Best Tent Camping near Chatham, MI

This campground is close to Munising therefore convenient for visiting Pictured Rocks and other tourist draws in the area. In the busy summer season it may be difficult to get a last minute spot with an RV, but as I was tent camping and pleased to take a walk in site I had no problem getting a same day reservation even in August. The tent sites are all walkin, with a tent parking area and then various distances to hike in along a path to the different tent camp sites. The campsites themselves are gorgeous, with tall trees and right on the shore, and privacy in between. Also, they provide several wagons in the adjacent parking area so you can easily tote your gear into your site. All of that would make for a 5 star rating, maybe 4 due to road noise from the nearby highway. However, I am only giving this experience a 3 because of one really important drawback: there needs to be at least an outhouse provided adjacent to the tent area. As it is, if nature calls you first have to hike down the path through the tenting area to the tent parking lot, then hike through the campground to the bath house which is a good distance away. Apparently this is too far for some people so they decided to just poop by a bush by the tent site trail and left it right there. Worst yet, the spot I saw like this had be left there for probably a few days, which shows a need for maintanence to patrol the tenting area more often and clean up such messes as they are health hazards as well as nauseatingly ugly. I wish this hadnt happened as otherwise it would be a pretty decent place to tent camp!

I noticed some real negative comments about this place, and at this time I think this is a pretty decent place to stay. There are no trees for shade, but this is Marquette Michigan, where it’s unusual to get into the 80s during the summertime. The tent sites are down close to the river in or not even visible from the main RV area. If you want to tent camp here, I think those sites would be excellent because they provide a good amount of privacy. I found the lady in the office who registered me to be very pleasant, and I did not notice a bunch of “junk”around the office building.  The water, sewer, drain pipe, and electric hook ups are all in very good condition.  additionally, there is no longer any exposed dirt like you see in some of the pictures on this particular camping app. The grass has grown in just fine.  I would definitely stay here again. 

This is a very busy campground that tends to attract mostly RV campers. It is very close to town which is convenient, and has a lot of activities within the campground. There is a playground, swimming beach, firewood for sale, picnic areas, and located on a bike path. For the most part, the park was full of families in RVs that seemed to park in every which way they found convenient. There are a few walk-in tent sites as well. We tent camp, and scored a nice site (#1) right on the water which felt a little bit separated from the mess of large RVs all over the place. The bathhouse was fairly clean, but the showers were always busy. Our site was a little on the small side and trash was left in the fire pit from previous campers. I enjoyed being right on the water, and it was a convenient location as there are not a lot of campgrounds in the nearby area. Unfortunately the park had a very hectic and crowded feeling to it than I usually prefer.

On a last minute camping trip to Michigan, we were looking for places that didn't require reservations, so I felt very lucky and happy to find tent sites available at this campground on a Sunday afternoon. Nearly every spot for RV camping was occupied. Of the eight or so tent sites available, only two were occupied. 

We were given our choice of tent site and settled on site 5 because it was the furthest from all other sites. The grass was solid enough to drive our car across, but there were several questionable spots of swamp we had to be careful to avoid. Site 5 sits next to the playground, which looks like it hasn't been maintained in years. The foliage around the lake was too tall for us to be able to see the lake from our tent and too thick, plus the swampiness of the land, to be able to walk through to access the lake. 

A nearby boardwalk was damaged and blocked off to foot traffic. The paved drive within the camp site was where everyone seemed to be spending their time, riding bicycles or roller bladeing in circles.

Four or five showers are available on site, with separate flush toilets for men and women. Firewood was available for purchase, as well as ice and vending machines. 

The showers were great to have. However, with no easy access to the lake, not much of a view, being very crowded and catered towards RVers, I would only stay here again if I had no other options, as a tent camper.

It was a very good site, limited facilities but good for tent camping. Some sites have view of the lake. There were 5 sites left when we got there around 9 at night.

While this is a full amenities campground, one end was mostly reserved for tent camping with well spaced sites which were backed up by the woods. We felt right at home in our tent, and the campground was exceptionally well maintained and the atmosphere was calm and pleasant. While not totally rustic our end was well suited for the quieter more laid back tenting enthusiasts

Friendly staff, gorgeous sunsets from Lake Superior's shore, water + electric sites, dump station, hot showers. There are some tent sites along the shore that look amazing. Next time we'll be paddling to Grand Island. We stayed at the end of September.

Nice RV park but just not our cup of tea. Sites are really open to one another although the lakefront sites have great beach access to Lake Superior. Even at the “rustic tent sites”, you will see your neighbor clearly. Bathrooms and showers were clean, friendly staff. Just wish there were more trees or sites were spread out more

This probably was one of the cleanest campgrounds we ever went to. They have everything from full hookups to rustic tent sites. Each site has a huge permanent firepit. RV lots are large  and private, Lots of trees and there is a constant breezy that comes off of Lake Michigan. The only downfall is, it's more expensive than your typical campground. $40 - $60 range for the RV sites. Although $60 dollars, you can get your own private beach front lot. Bathrooms and Laundry room are super clean. You also get cable. Restaurants, shopping and a brewery are all within walking distance

Just needed a nice campsite for one night after traveling from Traverse City headed to Marquette. Made a reservation and booked a lake view site. The campground was really clean and the people were really friendly who worked there. They were dog friendly and everyone camping around us were really friendly as well. We were tent camping and there was plenty of space for more than 3 tents. We would definitely recommend this for family's as well as people like us just passing through. Great lake view and 10 minutes away from Kitch-iti-ipi "big springs".

Rippling Rivers Resort is new addition to an area that lacked a decent campground.

Amenities include bathhouses and shows (which have code locks on them), shared water access, picnic tables, fire pits, campstore with bar, and access to an outdoor pool and hot tub.

We stayed at one of the walk-in tent sites and also had the pleasure of enjoying the Carp River. The river was about 10 fee away from our site.

The staff is extremely friendly, to both people and dogs. I was very impressed with how dog friendly this location is. Even the other campers were respectful of each other.

Our tent location was entirely shaded and made it feel as though we were camping in a forest. 

The downsides. The tent sites were too small and not level. We had a very hard time finding a place to put our tent.  The sites were also very close together. Our neighbors were backed right up to use. 

As mentioned above, the shower/bathhouse requires a code to access it. It was kind of weird. And made it a challenge if you had to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. 

Parking was very limited. Not a problem if you have only one vehicle, but we had two. One of us had to park on the other side of the campground, which became an inconvenience.

We did some hiking here and were pleased with the park and campground. I think tent camping would be ideal here, but we did see one small trailer. It is a small campground which meant it was very quiet mid-week. There were a couple boats that launched while we were there, but not a whole lot of other activity. We always appreciate shaded, water front sites and these were great. About a 45 minute drive to Munising. We took the cruise to check out pictured rocks and it was amazing- recommend that as well as the campground :)