In the southwestern-most corner of Michigan, about 100 miles from Grand Rapids, Warren Dunes State Park is home to 3 miles of sandy beaches and windswept dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. There are 6 miles of short trails for exploring the area, but the main draws to Warren Dunes camping is soaking up rays on the beach and climbing the dunes. The tallest dune, Tower Hill, rises 260 feet above the lakeshore and offers a panoramic view over the surrounding area. Park guides offer a variety of seasonal nature programs that highlight the area’s flora, fauna and natural features. Alcohol is not permitted on the beach at Warren Dunes, and dogs must remain leashed, and are restricted to certain areas only. 

 The campground at Warren Dunes is located away from the beach, in a wooded area near the highway. On the upside, there’s plenty of shady trees to take cover under on the warmer, sunnier days; on the downside, there’s plenty of highway noise to distract from the peacefulness. The two camp areas—Modern and Semi-Modern—offer a total of 220 tent and RV sites that vary in size and seclusion. The larger Modern area has restrooms with showers, drinking water and playgrounds for the kids; limited hookup sites are available. This area also has three rustic mini-cabins for rent. The Semi-Modern area is more spartan, with just water and vault toilets. A dump station is located between the two areas. Campsite rates range from $25–$45/night; cabins are $52/night.

Warren Dunes State Park Campground

This campground seemed ideal when we pulled off the road. A long drive through the woods, into the forest. Seemed like it would be quiet and peaceful, but when we got out of the car, it was very clear we were not far from the highway.

First, the campground was very pretty. Very wooded and the sites were relatively large. There were trashcans all over the place near the bathrooms/pit toilets. So that was something you don't find many places. The densely wooded area gave lots of shade and cover if the sun were out. The ground was fairly sandy, so it made a lovely landing spot for our tent. Each site had a picnic table and fire pit, although the pits were a bit unusual. They appeared to be some type of pipe filled with cement (with a hollow center for the fire) to make it sturdy. I kind of liked them, but no fire grate for cooking.

Now, there were a few things that made me rate this as a "3 star". First was how the sites were set up. Although each one as fairly large, they set them up "two together", at least in the part we were in. One site beside another without any buffer of bushes or trees, so potentially, you could be sharing an area with perfect strangers. That's not all bad, not at all, just something I noticed if you were looking for seclusion in the woods. Secondly, the proximity to the highway is deceiving. It feels like you are off the beaten path, but looking at a map, you see how close you are to the interstate. That makes for a lot of noise, all night long. Hard to listen to the night sounds.

A good place to crash, but not as quiet as we hoped.

Camping was in the woods, but highway noise was loud

Warren Dunes State Park is great, I went here for the sole purpose of the dog beach. Miles and miles of it! It's a beautiful park with lots of trails, lots of dunes and beach on Lake Michigan. I think it's a hidden gem for Michiganders. I prefer rustic sites and Warren Dunes has rustic sites and a modern campground. My site had a trail head leading out off the back, it was perfect. Warren Dunes has tons of trails, dunes and beaches. The best part, dog friendly off leash beach! If you travel with dogs, it's a great campground! 
There are water pumps and outhouse restrooms on the rustic sites. There is also a general store on the grounds should you need anything you forgot. Also, there is no alcohol allowed on the grounds. 

Warren Dunes State Park

Nice clean campground......a good place for passing through. Super packed with people but it's the middle of summer in the midwest. The rustic sites were woodsy and secluded enough. Everyone was pretty quite by 10 pm. It's a little pricey compared to other places to camp along lake michigan. The rustic/semi-modern site was $22 a night with an $8 online booking fee plus you have to pay the daily park fee for having your car there. 

The beach was clean, hiking trails were maintained, overall good for a quick trip.

Nice......

We spent 3 wonderful weekends there this summer. The cleanest campground around. The 2nd loop of camp sites is the loop we would recommend.

Ah-maz-ing

We stayed in the semi modern sites, which was tents and no RVs nearby, which was good. That was about it. The Interstate was directly behind the sites, so the highway traffic noise took away from the feeling you want when camping, that off the grid feeling.

The site was clean, picnic table and fire ring. There was a water spigot close by too. We did some short hiking to sand dunes which was really cool. Nice paths lead to beautiful sunset over dunes.

Upon returning from the hike, we set up camp. That's when we found the ticks. We found probably 10 on our dog, several on us. The couple next to our site was struggling with ticks also, and they hadn't hiked, so makes me think they were from the campground. (We stayed ON the trail carefully while hiking). We've camped a lot and never dealt with this many ticks.

We actually ended up bailing due to how many were on us all. Spent the next 24 hours picking them off everyone in our family at home. Not good. We know it's a fact of life, but this place was infested. Bummer of a trip.

TICKS

Gave Warren Dunes a try a few years back. The dunes themselves were cool. If you go, definitely hike up to the top. One setback was that you can't bring alcohol into the park. I wasn't planning on getting tanked or anything, but it would've been nice to drink a beer around the fire. And if you think the rangers don't enforce that rule, you're wrong. Our neighbors got busted for it when we were there. I can understand if you're causing a nuisance, but 2 to 3.... to 4 responsible beers isn't gonna hurt anybody. I'd recommend Nordhouse Dunes in the Manistee National Forest over Warren Dunes.

Wasn't bad, but there are better dunes experiences in MI.

Very nice sites. Pretty and the beach is beautiful.

Worth the trip! 

Not the most private of campsites, but hiking the dunes at night is beautiful.

nice getaway

I have been coming here since I was a little kid. the campground can get a little crowded but we stayed in the non electric side which was not  to bad .I do recommend making  reservations they do fill up fast. there is hiking , swimming, and you can even bring your dogs. 

love this place 

Wonderful campground!  Lots of shade and plenty of privacy between sites.  The bathroom seemed newer (South modern loop) with clean bathrooms (cleaned at least twice a day) and private shower stalls.  We went when the campground was at full capacity and it still didn’t feel overcrowded.  Nice store, fully stocked and helpful staff.  There is a path to the beach for walking but it is a long walk. We tried walking a wagon to the beach via the road but regretted it.  A kind family drove us half the distance.  Plan on driving your stuff to the beach or taking bicycles.  Mt. Randall is the high dune to climb but not for the faint of heart!!!  And beware, the sand does get HOT midday.  Overall, a great beach camping trip!

Fresh water beach paradise

Found this campground because The National Lakeshore was full. It is alcohol free and they mean it. Really nice campground really nice bathrooms/ showers but not enough when campground is full. The bathrooms are cleaned well twice a day and there are multIple playgrounds for the kiddos.  Great paths for walking or biking. 

Draw-backs--There is only one place to dump gray water in the entire campground. We are tent campers and were told to ‘dump it in the woods ‘ . 

Family camp out !! 



Our first trip camping trip to Michigan and we loved Warren Dunes Campground. Although the sites were on the small side, ours was wooded and felt private. The staff was present and friendly. I was amazed at how often the staff was cleaning our bath house! They made a real effort to keep it as nice as possible given the amount of sand people were dragging in. The general store had just about anything you could need and opened early and stayed open late. We will definitely be back!



Clean, Friendly, Wooded, Great Location

Great spot for “easy” camping! We were with a large group so had a site you could drive right up to. Electricity hookups, bathrooms and showers, picnic tables and fire pit, etc. Easy access to the dunes and the beach.

Convenient and fun!

Happened upon this Gem when driving the coast of Lake Michigan.  Watched the solar eclipse from the beach.   The DBR had a viewing area setup for adults and kids.  Lots of trails and activities for the kids.  Pet friendly also.

Beautiful campground  on Lake Michigan

I was super pumped to check this place out, but it wasn’t exactly as great as I was expecting. For one, no dogs on the beach😒 There was a small area for them, but nothing in comparison. Also, no alcohol.... hrmmmm, I’m not a lush or anything, but I do like a few beers at the campground. Otherwise, the hiking was nice and there were some cool areas to climb around the dunes. Ultimately, I would probably choose something that suited me a little better next time. 

Pretty nice....

The dunes here are lovely and feel a little less busy than Indiana Dunes. You can also access it all by hiking directly from the campgrounds. The campsites are a mixed bag. Some are right on top of each other and some have nice vegetation between them. Regardless, it isn’t ideal for a a quiet getaway but if you get the right site it’s not bad.

Nice little park

I remember coming here when I was young but haven’t stayed here in decades. It was time to try it out again. We arrived around 5 or 6 and found lots of open sites on a Wednesday. They put us in a nicely wooded site with empty neighboring sites. We could see our neighbors and others walked by on the road so there were plenty of people in camp. There were water puddles in the road and some campsites. It rained during the night too. Our site is sandy with no grass which wasn’t as great with the wetness. However it’s camping at the dunes so it’s expected. The vault toilets are ok- one had standing water in the corner. Water is available a few sites down and a garbage bin is on the way out. We camped in the rustic loop- no electric or other hookups. There is a larger section with 2 loops that has these amenities. Showers are also located over there. It’s a longer walk or you can drive to the showers. 

  

We tried hiking and found fallen trees blocking the path. There are other trails to choose from. Be sure to check out the beach and climb up the sand dunes. 

  

This was a nice campground within a couple hours of Chicago.

Lake Michigan camping with dunes and trails 

Wrapping up our recent tour of Michigan campgrounds, we caught some sun at the beach after a quick sprint up the dunes (actually just the 8-year old climbed to the top - the parents were too hot and tired). Alas, the beach showed heavy use with sand that was just a bit grittier than shores we visited in the northern mitten.

We found a quiet site (168) near a small playground with clean bathrooms and a camp store with a woodsy fun feel selling souvenirs, shirts, snacks, and scooter rentals.  Minor concerns were the heavy trash that backed up at the dumpster after a busy weekend and the thick cloud of campfire smoke that lingers at bedtime when the land breeze shifts in. But hey, it’s camping. 

Nice, but a little behind on trash pickup 

All Inclusive! If you love a campground 3 minutes from Lake Michigan with plenty of amenities, this is your place. The Mount Randall campground has 2 loops with all electric sites.  The first loop on your left provides more privacy with pull in type shandy, sites. There are 2 or 3 small rustic cabins as well. The loop to the right, has more open sites that sit flat to the road. We camped here. Our 2 sites did not provide trees for hammocks or even a good laundry line. Both loops have a central bath house with individual showers opening off the central breezeway.  There is a camp store with wood ice, snacks, fun stuff and things you forgot or never knew you needed!  We visited during the pandemic and only 2 water pumps were available, but worked fine. There is a primitive/rustic campground as well and we may like that better as we prefer privacy and quiet over convenience. 

The beach is a good one. There are 3 parking lots and plenty of sandy beach. You can climb the dunes and hike the dune trails, rent kayaks, or grab food from the concession area. There were also  food trucks there when we visited. 

Overall, a great choice for summer fun with the kids and I would think pretty gorgeous come fall too.

Amazing beach, family friendly campground

Primitive sites are spacious, well spaced &amp; reasonably flat. All sites are sandy with a raised fire ring, (no ground fires allowed). Walkable facilities are outhouses, although all campers may use the facilities in the RV grounds. Even if you don't need the power, etc I'd sugest the RV sites as they are a bit quieter, the highway noise at the primitive site did not diminish all night.

Close to the highway

Lots of campers packed in, but we enjoyed the brief stay

Dense but nice

This is the campground I grew up going to. It is a fantastic park with a beautiful beach. I've visited many dune parks along Lake Michigan, but there is a grandness about these ones that I haven't found elsewhere. If you are looking for somewhere to be active and climb and hike the dunes, few places beat here. The beach is also a wonderful place to be active. The water is the perfect depth for splashing around or swimming laps. Dogs are allowed on the far side of the beach too!

There is access to the dunes from the campground. It is a fantastic dune to climb, but is very steep so be prepared. Once at the top of the first dune, there are lots of dunes and sand bowls to run down and climb back up. If you are feeling super adventurous, you can hike across the dunes from the campground to the beach. That is an intense hike and I don't recommend taking kids or dogs (especially on hot days). I was a kid when I did it last and I vowed to never do it again. It might not be as it seemed then, but better to be prepared. For those who want to save their energy for the beach, you can drive there. The parking lot is huge.  

If you are just looking to relax at camp, Warren is still great! The bathrooms are always clean enough and the showers have warm water. The campsites are well spaced and many of them are shaded. There are lots of little trails throughout the campground to get you to the bathroom quickly.

I have fond memories of playing on the playground as a kid (and it still looks fun now too). There is a nice field to play catch in as well.

The only downside is the price. Michigan state parks are always pricey.

Lots of fun!

Camp ground was located off a main road but plenty far to have little noise. The camp is located inside the park so you go into 2 gates but really don't have to wait at the first main park gate outside the first time in. The spots were wide but not deep and the really only bad remark I have is the lack of any stone or gravel. The spots are mostly dirty sand and not real good for keeping dirt out of the camper or leveling the camper. Some gravel would make a world of difference here. The hook up at some sites we're almost on the wrong side of the camper but located in the rear of the site.
The showers and bathrooms suffer from the lack of gravel also. Alot of times dirt was tracked into the bathrooms. 
Being right in the state park is nice. We spent alot of time at the dog beach which is super nice. And is also a great spot for sunsets. The water is also really clear here. The beach has bathroom facilities and food trucks for snacks.  

Dog lovers paradise

Great park with lots to do, all the MI state park amenities, and natural beauty. However, you can hear the highway traffic from the campgrounds and the sites are pretty open with little privacy from your neighbors.

Great, but not very remote

I just moved here with my family about 10 minutes down the road from Warren Dunes, and Warren Dunes is one of the main reasons why we moved here. I’ve been coming to this park since I was a kid, and we usually camp there once or twice a year.￼ This year I think we’ve camped there at least 10 times now that we’re right down the street! I’m 36 now, so it’s safe to say that I pretty much know the park like the back of my hand, and it truly has become a home away from home. Actually I prefer being there over my main home. 😁Warren Dunes provides one of the most beautiful beaches on Michigan’s West Coast (and in the world, for that matter) where you can kayak, board, etc. with rentals available, there are miles of incredible hiking trails with dune and forest terrain, and it’s open all year around, so you can camp there in the winter and enjoy winter activities like cross country skiing and viewing the amazing frozen waves! Some of the greatest memories of my life have been created at Warren Dunes, and we continue to create magical and unforgettable memories￼￼ there today as it is indeed, a home away from home! 

A Home Away from Home

Dunes worth seeing. Not as dog friendly as one would think. Have dog beach but have yo walk a mile to get to it and must keep dogs on leash. One could easily access beach from parking lot but they do not allow dogs in lot. Sites moderately sized but usually little veg between for privacy. Located in beautiful mature hardwood forest. I would stay again. Showers are busy but fairly clean. 

Good but not great

We arrived at Warren Dunes a little after check in and immediately noticed how tight some of the spots are and the bugs were terrible! This was the first campground we really didn't spend much time around the fire. The sites are a considerable size but can be hard to maneuver without annoying other campers. The park itself was pretty nice. The dog beach was a nice touch, if people actually picked up after their dogs, it could be much better. There are food trucks that come down to the beach for some really good food. Climbing the dunes is pretty cool, do it in the morning or late afternoon to beat the heat. Remember to bring bug spray in July and August. 

Large campground with less activities 

We stayed for two nights and enjoyed it. It cost $45 per night plus $10 for a park pass each day plus a $8 reservation fee, which was way too much for the amenities provided. We enjoyed the nearby trails and having modern stores nearby. You will hear the highway at night. There is a lot of poison ivy along the woods, so be careful! 

Standard modern campground near the beach

Amazing views from the afternoon and the tops of the hills great for picnics with family and friends 

Great views & hills 

Quick getaway from Indy to put your toes in the s￼and. Easy access to trails and beach. Enjoyed the taco and ice cream trucks as well as kayaks. Enjoyed seeing the wild turkeys. 

Beachy keen

This is our second time visiting this campground coming from Iowa. We love it! Super close to the beach about 2 miles from the campground, HOT showers, very clean bathrooms, spacious campsites. Warren dunes beach is so pretty and it’s one of our favs. 

Love this campground 

I stayed August 15th-18th, 2023. We were in Hildebrandt campsite 210. Very spacious, respectful neighbors, and the pit toilets were not atrocious, maybe just slightly smelly at times. Overall worth the time and trip. 

Excellent campground

Dunes are gorgeous but honestly I'd rather have gone for a day trip and camped elsewhere for the price.  Breakers and outlet on the power pole in the site were falling into the box, showers and bathrooms are a bit worn out etc.  Campsites are side by side and it was more packed than a Walmart parking lot.  Make sure you bring supplies or treats, the "camp store" was charging $9 for a bag of Doritos...

Very busy and overall facilities are a bit tired

Small campsites, but great hiking trails. Found lots of pawpaw fruit and loved playing on the beach after a nice hike. Lots of road noise at night and the sites aren’t very private. 