Best Cabin Camping near Barton City, MI

We rented their pet-friendly cabin.  It consists of a single room, two bunk beds, a table mounted to the wall, two chairs, a mini fridge, a microwave, coffee pot, a wall heater and a wall-mounted fan.  Nothing fancy, but serviceable.  There's a site with a picnic table, grill, and fire pit, connected to the cabin, as well as a decent sized front porch.  Also nearby the dumping station, but this isn't as bad as it could be, at least during our midweek stays ((We've done two weekday stays.)  There's a patch of grass across the drive, where puppy potty bags are dispensed, for easy bathroom breaks with the dogs, and it is also close to the campground host site and firewood vending machine.  The firewood is really decent quality, and the machine accepts cards, which is nice, compared to other parks.  The bathrooms/showers are a short walk away, and are really a lot nicer than most state park facilities.  Several accessible/family restrooms are available, offering shower seats, benches, a dual height showerhead, sink, and toilet with grab bars, all in one lockable room.  Several campsites are one the waterfront.  As other's have mentioned, the beach is seeing some significant changes, due to historically high lake levels, which has forced several campsites to close, and the designated dog beach to be inaccessible.  They have alleviated this by shifting the pet-friendly beach area to the site of the closed campsites.  It is still an amazingly beautiful place to just sit in awe of the beauty of Lake Huron.  There is a two mile nature trail that winds through the outer part of the park, and it supplied a great hike with our dogs.  The park itself is within a reasonable walk to the local grocery store, utilizing a paved path that leads from the campground to the town.  We just love it there.  The only thing holding back from a five star is the beach area's struggles.  But that doesn't even feel fair, because there's little that humans can do at this point, to change that.

We stayed here on a Tuesday and Wednesday night. We were at site 96 right on the water. It was gorgeous and clean and there were lots of spaces. The bathroom wasn’t bad but the water was cold. The showers were nice and have a private toilet in them as well. The fire pits are nice and every site comes with an electric hookup. Tons and tons of paved hiking trails. Pet friendly. Best part was checkout was at 1pm instead of 10am. Felt like it was more a family campground though so probably won’t be revisiting myself. $30/night for a tent site and wood is available on site for $7/bundle. Wood comes from a “vending machine” so it’s always dry and ready to burn which came in handy durning the rain. I did also see an area for water and sewer dumping as well.

We were greeted at the gate by an extremely helpful and knowledgeable gentleman. He provided good directions, and helped us with our Rec Pass.

The site was easy to find, spacious, and had adequate distancing from other campers. It included a fire pit and picnic table too.

The lake was serene in the early mornings and evenings. Listen for the woeful call of the loons. What a treat!

Word of caution, the raccoons start partying as soon as you bed down. Make sure your food and trash is adequately covered/contained.

Campground has vault toilets. We never used them but good to know they have them.

I believe myself to be a pretty tough critic. With that said, this was our first camping experience within our home state. 

People: Everyone was nice, and helpful! This is a great look for us newbies. 

Campsite: Phenomenal. We were in a site that was just a few steps to the beach! Though we didn’t use them, the picnic table and fire pit was nicely placed. 

Environment& Amenities: Someone’s always driving around in the cart for assistance.  You can call or hit up the welcome/check-in center as well. A company that sells wood via delivery of half cords or greater, but has a vending machine of 1/4 cords or bundles. Restroom facilities are well maintained. A few trails for walking and or cycling/boarding.

So far so good. We will definitely be back!

We camped At Harrisville State Park for one night (4th of July) as we headed north to make our way around Lake Superior. The campground was packed as you would expect on the holiday. Our site was right on the shore of Lake Huron which was nice, and had a large fire pit. The bathrooms were immaculate. You purchased firewood from a vending machine. I would have enjoyed this campground a lot more, but it was really busy and loud. One of the noisiest places I have ever camped, although quiet hours were enforced luckily. I learned more about our neighbors issues with garlic making her fart excessively than I ever wanted to know. I’m a single mom that camps with her teenage son, so I don’t generally have an issue with kids, but it felt a little like Lord of the Flies- kids everywhere, especially on bikes tearing through the place in small packs. One kid got knocked off his bike by a person just trying to drive through the busy park road. He wasn’t hurt in any way but it did cause a brief verbal argument between the kid’s dad and the driver.
Taking into consideration that it was a holiday weekend, the crowds and noise were somewhat to be expected. I did really enjoy camping so close to the lake and walking along the beach. Very nice park if you aren’t seeking solitude.