Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Cross Village, MI

Wooden Shoe Campground in Ellsworth, Michigan is a small campground set on a hill above Ellsworth Lake. This park is great if you want to sometime explore Michigan’s waterways. When we visited the park, it was about 25% full which made it very quiet and relaxing. There are some great sites that overlook the lake that are inviting for an evening fire and enjoying a pleasant view.

The park has 45 RV sites with water, 30 amp electric, cable TV, and internet. There are seven designated tent sites in a heavily wooded area with some glimpses of the lake. Some sites have a nice amount of shade while those towards the front of the park are more open and have a better water view. Picnic tables and fire pits are at each site. The main road throughout the park is paved, in good condition, and easily navigable with even large RV. There is a dump station at the entrance of the park that is easy to get in and out of. A camp host is on site. The price per night to stay here is $25 and they offer a super inexpensive price of $125/week. Reservations can be made by emailing a reservation request or calling the city. 

The town of Ellsworth is quite small with a couple of shops and restaurant or two. The quaint coastal town of Charlevoix is 10 minutes away where you will find plenty of shopping, restaurants, a pretty harbor, weekly live music (in the summer), a farmers market and really great library with a large room that has a great selection of books for sale for a few bucks. The towns of Boyne City and Boyne Falls are about 20 miles away and also worth visiting if you have the time. For dog owners, Boyne city has an off-leash dog park and Boyne Falls has a large ski resort that is perfect for walking dogs in the summer.  The larger town of Petoskey is about a 45 minute drive but well worth a visit. 

If you want to “get away” and enjoy water activities this is a good place to come. There is a canoe/kayak boat launch just down the hill from the park that puts you in a narrow stretch of water that connects Lakes Ellsworth and Saint Clair. A short (approximately 1 mile) paddle into Lake Saint Claire lands you in a beautiful nature preserve administered by the Little Traverse Conservancy.  Be sure to visit Friske’s Orchard which has a fruit stand, bakery with pizza and sandwiches, general store and petting zoo and is only six miles away on Rt. 31.

The good things about this park are the price, access to pretty water for kayaking/canoeing/fishing and the view from some of the sites. You are not too far from some of northern Michigan’s most popular towns yet only paying $25 night. The small size of this park gives it a quieter feel than some of the nearby state parks that have hundreds of sites. When we were there about half the campers appeared to be seasonal who come to enjoy the boating and fishing. Many of these people were not there during the week which made the park super quiet. 

A couple dings for this park are that many of the sites are not level and even pitching a tent can be difficult. The bathroom/shower facilities are old and run down. The main bathhouse is located in the front of the park with port-a-potty’s scattered about. Some of the sites are close together and give a crowded feeling. 

Overall, I would say this is an average park which is why it gets three stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vBh0Dej5Ro

Edit: as of right now this listing is all jacked up. Coordinates are incorrect, "French Farm Lake Road" on Google Maps or 45.7621519, -84.7673995 will get you there. There is no water, trash services, or showers. Just 6 primitive sites with fire pits

We first came to French Farm Lake Rd to do a hike while staying with a local Boondockers Welcome host. We were excited to find our first real free camping in Michigan, and so close to Mackinaw City.

We showed up late Wednesday morning and just perfectly timed it when a couple had been packing up their camp, as there are only 6 or so sites and all were full. The sites back by the boat launch seem better for large groups.

We took site #1, which is one of the better sites IMO. Don't forget to grab a registration sheet on your way in (found near the camping sign before site #1). I had very little issue backing in our 24 ft class c with a utility trailer (37 ft total), though I had to maneuver the trailer into an opening off to the right of our driveway, as to find a more level spot. Only had to use one block under each front tire to level, with plenty of room to pull forward to unload my motorcycle. Plenty of wood around for a fire, though people had firewood for sale on the roadside when driving into the area.

Beware of sandy roads and make sure to scout before pulling in with your big rig. There is one opportunity to turn around via a parking lot of the right hand side when first entering French Lake Rd. The next spot would be what I think are sites 3 & 4, which is a big wide open lot also on the right, and also very sandy. The last would be the boat launch area at the end of the road, though that could prove impossible if there are a bunch of vehicles parked back there. So scout on foot first.

There are a few sites that would accommodate big rigs, the only way to know is to come check. It's kinda frustrating to be in states without dispersed camping, because there are a few spots that I would deem worthy, but alas you must stick to the designated sites. There are plenty of spots for a quick night's sleep in a van or smaller RV, just beware of the ranger. I've only seen them out here in the afternoon so far though.

My review is mostly based off of what we've been able to find in the area, this campground would not score as high if it were in WA or somewhere with endless options.

And as per usual in the Midwest, bring plenty of mosquito and fly products. They weren't horrible at our campsite, but evening walks are definitely not happening again.

The lake isn't anything special by my books so we skipped paddling here, though there appeared to be people fishing if that's your gig. Tons of trails suitable for hiking or biking, again, nothing too exciting on that front.

Come check it out!

This is a nice KOA with nice facilities and amenities. We camped there in the July and our first impression when we drove in was “wow, this place is busy!” It is a very family-friendly park and you feel like every other site is having a family reunion with so many people at each site.

We were assigned a pull-thru in a spot where most of the campers were transients. (There is another section that appears to be most of the seasonal campers.) Getting to the site in our RV was a little tricky because of all the trees and cars parked everywhere. The site was level, paved and had a paved patio and was full hook-up with cable and WiFi (which worked well at our site).

The park is a typical KOA with tons of amenities and things going on. We chose not to use the pool because it was overrun with kids and seemed way too small for the number of people in the park. There is an off-leash dog park but it was pretty small for our lab to get a good run in. The laundry was nice and clean but a bit expensive $2.25 per load. When we checked in the staff raved about the onsite KOA café’s pizza but we didn't try it. 

The park is very convenient to downtown Petoskey but the traffic on Hwy. 31 can be horrible at peak times. It is also close to Petoskey State Park and the Oden State Fish Hatchery (which has trails and a great place to visit). There are lots of breweries in the area, a great farmers market, and really good restaurants. We personally loved Beards Brewery, Palette Bistro, and the Crooked Tree Bakery. There is a great paved biking trail located nearby that runs from Charlevoix to Harbor Springs.