Every year for Memorial Day weekend we travel to the Traverse City area for camping. This year we chose the Platte River Campground in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. The campground is huge and very spread out! There are trees on every campsite so you really have that camping feel. We arrived late so there was no one at the office; however, there was a note on the door to check in the next day before 10 am. The next morning, we woke up to a tag on our vehicle to be sure to register. We drove to the office on our way to explore the area and were able to check in. My uncle was with us and Joy at the front desk asked if he was over the age of 62, because he is, she told him about the senior lifetime pass. The national park pass is $15 for seven days or $30 for the year, but if you are over the age of 62, you can purchase a lifetime membership for only $10!!! She said the fee is going up to $80 so be sure to get your lifetime pass soon if you are considering a national park camping spot.

The campground has four loops and also a group camping part. The loops are big and some sites are close together. The pull through sites are a U-shaped paved driveway. Some pull through sites are VERY small so be careful when you book your reservation. There are to be no bikes on the trails, except for one trail that leads you to Peterson Road, which goes to Lake Michigan. We overheard our neighbors say that their son was warned NOT to ride on any other place except for the paved road in the park. He was riding on the gravel next to the road.

Some things I want to point out about this campground will come next. We never saw any park rangers, but we had a warning on our windshield because we did not put our registration tag on our pole. My uncle received a warning because his truck tire was two inches on the “vegetation”, which was really the gravel next to the paved pad. I will post a picture of the “warning”. Please note the other reasons for warnings. There is also a fine of $125 if you leave food out or your fire unattended. Be mindful of these strict rules. We did not see any park rangers throughout our stay, but they usually came around early in the morning. They are very strict about where you can put a tent, be sure to put them on the squared off level spot at each site. When you book, make sure you look at the pictures the website gives because some flat pads are a distance from the paved pad for your car/RV and some were up hill! The picnic tables are BOLTED to the a ground rope so you cannot move them. I would recommend bringing an awning type tent to put over the picnic table.

DO NOT LEAVE FOOD OUT!! There was a bear spotted in the group area during our stay. Bring bug spray! The ticks are bad this year and we heard several people in the park talking about having a tick on them.

If you like to hike, bring your hiking shoes and a walking stick! The trails are very nice. The trail from Loop 1 is 1.2 miles to Lake Michigan. If you like to walk, be sure to walk out there. The end is complete sand so be prepared to work hard!

The bathhouses were always clean and I only had to wait for a few minutes for a shower. The water was very hot and no complaints there. There is a room in the bathhouse that is for washing dishes. This made it very convenient and I was very impressed with that.

We will definitely be going back to this campground. It was awesome being in the woods and having the lake within a few miles of us. There is also a spot to launch your canoe/kayak right at the entrance of the park.

Reservations are extremely hard to get for this park. If you want a weekend campsite, you must book six months in advance! Ever since Good Morning America put the spotlight on Sleeping Bear Dunes, it has been extremely busy! I think that many people (including us) did not know that this campground has modern sites, therefore it wasn’t as busy in the past.