Union Bay Campground — Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

Campground right on lake Superior. We were along the Lakeshore and it was nice and quiet. Steps from the lake with great hammock trees. Bring bug nets!!!

General: The only developed campground in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, there are 100 sites on three rows. If you reserve far enough in advance, you can snag a lakefront site. There are also two yurts and an ADA-accessible tiny house that can be used during the winter months as well. 

Site Quality: What you gain in lake views, you will sacrifice in privacy between the lakefront sites (but still worth it IMO). The first couple of sites in the first (top) row are wooded and have some privacy between them. The sites between rows one and two back up to each other and are the least private while the sites between rows two and three have some trees to separate them. Sites are on grass. A picnic table and fire ring complete each site. 

Bathhouse: Decently clean as were the showers. There was also a single washer and dryer, but the dryer was out of order when we were there. 

Activities/Amenities: Hiking! Although there are not many trails leading from this campground, you can drive to many other trailheads. The East and West trails bordering the Presque Isle River are worth the drive to get there, as was the lookout and Escarpment Trail by Lake of the Clouds. There was also a nice, modern playground, a little free library, and a hut with a plethora of games and toys. 

Although this campground was full, the staff handled it well (bathrooms were well stocked). Note you need a Michigan pass (daily or annual) to camp here.

State park located along Lake Superior in the Porcupine Mountains. Campground is clean and well maintained. The entire campground is built on a hill so you get some unlevel sites. Keep that in mind when booking bigger rigs. Sites are also a bit tight and close together.

Right on the lake. Rocky ledges made it very slippery, so no dip in the lake at the campsite. 30 amp service, but no water at the sites. Fill water tanks at the dump station. Plenty to do in the area. Took several day hikes with the family and the kids and dog enjoyed playing in Lake Superior at Presque Isle, about a 25 minute drive away, where they have a semi-sandy beach area and waterfalls. Did a pontoon rental for a day and enjoyed fishing on Lake Superior and taking a leisurely cruise up the Ontonagon River.

It is an okay campground. Smallish sites. Had electric hookup. Dump station with water. Uneven sites. Some muddy. Had shower and laundry. Great location for the porcupine mountains.

Best part about this site is proximity to Lake Superior. Awesome views and sounds of the lake.

Sites are a little cramped and connectivity is bad.

Showers are good but limited.

Nice location along Lake Superior, but didn't stay here. Open field with many small campsites crammed together. Appears to have one restroom/shower house in the center. Very crowded campground, no privacy whatsoever. Way overpriced. If you are looking for a real outdoor camping experience this is not it IMO.

We car camped here before heading in to backpack the Porkies for a few days. Staff was nice, and facilities were clean. Spots were pretty close together, and not very private. Our spot, site 25, had beautiful lake access!

This is a typical state park in Michigan in that the sites don't offer privacy and are packed in tighter than they should be. However, if you want amenities, this is the place to use as a great Basecamp for day hikes in the Porkies. Nice bathrooms and shower facilities, plus great views down by Lake Superior with plenty of access even if your site isn't right on the shore. Check out the sunrises in the morning and the really dark skies at night for stargazing.

This park is huge so you have to plan some travel time from Union Bay to the tourist sites (Lake of the Clouds) and the many trailheads. But getting out hiking in the park is the best way to appreciate the 60,000 acres that are here.

If you want a quieter setting and enjoy rustic camping, Presque Isle campground on the other end of the park is a great spot to stay, too.

I have 3 stars because we reserved a spot on the lake. Great view. All the sites are jammed together with little privacy. One wash house with 4 showers(shared by both sexes) for entire campground. Crowded with tons of dogs, that seem to bark non stop. Off leash along rocks barking at people. Wish people would be a bit more respectful with their dogs. Understand this is one of the few campgrounds in the Porkies with electric hookup. We did a lot of day trips so that made up for the crowded camp sites.

Vibe: Family summer time fun. 

Cleanliness: Above average. 

Facilities: Nice, well kept. Individual locking showing rooms! 

General spots: Varies a lot. Near the shore, there are spots with some tree barriers and shade. Up on the hill it’s more like a grass parking lot. 

Our site: 61. Steps from the lake. Not a deep spot, but big enough for us and had trees on three sides. Electric hookup was way off to the edge. Bring a long cord(more than 50 feet). 

Noise: Just happy kids playing and the sound of waves on the lake. 

Cell signal(Verizon): Almost none. Phone messages updated once or twice at night. 

Other: They told us on check in that there has been a lot of bear activity at night, so keep your food stored and campsite clean. Firewood and some snacks are available at the state park store just up the road. Camp is a great spot to hang out or explore the Superior coast or Porcupine Mountains.

Site 38 backs up to the new playground This was one of the largest sites We absolutely loved it, easy to see kids at the park and still enjoy the campsite.

Make sure to check with ranger katie she offered events for the kids to attend, almost daily.

Electric only Fill up with water before entering the campground Dump station near entrance

Bathhouse was nice and cleaned often.

Boat launch near entrance had a dock with picnic table, beautiful view and good fishing spot.

General store to the left when you exit the campground

Back in town about 20 minute drive they had a grocery store Pats and dollar general. This is the nearest gas station, make sure you are full before exploring the parks.

Easy trails: Lake of the clouds - 5 minute drive Summit peak- 15 minute drive Presque isle - 25 minute drive ( three waterfall options here)

All had a lot of stairs but worth it Our 5 and 3 year old did ok, we did end up putting the 3 year old in a carrier.

Water front sites are beautiful but all rocks, when you turn left out of the campground and head towards town there are several pull offs for beach access :)

Sprint service was ok, hit and miss

Flys were not bad when it was windy, little annoying some nights but we kept a fan running under the awning and it seemed to solve the issue.

We went end of August

Our site was large and easy to back into. Restrooms straight ahead with laundry available. WiFi spotty - can access at visitor center- stop there first to get hiking info. Lake of the clouds on left of entrance down the road - must see. Lots of hiking from there. Lake Superior hike not worth going on too far from lake. Enjoyed our stay.

I stayed here when the weather was not in my favor...it rained. With that, we had the greatest time hanging out at our campsite. It was a little slick on the site with all of the mud, but it made for fun stories. Close to the park and hiking trails.

Great location in relation to Lake Superior but sites are not very private. Lots of firewood available for sale.

This was a great car campground visited in August 2020. We could walk to the visitor center via a short wooded trail, walk or drive to a small convenience store with firewood, and step over to Lake Superior each evening for sunrise. Lots of black flies in Northern Michigan during late summer, and plenty of humidity but great campground near beautiful hikes. Make sure to do escarpment trail!

Union Bay is the only “modern” campground in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness, offering around 100 fully-reservable, electric sites with access to a modern bathroom and shower house. The lakeside sites, as you can imagine, are the most popular and spacious, and most often booked 6 months in advance.  If you come after leaf season, you can have the place to yourself.  However, the winds off the lake can be powerful and the numerous campsites on the upper level offer a bit more protection, if somewhat more cramped. 

The boat launch is right next to the campground, if you plan to get out onto the big lake. The outdoor adventure opportunities in the park are endless, from hiking, biking, and paddling in the spring through the fall to skiing and snowshoeing in the winter.   But, bring your muck boots if you come in the fall or spring, as the trails and campground is wet and full of mud.

As a designated wilderness, motorized recreation is not allowed within the park, so your walk in the woods remains undisturbed. Backpacking is very popular here and backcountry camping sites are numerous, and reservable (get your permit at the Visitor’s Center). The park offers cabins and yurts, some of which are only accessible by trail which and heated by a wood stove making a winter adventure more attractive. There is also a downhill skiing area located within 3 miles of the Visitors Center.

The bathrooms at Union Bay are modern and comfortable with individual unisex shower units accessible via an outside door. The laundry room has 1 washing machine and 2 dryers(be sure to run the dryer on high). Water is available at several spigots throughout the campground, and the sewer dump station is right on the way out of the campsite to take care of that business when you leave.

Be sure to drive or hike up to the Lake of the Clouds overlook and trail network. The glacially carved escarpment offers a priceless view of what the locals call “the Porkies” and makes the long drive to get here worth it.

The closest town of significance to Union Bay is Ontonagon, 18 miles away, so plan ahead with supplies. Just outside the campground is a small, privately run, campstore where you can get ice cream, ice and a few other food items, and lots of tourist trinkets – just look for the oversized black bear.

This was our first time camping in Michigan and we loved being so close to Lake Superior. We're used to MN state parks, so we found the campsites in MI to be a bit small and too close to each other. The fire ring for the site behind ours was very close to the bed area of our camper. Our spot was campsite #98. There's not a lot of shade or vegetation between campsites in that row, but it was easy walking distance to the modern restroom/showers and Lake Superior. Next time we would like to camp along the lake. The trail around Lake of the Clouds was well worth it!

You can't beat the Porcupine Mountains if you're looking for wilderness experiences in Michigan. Union Bay is a nice campground to use as a base camp for lots of day hikes in the area.

It can be busy and weekends are louder with kids, dogs, loud neighbors, etc , just like most state parks. Weekdays tend to be quieter even when busy.

Many sites are quite close together and there isn't much privacy in those. Some sites have odd sizes and shapes so be prepared to adjust your rig on the site to get best placement and be level (back in vs. sideways, etc ). Also consider having leveling blocks with you.

Sites in bottom loop offer great views and access to Lake Superior. But even the upper loops are a short walk to awesome shoreline and amazing sunrises.

Bathrooms are clean and showers have good design, although shower heads could use some maintenance.

Staff working the office seem to really know their stuff about hiking the area, so check with them for ideas in addition to the Visitors Center.

If you want the wilderness feel of the Porkies but modern amenities at the end of the day, this is the place.

Note that cellular service can be extremely weak if you don't have a booster.

We tent camped. It’s crowded and it’s close quarters but it’s the Porkies and it’s what we expected. Screaming kids, barking dogs, loud partiers, RV’s that never shut their lights off and those light obscure the night sky views...this park had all of that. We expected it and unless you are early or late in the season, you should too. Our site had a major flood and the mud afterwards was pretty intense. The storm was predicted to be so bad that the very kind Park Ranger came by to go over the take cover procedure just in case. Some people had to move sites because of the flooding afterward. They were accommodated. On the other hand this park has magnificent trails, a really nice camp store with souvenirs, wood and ice cream. The walk to the lake was short and Lake Superior was as majestic as ever. The bathrooms were as clean as busy bathrooms could be. People were adhering to state mandated mask wearing rules. I love the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park so this was a fine but average place to rest my head after enjoying the park.

I absolutely loved campsite 28 in the Union Bay Campground. You sit right next to Lake Superior overlooking the water! Between you and the water is a beautiful large rocky beach area that spans the shoreline for miles. Especially because you also get a wonderful view of the sunset as well. At night we laid out on the rocks and watched the stars! All night long you hear the waves crashing into shore. It was so peaceful. 

It is hard for me to look for other campsites at different campgrounds because of how much I loved this spot. This site is hard to beat!

Not to mention how beautiful the rest of the park was. Mountains, waterfalls, and thousands of acres of forest. I will be coming back for another visit.

Beautiful family campground on the North ashore of Lake Superior. It has RV, tent and back country sites as well as cabins and yurts for rent. Many amazing hiking trails and beautiful waterfalls to explore near by. Campground has large clean bathrooms and showers and a nice camp store. It is also pet friendly and has WiFi,  but no playground.  We stayed at site 82 which had a partial view of the lake and backed the tree line. It was a nice site. I gave this campground 4 out of 5 stars because some of the sites were a little too close together but overall a great campground and we will be back!

Great park. Explore 100 miles of trails and sleep under the stars. Love the sites on the water. Reserve early as it is booked during July and August.  Firewood available at outpost store just before you enter park. Be sure to stop and pick some up before you check in. It’s kind of a far walk when hauling wood if you are driving a motor home.

The campground itself is clean and has large sites on the back row, smaller sites on lake superior, and average sized sites in the Center. There are many hike in sites available for tenters, and also hike to cabins and yurts. The hiking is in the mountains and mostly point to point. Be prepared to hike some distances with steep climbs and descents, and uneven footing. At the visitors center they have suggested levels of difficulty and numbers of hours for various hikes posted on the wall. I recommend a little research before starting your hike. We loved the lake of the clouds ridge hike and the presque river water falls hikes. Beautiful sites and peaceful hikes. Often there was no one else around. We found we had the sunsets at lake in the clouds all to ourselves.

The big thing about this campground is the size of it.  Positioned on a hill like feature, It has an hill-top section and a bottom of the hill section.  Some of the sites at the bottom are a little rocky, so not great for tent camping, but for campers this would be an ideal location for it overlooks Lake Superior.  The top section is great for tent camping for it had an abundance of grassy sites.  This is a very picturesque campground and one that is a great place to call home for a multiple day adventure to the Porcupine Mountains and has amenities such as showers and restrooms.  It really takes you away into nature and provides a unique view of Lake Superior from a beach of stone.

We absolutely loved camping at Union Bay! There were a lot of people, but they aren’t so close that it’s annoying. There’s electric at all the modern campsites, as well as the typical picnic table, fire pit combo. While the site itself was sort of small (ours was not suitable for anything other than tents) I actually enjoyed having all our stuff close by. When you stay here, don’t forget to put your trash in your car! We didn’t and we’re visited by a pretty sassy raccoon 😂 The sunsets on Lake Superior were amazing, and we even saw an awesome storm coming in that ended up just being a lot of wind. Short drive to tons of hiking trails, including the Escarpment trail which is one of the most amazing hikes in Michigan. If you’re hungry, there’s a great diner in Ontonagon that has amazing pizza and breakfast! Totally recommend and will definitely be back! (ps prepare for black flies, deet doesn’t even scare the little vampires and they are literally everywhere. I recommend bringing a good anti itch stick/spray)

Pet-friendly. Site was able to be reserved online for overnight tent camping - however, it was labeled a "day-use" or "group" area - not sure if this was a fluke or what. Beautiful site right on the shores of Lake Superior with amazing views. The campsite was really busy, the sites looked packed together offering little privacy. This site is tucked away in a corner so you only have one neighboring site. Flooding would be a concern if expecting rain.

Our first night here there was a tornado watch so we decided to move our gear around and sleep in the car as not to risk any damage to our tent etc. One thing to also keep in mind is that if it is raining almost every site we saw at this campground was extremely muddy! Ours was awful. The next morning when we woke up we hiked the escarpment and summit peak. Due to weather conditions that’s all we were able to hike but the views were incredible and the hikes were fun!

Right on Lake Superior, best sites are often booked early- but the yurts are considered “back country “ even tho East yurt is next to a private parking spot and West is 70 yards away both with direct private access to Lake Superior

We were there over Labor day weekend. Campground was full. We had rain so everything was really muddy. Site are all just in the grass or dirt. I wouldn't recommend camping there with a tent if rain is in the forecast. Sites are close to another but it's nice to have electricity. Setting is beautiful.