If you want to explore the beauty of Bay City, glamping is an excellent option. Camping has always been a favorite form of travel for many, but Bay City, MI glamping is a new and unique way to do it. Whether you're looking for a quiet location in the woods or a site closer to all the action, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect glamping spot.
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
Traveler
Beach, trails and children's solace pad, just an easy walk across the road. Newer bathhouse. Shady sandy campsite. Be sure and visit downtown Bay City, lots of great restaurants, a Riverwalk on both sides of the river, concerts in the park. Great atmosphere.
GuideMost sites are good, though some have slopes to them. Choose carefully. Great newer playscape and splash pad (!) for the kids, across State Park Rd from the main campground. Nice newly opened visitor/nature center. Campground usually clean and patrolled. Showers/restrooms are good, cleaned twice a day. Friendly staff.
Some of the best campground hosts are here.
Groceries, restaurants & laundromats are a short drive away.
TV reception was ok, and T-Mobile worked well enough.
Scout
Very loud, lots of children, kids will be kids, but the loud music until very late and the dogs barking all hours not necessary! At least I know most of Tom Pettys songs now from listening to them all night!
Guide
We had a large group of families with varying ages and abilities. We used multiple different styles of cabins and a few RV sites, as well as various buildings for activities. All in all, it was an incredible time and I highly recommend it. Staff was helpful with activities such as archery but, seldom seen if not directly helping with things. It was nice to feel like we had the run of the place but, still know that help was available if we needed it. The location is pretty great, off the beaten path but, within 30 minutes of major stores and conveniences.
Laundry facilities would have been awesome since we were staying a full week but, there was a laundromat only about 15 minutes away.
The food selection was about what you'd expect in a public school cafeteria and resulted in health-minded guests needing to make their own meals in the cabins and meals were VERY rushed, only allowing 30 minutes for our large group to get their food, eat and be out of the building.
The grounds were well maintained for a rustic campground but, bathrooms and meeting buildings were adequately upgraded and offered pleasant amenities, such as a game room, large gym and decent air conditioning.
We had a great time here and look forward to returning one day!
Traveler
We love this campground. It’s quiet and well maintained. The owners are friendly and willing to help. Wood bundles are available for purchase and they deliver to your site. No tents allowed but pop-up are welcome. The bathrooms are key for me and are very clean. There shower are private and are quarter operated. This is our go-to when in the area.
ScoutSince 1966 I visit, often just back packing. Clean enough & refreshing enough & still something pre-historic, particularly the beach, & the roads to it.
Traveler
After following this campground's FB page for years we finally got to visit this summer. It sits along the Rifle River next to Rifle River Campground and Whites Campground.
The campground is huge and offers so much! The store up front had everything you probably forgot at home, plus more.
The bathrooms were always clean when we needed them. The showers were clean, some lacked hanging hooks on the walls. The water was warm immediately, but the push button timer for the shower water made showers kind of annoying (small issue though).
Everyone seemed to abide by the noise curfews around 11 pm and it seemed rather quiet through the night given the amount of campers around. The rustic sites along the river in section "N" were very large and spacious spots. Sections L and M seemed to be tightly packed in.
The Group camping side is considered the "Adult/Party" area. Nobody was crazy out of hand or anything to that nature, just louder music, drinking, etc.
There were numerous playground areas, volleyball, horseshoes, and even an arcade area. Although we didn't stay in the Family area it looked very nice.
We had a great time at the campground and would 100% stay again.
TravelerCampground was perfect for tenting. Right by bathrooms and they were very clean. Short walk to the beach!
TravelerNice pull through sites, some are tight, but none are impossible. Knowledgeable and friendly staff. There’s private land on either side and a dirt bike track that the neighbor owns on the north end, so if you’ve got a light afternoon napper, stay away from that end. Clean facilities, close to attractions and highway. Overall a good spot to stay
GuideFirst time here, our site is huge. Lot of people on Friday and Saturday so extra caution when driving through the park. The Tobico Marsh trails and observation towers wee great for watching birds. Lots of trails. TheDay use area has lots of beach, as well as picnic areas, pavilions, a fishing pond, more trails. As this is less than an hour from home, this will become a regular just get away for a weekend campground for us.
ScoutWe enjoyed this very quiet campground. It is not a family “resort” style campground. There is a playground, no pool. Each site has full hook-ups and are a good size. Nice shade trees At Most sites
GuideWe came in late for just a place to rest before heading further north. Drop box available after 10pm(summer). Between 8p-10p there is a yellow phone to check in with. Can book day of until 8pm online. Easy to get into late at night. Big lots. Fire pit. Sites are electric only. Recommend to have extension cord for some sites, as plug in can be far. Website has pictures for sites and will advise if lot gets wet. Staff was very friendly the next morning. Updated our rec pass at the park before leaving. Lots of trails and swimming beach near park.
ScoutPark is very well kept, quiet, staff is friendly and plenty of things to do on site
Traveler
Lovely tent and more
ScoutLarge sites, all full hookup. Plenty of onsight activities on the weekend. Large play areas, dog run, basketball court, lots of walking trails, and family friendly.
ScoutGreat campground to stop in for the night. We paid 25 for a camp spot plus 9 for a passport to put in our window. The beach is right across from the campground but the water is extremely polluted so we didn’t swim but the sand is really nice and clean so we did catch some sun rays. They have showers and bathrooms here. Firewood is 6 dollars a small bundle.
Scout
I paid for a lakefront site for $120 per night that came with a dock and boat. What I got was a swamp front site with no dock and no boat and was told they don’t do refunds by the cashier in the camp store. There was no manager to be found. It was clear that all of the lakefront sites are seasonal site…in fact most of the campground were seasonal sites. Don’t be one of the poor suckers that fell for this false advertising.
Legend
We stayed for two nights, and enjoyed our stay for the most part. But our main reason to be there was to visit nearby Pictured rocks national lakeshore.
Otter lake itself is nice, and picturesque, i wish we'd had time to use our canoe to explore it, or even to take advantage of the beach. The grounds are full of trees and the sites are all shady.
the owners are friendly, and it is very family oriented, kids everywhere. Although it's miles out of town, there is a nearby restaurant at Buckhorn resort. The camp store is rather minimal, and you can't get ice after it closes, so watch your cooler ( we didn't).
All in all, it's a very pretty getaway and I'd normally give it 4 stars except that we were staying in the rustic sites, and the is only one restroom. it's large and clean, but it's like 3 city blocks away. There's really no excuse not to have a couple porta-johns near those sites, especially since half of them have a view of a large shipping container in the overflow parking anyway.
TravelerWe rented for 120 a night a lake front campsite with a boat. We were given a rock and dirt pad that over looked a swamp area. Our campsite had goose poop everywhere and did not have a boat. We were told we could leave our ID at the office and take one of the rental boats back to our site temporarily. We were not allowed to keep the boat at our site though because they didn't have enough boats for everyone. If you are looking to stay here, all of the decent waterfront sites have seasonal campers in them. Honorable mention -bathrooms were dirty and extremely outdated -they also charged me $20 to have my kayaks
ScoutNice place to stay,it’s sitting just off of the river,and the lake is next to it,if you like fishing you’re going to love it.the site is a little tight but you can pull through,overall it’s really quiet and close to town. I will be back next time through
GuideNice and clean. I’m in the inner loop though and the sites are very close together. If I came back I would definitely try to stay out the outer loop. Electric, fire pit, and picnic table on site. No grate. Showers and bathrooms available.
ScoutSome camp sites are squished up to others. Other camp sites have plenty of room. So when you are stuck in a spot that is tight it kind of ruins the experience. Weird thing is,, the bugger sites are the same price. Small park for the kids, no complaints there. Staff was super sweet and pleasant to talk to. Accommodated our requests to move to a larger site. But very difficult to get ahold of via phone prior to visit. Most of the extra facilities were closed due to covid, I'm not marking them down for it, merely mentioning. I guess forewarning, site 70 is super small.
ScoutWe took a group of 6 adults and 3 kids to Bay City which was a pretty good drive for us. We had a lot of fun! Park was clean and located across from the lake. There was a splash pad area for the kids which they begged to go to every day! The only bad thing was we had to drive our kayaks across the street and then lug them down the very long walk way to the beach. Nevertheless it was a great time and great park!
GuideNice family/ Christian campgrounds... ok for those who care not enjoy alcohol beverages while vacationing, great activities set up for the kids. Clean and cautious due to Covid as necessary. Definitely recommend to families w kids that are on the conservative side and would like to keep their faith religiously on sundays with service and etc. As well as always being actively filled. Had my step daughters 8th grade graduations done two years in a row there at their auditorium as well.
LegendThis is a really nice campground with newer bathrooms. I saw two cabins. The campground is not right on the lake. You have to cross the road to get to the state park with a great beach and a small, two mile trail. The campsites are right next to each other but there were a lot of mature trees. There are a few swing sets at the campground and the state park had a splash pad and huge playground.
GuideHave stayed several times and always have a great time! Plenty of activities planned and structured thru the grounds to keep the whole family entertained including PUTT PUTT Golf, Arcade, Saturday Night Adult Bingo weekly, and tons more!! You can stay as simply in a tent rustic style, accommodations for almost any style camper along with (2) Cottages for rent as well! Forget to pack something?! No Worries...they have you covered at their general store anywhere from a toothbrush, table cloth, soda, Lg homemade Pizzas, Subs and the best Ice Cream ever in their homemade waffle cones!! Nice get away far enough away but also close enough as well! Unplug and enjoy!
Traveler
This place is gorgeous. Owners have done a great job with the property. Pine trees left intact. It’s sits on the Au Gres River trail to the river with seating, picnic table and fire pit. The grounds are immaculate. Very peaceful setting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Bay City, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Bay City, MI is Bay City State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 20 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Bay City, MI?
TheDyrt.com has all 15 glamping camping locations near Bay City, MI, with real photos and reviews from campers.
