Looking for the best pet-friendly campgrounds near Arcadia? Camping is an adventurous and unique way to escape the city—and you can bring along your furry friend. Search nearby campgrounds that allow pets or find top-rated spots from other campers.
Platte River Campground is located in the southern district of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, on the lower peninsula of Michigan. This year-round facility is one of the most popular campgrounds in the park. It is within walking distance of the Platte River and a short walk or drive away from the Lake Michigan shore. Hikers can access many of the area's day use and backpacking trails just north of the campground.Summer temperatures range from the upper 70s to 90 degrees F (25 to 32 C) during the day, and from the 50s to 70 degrees F (10 to 25 C) at night. Winters are cold, with daytime highs from 20 to 30 F (-7 to -1 C) and lows in the 10s and 20s F (-12 to -7 C). Snow is usually on the ground from late November through March.
Campers can hike, canoe, kayak and fish on the river or the lake. There are canoe rentals at nearby Platte River Point, where the river meets the lake (the point also has beach access for those wishing to drive there). The Platte Plains trail system boasts more than 25 miles (40 km) of trails, some of which can be accessed a short walk away from the campground. Trails to the primitive White Pine backcountry campground are also close by.
The campground lies in a wooded area within walking distance of the Platte River and less than two miles (3.2 km) away from the beaches of Lake Michigan. Although the lakeshore is long and narrow, it has northern hardwood and conifer forests, abandoned farm meadows, wetlands, lakes, streams, bogs and splendid examples of a glacially formed landscape.The most prominent features in the park, and those for which it is named, are the perched sand dunes above Lake Michigan. The overlooks at Sleeping Bear, Empire and Pyramid Point bluffs are about 400 feet (122 m) above the lake. With 65 miles (105 km) of Lake Michigan shoreline and numerous inland lakes and streams, the park is wonderfully water-oriented.
For local information, please call (231) 326-4700 or call (877) 444-6777 for general information.
$50 / night
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79134_79210---,00.html
D.H. Day Campground is located in the northern district of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, on the lower peninsula of Michigan. This rustic campground is one of the most popular in Northern Michigan and is open (weather permitting) from April 27 through the last Sunday in November. Reservations are required May 1 through October 15. Campsites are within walking distance of the Lake Michigan shoreline and a short drive to many popular features in the park. Summer temperatures range from the upper 70s to 90 degrees F (25 to 32 C) during the day, and from the 50s to 70 degrees F (10 to 25 C) at night.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore's rustic D.H. Day Campground is beautifully wooded. Campers can swim, canoe, kayak, fish and relax along the shoreline of the campground. The multi-use Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail passes through the campground opening up 20+ miles (32 km) of biking and hiking. There are canoe and bicycle rentals nearby in the village of Glen Arbor. The historic village of Glen Haven is a short 15-minute walk away. Multiple hiking trails, the Dune Climb, and the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive are just a short drive away. D.H. Day Campground is the perfect launching point for a fun-filled stay at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
D.H. Day Campground lies in the middle of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near the historic village of Glen Haven. The spacious wooded campsites are no more than a 5-minute walk to the Lake Michigan beach. Features include northern hardwood and conifer forests, old farm meadows, wetlands, lakes, streams, bogs, and splendid examples of glacially formed landscapes. The beautiful, perched sand dunes, for which the parked is named, are just a few minutes' drive from the campground.
D.H. Day Campground is within minutes of the lakeside Village of Glen Arbor and the Historic Village of Glen Haven. The Dune Climb and Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive are a short drive to the south. The Alligator Hill Trail is less than a mile away. The Crystal River winds its way to Lake Michigan just a few short miles to the north. The harbor town of Leland is approx. 30 minutes away and is the gateway to both North and South Manitou Island.
For local information, please call (231) 326-4700 or call (877) 444-6777 for general information.
$10 - $20 / night
$20 / night
Pop open your lawn chair and relax by the crackling fire. Most sites have room for 4 folks, a camper or tent, a boat, a dog or two and a few kiddos :D We have a tiny cafe, a small playground, a fish station, warm showers and bike/kayak rentals! Hop on the Betsie Valley trail for a 3 mile adventure to ice cream, beaches, shops...so much! We are not a big concrete pad RV park, we are a nice small family owned campsite. We try and keep it quiet and calm (but still fun!) If you are looking for the far North Electric Forest, this is not the place. What we are is a great base-camp for all your awesome Northern Michigan adventures!
$33 - $85 / night
$14 - $27 / night
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply/rec-pp
$25 - $65 / night
Lake Michigan Campground is perched on the shores of Lake Michigan, 15 miles south of Manistee. The area creates an incredible setting with a scenic overlook of the lake and a sandy swimming beach. This family campground provides an array of hiking and biking trails, plus swimming, fishing and kayaking.
A hardwood forest gives way to a beautiful sandy beach at the shores of the lake with a playground for younger campers. Trout fishing in Lake Michigan is another big draw. Bird watchers delight in seeing unique species like the piping plover and prairie warbler. The Arrowhead Trail, a short loop trail created by Boy Scouts, forms a loop between the campground and the beach. A trailhead for the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is also within the recreation area.
The recreation area sits on the eastern banks of Lake Michigan along Porter Creek, due north of Hamlin Lake. As the second largest of the five Great Lakes, Lake Michigan provides stunning views and limitless options for water recreation. It covers a whopping 22,400 square miles and ranks as the fifth largest lake in the world. The Huron-Manistee National Forests encompass nearly a million acres of public protected land. Nearly 6,000 acres is wetlands that extend over the northern portion of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
The nearby Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area has abundant trails for hiking and backpacking.
$27 - $32 / night
Traverse City State Park is a 47-acre state park set in a more urban setting and featuring .25 miles of beautiful beach on the Grand Traverse Bay. The park is located only 3 miles from downtown Traverse City, one of the Michigan's most popular resort towns. The park was established in 1920 on about 16 acres of land after the logging industry began to wane. In 1921 and 1939, parcels were added to increase the park's land area. The original inhabitants of the land were the Ottawa branch of the Algonquin Indians.
Northern Exposure Campground staff takes pride in our state-of-the-art RV campground. Our goal is to provide a memorable experience to campers of all ages. We are a nonprofit organization that's committed to providing our guests with clean, safe, and updated camping facilities, fun family entertainment, and a helpful and friendly staff ready to answer all your questions and assist you during your stay. Welcome to Northern Exposure Campground, thanks for staying and helping us be the best RV camping destination in Northern Michigan!
$30 - $45 / night
Scout
This campground is centrally located to everything that’s going on, on the west side of the state. Whether it’s trail riding, Traverse City Cherry festival or hanging in the town of Manton. There is always something going on. Spacious, super clean bath house and on Saturday nights listen to live music right at your campsite!
Traveler
Was a quiet. Simple.. Just with nature...Site was clean, across street you can buy firewood ...Was a pleasant 2 night's....From site to the nearest store 15-20 min away..If needed...Had no issues...Be back Thanksgiving 2024..
Guide
After a decent ruck in, you have some immediate camped spots and can travel further for even more. Summer time is busy so get there early for a spot. Have been multiple times with bigger groups and have always found a spot for tents and hammocks. Enjoy hikes down the best for a distance view of the dunes and enjoy fires with lake views at night.
Guide
Beach was big and beautiful but you had to drive to get to it unless you love walking with a bunch of beach stuff in a bathing suit. Hamlin lake is close by and is a good spot for fishing.
Scout
Very nice park, walkway to the public beach, paved path behind the grounds. Modern, clean bathhouse. Not a lot of privacy between spots, big mature trees all through the grounds. Right by municipal airport with lots of flight activity.
Guide
Great location away from everything. Spacious sites that are spread out. We stayed in the Oak Loop. Only 5 minute easy walk to beach. Quiet. Enough cell reception to send a text but that's it. Pit toilets only in Oak and Violet loops. Flush toilets in hemlock and orchid loop. No showers, but showers available at convenience store down the street during the summer.
TravelerA small gem of a place. Park and pay to be in the National Forest...or disperse camping on Green Rd. We parked and hiked the mile and a half in to the Dunes. Take all your gear that you need if you don't want to trek back. Can not ride bike in or have anything with wheels on the trail. At the end of the Beautiful hike you come to the Dunes. Go to the right and you will see some spots to put a tent up(do not camp on Dunes or beach). To the right is easy walk and find. If you head to the left you will have to walk over some Dunes for a bit but this is where we went and found a perfect spot right where the forest and Dunes meet. Very short walk to the beach and it's AMAZING! We had it all to ourselves for hours. It's like looking at the ocean. Beautiful views, sunsets, night sky's. The water was warm and you could walk out a ways before it got deep. Great for swimming. It was perfect. One of my favorite spots away from the busy crowds. So worth the hike. Make sure you get wood and might have to hike it in. There is little to NO wood out there laying around. If you are willing to put the work in to hike out there then I promise it's worth it.
Traveler
Super close to manistee beach, came in on the weekend mid September, almost all the camp spots were taken. Forest was super eerie but beautiful.
Guide
Camp staff very friendly and park is well maintained. Nice hiking trails nearby and a 20 minute drive to a whole lot of entertainment!
Guide
The camping area is amazing. My group camped in the non electric section. Each area was set back from the road. Flat gravel pad. Small paved driveway for your car. It was peaceful. And absolutely dark at night. Perfect for star gazing. The comfort station was a short walk away. Clean bathrooms, shower areas, and a small room to wash dishes. You cannot wash dishes at your site. You must take precautions against bears. So food had to be locked in cars. We didn’t encounter bears. At the entrance is a canoe/tube business. You can float down the river to Lake Michigan.
Guide
Our site was great, easily fit a 17 foot trailer and a tent. Trails down to the water were appreciated by our kids. Neighbors are pretty close all around but that didn't matter until our last night. Several new campers rolled in at 10pm and proceeded to throw an absolute rager of a party until 4am - on Labor Day weekend. So overall a great campground but I wish there had been enforcement of quiet time or some kind of consequence for such horrible camping manners.
Traveler
Most sites have direct river access. All sites are walk-in, but not far from the parking area. There are two pit toilets for six sites and both were clean. They sites are large, but fairly open, not much between the sites.
Scout
David and Gail were so friendly and welcoming, especially for the inconvenience of a last minute stay on Labor Day weekend! I had questions during the booking process and messaged them- I had a response in minutes. We had a quiet spot and were able to get some uninterrupted sleep after a long afternoon at the beach.
There are several places nearby with beach access (the turquoise water of Lake Michigan is beautiful), and lakes under 5 minutes away for fishing. For rockhounding, check out the beaches near Old Mission Lighthouse. Should we find ourselves back on the road to the UP, we'll be sure stop back in. Thanks again for being so accommodating!
Traveler
Small campsites, but nice bathrooms and showers, close to Baldwin
Traveler
Went there to use dump station after camping at the local veterans retreat, nice facilities and staff. 15$ fee to use dump station
Traveler
No running water.
No electricity.
No flush toilets.
No internet.
No phone signal.
Pure heaven.
Rustic campsites. 50-100 yards from the river. Great water from the pump. Nice clean vault toilet. Very quiet at night. Peaceful and beautiful. We've gone ever year for the last 5 years. Going again next year.
Highly recommend a satellite-based GPS unit like Garmin or TomTom in your car. I was serious when I said no phone signal so Google Maps ain't gonna' get you there.
Scout
The campground is a small, family friendly campground that has a lot of activities for both adults and kids. It is clean, has level sites and well maintained facilities.
TravelerThe campsites are spacious and feature trails that lead directly to the Tippy Dam Backwater. There’s also convenient access for launching a boat on either the Manistee River or the backwaters side of the dam
Guide
This was a great campground, quiet and peaceful in the cherry orchard area of west Michigan, near Glen Arbor and Traverse City.
Our site, #20, had an improved gravel parking area for camper with a finished concrete pad with a picnic table.
Site, and whole campground was clean and well maintained. Our site was a full hookup but had one small issue where the drain dump was slightly uphill from the camper, so we had to work with the drain hose to empty tanks.
Only other negative is that there are no trees for the majority of sites for shade cover.
This was a good spot for a two night stay as it’s close to the Sleeping Bear National Dunes and also many local wineries.
Have fun!
ScoutQuiet, large sites, like new bath house, 7th nite free, rate$35, good location for northwestern Michigan sites Water on all outside sites. interior sites share water hookups
Scout
Not a bad campground. Easy drive to Traverse City. Camp store is small and closes early, 7pm.
ScoutGreat campground. Booked two nights and had to request a third it was so perfect. We went up because it advertised orv access right from campsite. It’s really handy to not have to trailer over to the trsilheads. Quiet, bug spaces, huge bathhouse. We will be going back!
Scout
To many people and yelling kids but breath taking for sure
Scout
Updating this information. We live 3 miles from this camp. All MI State Forest Campgrounds are nor $20/night.
There is not a RV dump or hookup of any kind in this campground. One could easily bring a 30 ft trailer but sites this size are limited.
This camp is on the Betsie River and the Grass Lake Flooding. There is a gravel/sand ramp to launch smaller fishing boats. Great area to kayak and float tube. 1000's of acres of State Forest surrounding this spot with miles of trails for atv, cars, trucks and horses. There are no horst facilities at this camp.
Scout
Nice spot with a fire pit. I don’t think you can get a trailer in the spot but I pulled up in my truck and setup a tent right next to it. I can’t hear anyone else and it’s elevated above the road. Nice and peaceful
Ranger
Our site was $65.63 a night. (This was the average after receiving one night free for staying a week).
We were in Site# 4A (premium site). We had Full hook- up with a blacktop pull-through.
We travel towing a 14 foot trailer and were able to fit both in our pull through site along with my jeep.
The site was easy to level.
Our site was not shaded with limited trees. This was a smaller lot with our neighbors fairly close.
The lot comes with a concrete patio with picnic table. There was not a fire ring since only propane fires are allowed.
There is free WiFi. They do not offer Cable TV but there are many local channels.
There is an adult pub-style game room with poker tables, a large tv, a table shuffle board, air hockey game, foosball table, and board games. There is a community catering kitchen located in their activities center.
They do not provide garbage service at your site so you must walk to garbage dumpster. This can be a long distance for some.
You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. They also allow you to rent golf carts. It is beneficial to have a golf cart to get around since it is a large campground. We have our own e-bikes which helped.
They do have a large heated Swimming pool and an adults only hot tub. There is a fitness center.
They have quite a few ponds throughout the campground.
There is not a Playground. They offer pickleball courts.
There is not a general store nor snack bar/restaurant on site.
The streets are paved and good for riding bikes.
This is solely an RV park. They do not have any cabins to rent or any tent areas.
The showers are located in the activity center. These are typical stalls. There is a great area to hang clothes and store your toiletries in the shower stall. These are kept very clean.
There is a laundry facility. There are approximately 4 washers and 4 dryers. They allow you to use cash or an app. It is approximately $2.25 to wash and $2 to dry a load.
They do not have a fenced in dog park. There are areas to walk dogs though.
Bugs/gnats were a small issue and bug spray was needed.
There is supposedly a mowed trail to hike off of the campground (about 3 miles) but I was unable to locate it.
Some fun things to do outside of the campground are the shops (Front Street) & water activities in Traverse City, the local wineries/vineyards, and the DNR Outdoor Shooting range (5 miles away & free to the public). We ate at Yankee Boy where all of the locals hangout. Excellent food (no alcohol served).
Guide
Large campground composed or 5 loops. Many have a trail leading to the water. Hiking and biking paths within the campground along with a nice boat ramp. Trash on sites and dirty outhouses along with lots of generators and after hour noise was a downside.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Arcadia, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Arcadia, MI is Platte River Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with a 4.8-star rating from 60 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Arcadia, MI?
TheDyrt.com has all 145 dog-friendly camping locations near Arcadia, MI, with real photos and reviews from campers.
