Best Glamping near Allendale, MI

Sadly, we just left the KOA Muskegon campground this morning after a relaxing and peaceful three-day stay. While travelling home, plans are already being made for another camping vacay at this KOA. The staff were all friendly and helpful, creating a family-like atmosphere. The cabins were clean, updated, and the beds were quite comfortable. Our deluxe cabin bathroom and kitchenette were also stocked with amenities, making the stay comfortable and effortless. Outside our temporary home was our own gas grill, patio table with seating, fire ring, and Adirondack chairs. How nice it was for meals on the deck and campfires in the evenings! Every morning we looked forward to the 3/4 mile hiking trail around the lake... which was gorgeous. Although, we personally don't fish, we enjoyed watching other guests fishing from the shore and various docks regularly. There is also a fun area of the campground that includes playground equipment, basketball, volleyball, a jumping pad that looks like a blast, and they were setting up some interesting looking mining activity. We did spend time on their community patio overlooking a fabulous greenspace, fire pit, swim beach, and the lake. I could've spent all day on the patio with the relaxing patio lights, flowering planters, and comfortable Adirondack chairs. The camp store is again clean, updated, and well-stocked, but I was also impressed that the prices were reasonable, which is not always the case in these type of"convenience" situations. Overall, cherished camping memories were made this past weekend, and we are anxious to return in the near future for more! Thank you KOA Muskegon staff!

If you have any watercraft, this is a good weekender spot. The hike trails are easily traversed and if you ask the camp ranger at reception, you can also rent single or tandem kayaks for *quite a reasonable price in varying time blocks if you don't have any watercraft of your own - you just tell them what time that you want to start and they will bring the kayak to the boat launch for you, which is great. Trash dumpsters and firewood are available at the campground entrance (if wood for some reason is unavailable, there's a BP gas station nearby that also sells it for $1 cheaper a bundle). The designated swimming area for the site is not the best unless you have small children, but if you like towed tubing, there's plenty of that happening mid-lake, outside of the other pontoons and boats. Also, despite the features listed here, there are no shower facilities available at this site, so bring bath wipes if you want to stay fresh! The water pump was also inoperable during my stay, but came prepared with plenty of bottled water anyway. The campfire pits also do not have grates for grilling/cooking any hot food, but if you have any cast iron cookware, you can get around this by placing your fire pit logs as evenly as possible so you can set your cookware direct on the flame (or just bring a mini grill if you prefer). Also close enough to Grand Haven so you can spend a few hours there as part of a mini get-away and still get to your site within about an hour or so.

A group of us bike from Kalamazoo to South Haven every year using the Kal-Haven trail. We usually tent camp but tried a cabin here this year. It was the perfect option as the campground is right off the trail. They provide linens and have basic supplies (including firewood that they will deliver to your cabin) right at the general store. We also met a group that had hiked in to the primative sites and were using the trail to train for the Appalachian Trail. Everything is well-made and maintained, and the staff is friendly and helpful (they even let us check-in early when we biked in ahead of schedule). Highly recommend for those looking for a place close to the trail and to South Haven. The cabins have three queen beds and a sofa sleeper so they can comfortably hold up to eight people (we had five in our group and I never felt crowded). There's a large table inside and two chairs on the porch. There's also a large picnic table outside, a fire pit, and a grill. They are hoping to expand and add cabins sized for couples in the near future.

We had a large family camp weekend at Stony Haven. We had 5 sites (21-25) pack to capacity with 32 people.  They owners allowed use to squeeze in a few extra bodies more than their policies specify.

They offer so much at the campground!! We rented bikes and tubes, but they also rent canoes & kayaks (including launch & pickup), pedal cars, yard games and wifi hotspots.  They have a nice playground with swings, a sandbox, slide and climbers.  Adjacent to the playground is a large pavilion with charcoal grills and a volleyball quart.

The tent sites were very nice. Well maintained, each with their own fire ring, a picnic table,  water spickets and electric.  They also have full hookup sites for RVs, rustic sites and mini cabins.

There is a walking path around the back of the campground. It cuts through the woods and past a pond.  My kids (ages 1.5, 3, 5,& 6) spent hours at the pond catching frogs.

The bathrooms were clean and checked several times a day. There were public bathrooms with a few stalls and a shower, but there were also 2 private bathrooms with showers, one of which was handicap/family.  There were 2 additional private shower rooms.  They also have a laundry facility ON SITE!!!!  This came in very handy when I opened up my canvas hammock and found mold.

There is access to Stony Lake across the street and that connects to Lake Michigan.  There was an awesome county beach 5 min down the road on Lake Michigan.  It was right where the big lake meets the outlet for Stony Lake, Benona County Park. When they weren't at the pond my kids were playing in the sand and swimming at the beach.  I love little outlets like this because they are usually shallower and warmer than the big lake and are great for my littles.

They offer a short worship service on Sunday mornings for all that wish to participate. 

They owners were so sweet and easy going. We called several times to adjust our reservation right up to the day before and they gracefully tolerated our shuffling and were able to accommodate us. They even allowed us to leave our packed trailer at the site while we spent the afternoon at the beach after checkout.  We came back to the site ate, used the bathroom, hooked up the trailer and took off for home.

This campground is our home away from home in the summer! It is beautiful & very relaxing especially during the weekdays when it's not as full. The bathrooms are clean & the rangers keep up with mowing & other chores to keep the grounds clean. When it gets crowded the wifi doesn't work great & some of the campers are not very respectful; they cut through lots & don't abide by the rules (no pets on beach & no bikes or skateboards on boardwalk). The rangers get after them when they see it. Gets frustrating because it ruins it for others who care about the park. The only other downfall is there isn't much beach because of the high water table. I wish they could dredge & bring in more sand. Otherwise it's our favorite place to be!

This site turned out to be a diamond in the rough. Due to our lack of planning and seeking reservations, Newaygo State Park was one of the few campsites with short notice availability. As we entered we were greeted by spacious plots with enough treeline between them to cover up even the loudest of snorers. We took the next few minutes mapping out our perfect hammock setup. With so many options, we settled on our spots and built up the rest of camp. Nestled in and ready to explore, we walked to the edge of our site to the head of the beach trail to check out what we had gotten ourselves into. Less than a mile hike later and we made it to the 'beach front'. It wasn't much. The shallow buoyed off swim area was sandy, yet immediately upon passing the buoys we were met by very thick seaweed. Nonetheless, the view was breathtaking, there are plenty of lookout points over the lake to spend quiet time posted up in a hammock reading or whatever else you do in a hammock. Nighttime came and we were around the fire. We read that quiet hours start at 10:00 so being conscious of the expectations we kept our conversation at a low level and had light music playing from a phone. Around 11:10 a park ranger stopped by asking us to turn off the music, no big. But it seemed to us that no music after quiet hours should also be a part of the rules. All in all, we had an amazing weekend and we're all looking forward to our next weekend spent here. Thanks, Newaygo State Park!