Best Tent Camping near Bay City, MI

I used to work at this state park for two years and really enjoyed my time there. I spent many nights there with family and coworkers. The staff is very friendly and they patrol all through the night to ensure safety and noise control. The sites vary from close together, to secluded. It is easy to camp in a group with sites all close to each other, or to be off on your own. the bathrooms on the campground side are very clean. They are newer and updated and are cleaned 2-3 times a day or more as needed. The visitor side has less updated bathrooms, making them appear more dirty, but they are cleaned 4-6 times a day at the least. These bathrooms are also close to the beach, so sand makes it seem dirty as well. Sites vary in size, allowing tents or large rvs to be in most spaces. This campground does get very full most weekends Memorial Day through Labor Day, especially around the 4th of July. Bay city has lots to do and the visitor side has plenty of interesting programs for kids to do. swimming is iffy, as the city closes the beach depending on bacteria in the water and which way the wind is blowing it on a given day. The water is not clean (not the parks fault). there is a splash pad for younger children to enjoy though. There are no water sites. you must cross a relatively busy road to get to the visitor side where the beach/splash pad/visitor center is.

Sleeper State Park Campground is located a few miles north of Caseville, MI. This is a modern campground, and has 226 camp sites, and 1 mini cabin. The campground sits right off of M25, so I recommend getting a site towards the back. We unfortunately were only able to get sites at the front and the road noise was obnoxious, 3 a.m. cars and trucks flying by. Campground, bathrooms, and showers were all kept very clean. Most sites are set up for trailers, and RV’s, and tents. There are a few sites that are tent only sites. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit and electric hook up. There is firewood available at the park office for $5 a bundle, they also rent kayaks $10 for 2 hours or $40 for the day. The campgrounds host site has coffee, tea, and hot chocolate available in the mornings. They also offer activities in the afternoon. Across M25 and part of Sleeper State Park is the beach, and picnic area. There is a walkway overpass that goes over M25 making for a safe walk from camp to the beach. The beach area has a bathroom and drinking water. There are charcoal grills, and picnic tables in the picnic area around the parking lot. The beach is a lovely stretch of shoreline along the Saginaw bay.

We stayed here 2 years ago.  The office where payment is made is a few miles away from the actual campground.

There is a dump station and water at the fairgrounds.  Along the left side near the dump / water station as you enter are huge grassy sites marked by electrical outlets at the rear of the sites. The rest of the fairgrounds are set up like  a traditional campground on a "loop" style.  It looks like almost all the sites will accommodate a 40 footer easily.

There were 2 or 3 campers who appeared to be long term seasonal guests but it did not distract from our overall stay.

We pull an Imagine 2500RL pulled by a Ford F-150 max trailer package.

We stayed 4 nights and spent the days traveling around Bay City.

Founds a great BBQ that had been shared by MI PLAYGROUND ---  Meaty's Roadhouse BBQ& Sausage Shack Bay City.
We are planning our Summer 2024 travels and will; be stopping at the Bay County Fairgrounds again this summer.

Holiday Shores has a good website that gives great info, however there is no booking online so you have to call. Which was super easy! The lady on the phone was very nice and completely understanding of our total lack of experience. We planned to golf during our stay so she thoughtfully put us in lot 511 which is relatively close to the pro shop!

This place is conveniently located off M13 in Durand. The roads are in good condition which made for smooth travel... this is Michigan! We arrived after the office was closed but our paperwork was waiting for us just as promised. The park itself has nice roads as well. Making for easy navigation and maneuvering. Our lot had a cement pad which required no leveling. The electrical, water and sewer connections were all easy to access and each lot had a picnic table and fire ring!

Holiday Shores has several ponds both large and small, which might make for good fishing but we never gave it a try. There is a swim beach and it's available after Memorial Day! You will also find several nicely paved paths up to 3 miles long. These were walking only which was sort of disappointing because we brought our bikes, however they were very nice to walk or go for a run! The attached 9 hole golf course was well maintained and had some tricky holes. There were changes in elevation and multiple water hazards... we may have lost some balls. The only negative is they currently do not have their liquor license but the new owners are working on it. Overall it was a fun, mostly challenging round of golf that is worth checking out!

Breaking camp and checkout were easy as pie! The bottom line we can't wait to go back it was great time, with better people. We made new friends the first night there that truly made our stay memorable. Thank you again for all the hospitality!!!

Quite the establishment! Almost 150 sites including rustic, full hook up, cabins and even just over a handful of park model units to reserve for your family to come stay and enjoy all the amenities they offer. Amenities including but not limited to horse shoes, swimming ( man dug pond) hiking, basketball, volleyball and etc. No alcohol allowed as this is a Christian campground but for all the amenities it is extremely affordable! $30 a night 30/50 amp full hook up ... don’t need 30+ amp but want sewer as well only $25 a night 15 amp full hook up or as low as $20 for 15 amp water n electric only! Want the full camping ambiance $15 a night for rustic tent camping! Great place to take the family even several times a season on a budget!

Our site was averaged out to $82.71 a night with the weekly rate discount.

We were in Site# 306 (a deluxe plus RV site - be aware that some of these are back-ins and not clearly labeled on the site map - we had to change sites to a pull-thru). We had Full hook- up with a gravel 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 zero trees. We weren’t able to sit outside because of the direct sun until after 8:30pm.
This was a smaller lot with our neighbors fairly close.

The deluxe plus lot comes without a concrete patio but with a picnic table and fire ring. They do sell firewood and will deliver to your site.

There is free WiFi. They do not offer Cable TV but there are quite a few channel options.

There is not a community outdoor kitchen or community fire pit.

They do not provide garbage service at your site so you must walk to garbage dumpster.

You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. They also allow you to rent pedal bikes. They do not provide golf cart rentals.

They do have a heated indoor and heated outdoor Swimming pool and one hot tub.

There is a Playground. They also offer Gaga ball, basketball sport court, and volleyball courts. There is a Game room for kids. They have a Putt putt course and Jumping pad.

They have a great general store. There is a separate Activity Center for kids.
There are tons of scheduled activities for kids like wagon rides, arts & crafts, scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, etc. Activities are scheduled all day from 9am to 8pm.

There is a snack bar on site from 4pm-9:30pm where you can get hot dogs, brats, pretzels, nachos, ice cream, etc.

The streets are mostly paved and good for riding bikes.

This is an RV park with cabins to rent also. Tent camping is also allowed.

They have two shower houses. The shower house has the 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. It is a cash only facility, but they have a change machine in the arcade room. There are approximately 4washers and 4 dryers. It is approximately $2.75 to wash and $0.75 to dry a load.

They do not have a fenced in dog park. There are areas to walk dogs though.

Flies were an issue and bug spray was needed.

There were no trails to hike off of the campground.

Some fun things to do outside of the campground are Frankenmuth FunShips (chocolate & wine tasting), the Golden Ticket Trolley, the Bavarian Belle (popcorn & sodas) River Place Shops, wineries, and Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland store. This RV park is less than a mile to downtown/River Place Shops where there is tons of shopping.