Best Tent Camping near Clare, MI

This campground has the feel of a hike-in campground while being accessible by vehicle. It is located off the beaten path in the middle of nowhere, down a couple of well-marked dirt roads about 20 miles from the highway. There are only 8 sites, but each site is spacious. Sites are divided by small stands of trees providing some privacy from neighboring sites. 4 of the sites are facing the lake. Fire ring, picnic table, vault toilets and hand pump water. Surprisingly good cell reception. There is a dirt boat ramp, but only for trolling motor, canoes and kayaks. Very quiet campground.

There is something for everyone here. Tent, camper, or RV and fun for all ages with everything from 3 playgrounds, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and tennis courts, to a boat launch, fishing pier, and fish cleaning station. There is also a fairly large swimming area. The showers are actually nice and clean! The restrooms were surprisingly clean and modern as well. Firewood is available in bundles or loose and you stack it yourself. There are numerous picnic areas throughout the campground. There are picnic tables and fire rings at every site and hook up such as electric and water vary. Kids are riding their bikes all over, fishing, playing at playgrounds, the beach, everywhere. Everyone was very friendly. You probably don’t necessarily need a sleeping pad or air mat if you’re in a tent, but they’re always nice. The mosquitos weren’t bad at all! We stayed at site #226. You do need a county park pass, $6/day until 10pm or $25/year.

A friend and I stayed two nights in a tent. The campground is on the smaller side. You mostly see campers and RVs, many who stay seasonally. It felt like a community where everyone knows each other well. The couple on the neighboring campsite were incredibly friendly, offering help with fire starters and a hammer to pound down the stakes on our tent.

Our site had a fire pit, picnic table and electric hookup we used to charge cell phones. There wasn’t much shade but there are other shady sites in the campground.

While the river site was scenic, mosquitoes were of course having a feast! There was a play area for the kids, volleyball net and horseshoe pit. The camp store had the basics with hard pack ice cream for sale. There’s also a game room off the camp store with pool, ping pong and laundry room for longer visits.

You’re able to rent a tube, kayak or canoe to cruise down the Muskegon River. They were kind enough to shuttle us to the drop off point a couple of miles away.

There is a restroom/shower building that’s kept quite clean. The ladies room had three separate showers and I never had to wait for a turn during my stay.

It’s definitely a family campground so if you’re looking for a quiet camping trip, this place is perfect. It’s a bit far from the Detroit area for a weekend but I’d definitely return for a longer stay.

We live in Kalamazoo and wanted a quick trip out in the tent for a long weekend. We chose the park for it's proximity to home and because of nearby kayak/canoe launches. We enjoy rustic camping and were a little let down with the lack of seclusion on each site (that's to be expected when car camping but the photos and website left us hopeful for more space than was offered). The sites are deep but many are close together. Ours had a little extra room but was next to the vault toilet. There are a few trails in the park that are pleasant and the views of the lake are nice. The staff at the time wasn't very helpful when we asked for nearby hikes. They only knew of a paved trail but on our way out of town we met a couple who told us of many river trails and other hikes nearby. Overall it's a decent place to stay. Personally, I don't find it worth it to have vault toilets and no shower if I'm still going to be in a fairly cramped campground. I'd prefer that they have hike-in sites or offer the amenities of car camping.

My husband and I stayed here for what should have been the whole weekend. We ended up cutting our trip short.

The campground itself seemed quite nice. Large, clean vault toilets. A water pump. No electric. Some of the sites seem more isolated than others. The sites were nice and big. The campground is right by the trailhead for some longer trails. There is a nice kayak/fishing lake surrounding the campground. We first set up camp at site #1, which is at the very beginning of the campground, and very close to the highway. It is separated from all the other camp sites, but next to the parking lot leading to the trailhead. We ended up moving to site #31, which was down a hill at the back of the campground. It is in front of a swamp that opens to the lake. This is a nice flat lot, with a lot of space. Quieter than the front of the park. Overall, the campground itself is pretty nice.

The downsides: it's right next to the highway, so you hear traffic until around 1 or 2 am. There seemed to be some long-term residents who had a LOT of late night visitors who stayed for only 10 minutes or so. The last visitor came at 3 am. Seemed super sketchy. We did not stay the additional night due to the odd activity taking place at the other site near ours. I don't think I would stay here again, but this would be an enjoyable campground if the weird activity wasn't taking place.

My family and I ended up at Sunrise Lake after searching for a campground. This is a State Forest site so no reservations are available. First come, first served.

The sites were all very big! We have a very large tent and it easily fit on the site along with our vehicle. All the sites are very well shaded. The vault toilets were clean and the water was very good with no odd smells or tastes.

It's a little strange because Sunrise Lake is across the street, so it is a short walk down to the beach. Speaking of the beach, there isn't much of one but what was there was nice. It sloped gently out into the lake and my kids felt comfortable swimming there. We fished a little from shore. If you're just going for panfish, it's not bad. Just don't expect to catch dinner.

A few bad things. First, the campground and half the sites back up against a road. You will hear every car or truck that drives by at night. We went in the summer with full foliage. The leaves and trees did nothing to absorb the sound. Second, being a small campground, you hear everyone who decides to party late into the night. No ranger means no enforcement of quiet hours. Third, it was hard finding firewood. The closest gas station sold pieces of lumber cut into 1"x1"x15" pieces. Because it was lumber and not logs, they burned so fast.

Overall, it was nice for a weekend getaway, but this isn't a place I would choose to go back to. We will look for something else next time.

If you have any watercraft, this is a good weekender spot. The hike trails are easily traversed and if you ask the camp ranger at reception, you can also rent single or tandem kayaks for *quite a reasonable price in varying time blocks if you don't have any watercraft of your own - you just tell them what time that you want to start and they will bring the kayak to the boat launch for you, which is great. Trash dumpsters and firewood are available at the campground entrance (if wood for some reason is unavailable, there's a BP gas station nearby that also sells it for $1 cheaper a bundle). The designated swimming area for the site is not the best unless you have small children, but if you like towed tubing, there's plenty of that happening mid-lake, outside of the other pontoons and boats. Also, despite the features listed here, there are no shower facilities available at this site, so bring bath wipes if you want to stay fresh! The water pump was also inoperable during my stay, but came prepared with plenty of bottled water anyway. The campfire pits also do not have grates for grilling/cooking any hot food, but if you have any cast iron cookware, you can get around this by placing your fire pit logs as evenly as possible so you can set your cookware direct on the flame (or just bring a mini grill if you prefer). Also close enough to Grand Haven so you can spend a few hours there as part of a mini get-away and still get to your site within about an hour or so.