other campers. My family and I really loved this park. Though we are usually more rustic campers, the bathrooms and showers are clean and the entire campground is very well kept up. Firewood bundles are $4 in the campsite near the entrance. We could have been fine not even leaving this park during our stay in Petoskey. 

What a wonderful place

Sites right on Lake Michigan. Fall asleep listening to the waves. Lots of bike trails and beautiful beaches on Lake Michigan. Big park with lots of sites. Family friendly. 

Lake Michigan 

I plan a girl's camping trip every year in July to Petoskey State Park. This is my absolute favorite campground for finding awesome stones! The park is neat because half of it is very shady and full of trees while the other half has bigger lots for larger camping units. We take a tent for girl's weekend and the only issue with having a tent is that in the wooded section, there is not much room to place the tent because the sites are blacktop. One year we had to put our tent on a slant because there was no where else to place the tent. The firepit was also on a hill and we could not put the chairs around the firepit (site 117). The sites in the wooded area are very close to the beach and there are nice decks with steps that lead you to the water. The bathhouse is awesome and newer. We have not brought our bikes to this one, but there would be plenty of places to ride. I love this campground!

The best of the best!

If you have not been to Petoskey, Michigan you really should make a point to visit this area. We were here two days and fell in love with the town, the surrounding area, and never got tired of beautiful views of Lake Michigan. The park is situated between Petoskey and Harbor Springs – both of which have good restaurants, shopping, marinas (with boat launches as there are none in the state park), and lots of outdoor summer activities. 

This state park is in a great location for biking, hanging out at the beach, hiking, kayaking, swimming, and enjoying all that the upper west side of Michigan has to offer. When you camp here, you are never far from the beach or pretty scenery. Plenty of boardwalks transfer you from the campground over the pristine dunes to the sandy beaches and beautiful blue Lake Michigan waters. Or, you can drive to the beach where volleyball games and water activities are the ideal. 

This campground is super busy in the summer months. Campsites are set in a wooded setting with a mix of 50/30 amp or 30/20 amp in the Tannery Creek section (which has paved sites) and 20 amp in the Dunes section (with sandy/dirt sites). Both sections have pathways that lead to the beach. There are no sewer or water hook-ups at individual sites but there is a dump station and potable water spigots spread throughout the campground.  Each site has a fire pit and picnic table.  This park is great for small RVs or tents. Due to the small length of campsites, narrow roads in the park, and low hanging trees this park is not well-suited for large RVs.  

Just outside of the park is the Little Traverse Wheelway. The Wheelway is a 26-mile paved biking/hiking path that spans from Harbor Springs south to Charleviox. If you don’t have bicycles with you there are plenty of places in town that rent them and will deliver them to your site.  On that note, you can rent watercraft of all types in the area too. For those that like white water kayaking the Bear River is set up for that. 

The park has just a few short trails but if you are looking for more hiking check out the Offield Nature Preserve about five miles north of the park. There are multiple paths that connect so you can make your hike as long or as short as you want. Another fun place to visit is the nearby Michigan Fisheries Visitor Center. They offer free guided tours daily or you are welcome to walk around the grounds on your own. Put some quarters in your pocket and stop at the pond overlook where you can feed the brown and rainbow trout. 

Almost directly across from the park entrance is Freshwater Grill which has delicious fish tacos on Tuesday. In the same shopping area is Toski Sands, a grocery/specialty/liquor store that has much of what you need and Crooked Tree Bakery that has the most wonderful breads. A quarter mile south is the Petoskey Brewing Company that has great burgers and beer.

This area has so much to do and see and this campground is in a perfect location.

Love Petoskey!

We visited during summer, had a blast searching the shore for Petoskey Stones! The kids had a great time and we left with a good collection! If you plan on heading north, this is a nice park, clean facilities, nice sites, great for families!

Looking for Petoskey Stones!

This campground is on Lake Michigan’s beautiful beaches. The sites were shaded but not very private. Firewood and ice are available, as are showers and toilets. It was fairly loud and very full. It’s about one hour from Slerping Bear Dunes and reservable which makes it popular. I’d go again for the beach alone.

Beautiful beach, lots of people

Be sure to check out sites before hand, some are far better than others. Well shaded. Stones get picked over early. $31-37/night. Vast bike trail. Bike rental available. Fairly quiet for a large state park.

Rock Hunting

Simple but nice! Lots of trees. View of the bay is amazing. Hunting Petoskey Stones is the highlight.

Prestine View

Good campground for kids and family’s but horribly rude staff. Bad/rude experience with the campground front desk lady and the rec pass guy. Small campsites packed in together but close to the beach and plenty of dunes to climb. 

Petoskey 

This campground is Pure Michigan. From enjoying beautiful sunsets, to Petoskey stone hunts, you’ll enjoy your stay. The sites are roomier on the Tannery Creek side, and the bathrooms/showers were just redone as well. It’s apparent that the staff work hard to keep this place maintained for families to continue to enjoy. 

Happy Place

We had a nice tent site that the guy at the front help us pick out. The beach was nice and the sunset was very pretty. Squirrels took over our site in the morning, but not too buggy. The bathrooms were fine, but were constantly getting sandy and gross.

There were a number of hiking trails that take you into the woods and up the dunes. Some are more difficult than others, but nothing miserable. The campground also has a path that connects to the bike trail. If you catch the trail, you can bike on paved path all the way to Charlevoix. That was a nice ride and I recommend doing that.

The beach was beautiful and very wide. The water was calm and welcoming. There are lots of beautiful rocks along the shore (know any rules before you take them: it is illegal to take more 25Ibs of rocks from a Michigan State Park).

The campground is on the edge of town. There are lots of restaurants and even a grocery store nearby. Much of it is in biking and even walking distance. 

It was a nice stay, but nothing about it blew me away.

Typical State Park

Camp is quite a ways off the road. It's nicely wooded with large trees. Most of the spots are paved for the RV to sit on some have concrete. The spots are really wide, like really wide! But not very deep. Some were close to the neighbors in the rear. 
The beach is really nice and looks like the ocean. The water is very clear and has lots of small colorful pebbles and Petoskey rocks. We enjoyed walking up and down the beach looking for these fossils. The bathroom and shower facilities were clean and in working order and just a short walk from any site.
You are really close by way of a walking trail to town and the marina for boating or just to grab a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants in the historical town. 

Beautiful camp

We stayed the week before Labor Day and loved it, ended up adding a day and switching sites to stay longer. Sites in the Dunes loop can be very tight and the road is narrow, however sites shown as 20” ft max can sometimes accommodate larger RVs. We’re 22ft and easily fit into one of the 20ft concrete pad sites. One thing to note is the sites are close to each other so hope for good neighbors! 

Lots of shaded spots!

We visited this park one day on our 10 expedition, found some Petoskey stones on our hunt, and had an amazing swim to close out our evening witnessing one of the most magnificent sunsets I’ve ever seen. My one “thumbs down” about the place is that there is absolutely no dog beach at all. Boo to that, but other than that, the beach was beautiful, nice hiking trails, with nearby nature preserves for more hiking.

On the Little Traverse Bay

Fell in love with northern MI and Lake Michigan here. The dunes are incredible to wander around and enjoy a beautiful sunset from. Loved walking the trails, too. Stayed at the Dunes campground, right across from a trail that led to the beach. 

Sunsets & Dunes

Campground was nice but the beach is awesome! Will be back to spend more than one night. Nice bathroom facilities. 