Looking for an adventure where you can explore Eaton Rapids and then fall asleep in your tent? Find the best information on tent campgrounds near Eaton Rapids, including sites, reviews, and tips. Each tent campsite offers quick access to one or more of Eaton Rapids's most popular destinations.
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
Pinckney Recreation Area is a paradise for backpackers, mountain bikers, anglers and other recreation enthusiasts. Pinckney is known for its extensive trail system and chain of excellent fishing lakes. Over forty miles of multi-use trail with remote campsites afford a backcountry experience. Pinckney is also a short drive from the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center in Waterloo Recreation Area.
$20 - $28 / night
Pinckney 'Rails-to-Trails' Campground is located adjacent to the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park in beautiful Pinckney, Michigan and in the heart of the Pinckney Recreation Area. We are also located adjacent to the World-Famous Hell Survivors Paintball & Airsoft Playfield.
If you are planning on playing at Hell Survivors or biking/walking the Lakeland Trail, there is no closer accommodations for camping out. We offer 62 Campsites, 18 RV Sites and Group Camping for up to 10 sites. All the sites are Rustic (no power or hookups). Perfect for Special Events & Outings or Parties!
We also have Parking and Event Space available for you Special Event.
Come Camp with us and Play Paintball, Hike or Bike the 'Lakeland Trail' or just Relax.
$30 - $50 / night
Island Lake Recreation Area is a 4,000-acre park in Livingston County that offers an "up north" experience without leaving southeast Michigan. The terrain is a mixture of open brush land to mature hardwood forest, with some pockets of open meadows mixed in. Island Lake is the only balloon port in the state park system. Balloons usually take off in the early morning or late evening, depending on the wind and weather.
We allow disbursed tent camping and car camping on our farm. Our disbursed camping area features deep woods and lighted trails. We have a shared outdoor kitchen area and occasionally have live music.
One of the largest timber frame pedestrian bridges is a short walk away and connects us with the Lowell Township shopping district. Next to that is the "Marijuana Mile" located in the city of Lowell with some of the lowest prices and highest quality anywhere in the world.
Nearby is access to the Grand River, The Flat River, the North Country Trail, The Fred Meijer Trail, The Lowell Area Trail. Its a favorite destination for hiking, bicycling, and kayaking!
$10 - $20 / night
LegendMany years ago tent camped here. Small camp store. Small lake. Mostly seasonal RVs here
Scoutno overnight stays or tent sites. 7 night minimum stay.
Guide
Nice mix of camping & Disc golf. The course is mowed down and easy to navigate. Picnic tables,fire ring, primitive tent sites available!
Guide
Went tent camped with electricity for 2 nights. Bathrooms and showers are nice. The park is safe enough for kids to bike around. The beach is clean and fun. We will definitely plan another visit!
Scout
Nice campground. Sites are close together and sites 60-72 or so are really tent site, not level, and need extension cord for electric. No water hookups. No ATT service.
Scout
Each rv/trailer site is full hookup! Has both 50&30 amp. Tent sites also have water and electric. Has a pool, hot tub, mini golf, shuffleboard, and so much more! A quiet, relaxing place to get away from city noise.
Legend
A nice little campground. Great location if staying in the Lansing Area. Has full hook ups, and electric water, also tent sites with nnothing. Great pool area. Softball diamond that has tournaments on weekends a little early start for the full hook up sites. A couple ponds for fishing. People are very friendly.
Guide
Nice rustic campground with a beautiful lake view. Nice big fire rings. Vault toilet and water pump nearby. Some what level site but in the small side. Perfect for tent camping or a teardrop. Definitely nothing over 15'. Was able to park across from my site to maximize space.
Gorgeous little lake town just 8 miles away has a full grocery store and restaurants.
Campsites border the Deep Lake trail.
Traveler
This is a modern campground with full hook-ups and cement parking areas. It is a newer campground, so there is not an old-growth canopy shading the sites. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. Some sites are pull-throughs. Tent camping is allowed, but most campers have RVs.
There is a bath house with good showers.
The park also has a lake with a beach, although I have never been in it.
This campground has a great location for people who want to visit Kalamazoo. One downside is that there are train tracks that run near the campground and sometimes the engines idle for extended periods at night.
TravelerIf you want seclusion away from the parking lot atmosphere down the road at Yankee Springs this is your place. There is much more space at each campsite and lots of old growth trees. The sites over looking Deep Lake are wonderful if you can snag one. This is a rustic campground and they have NO electricity or water and many are smaller tent sites. But the peace and quiet is great. You are just a short drive away from Yankee Springs and Gun Lake with the huge beach, plus you are basically right on the NCT and have access to miles of hiking and biking trails. This is a great campground if you don’t mind “roughing it”.
TravelerI was very satisfied with this campground. Each site gets its own picnic table and fire pit, and there are also cabins available. The camp is dog-friendly, and has a variety of shade or sun spots, even if most of them are not level. RV's and tent-camping allowed. You can bring in your own firewood - the wood that they have for sale is not good, don't buy it; when we were there, a local family very close to the campground was selling much better wood that was older and burned better. The bathrooms are clean (well-water) and the staff is friendly. There are "host" activities for kids and adults also, the schedules are posted in the showers. The lake is clean enough to swim in, also. The sites are on the small side and grouped together; there are plenty of trees close enough together to hang a hammock but nothing I would call a forest. Good community camping; not for those who like isolation.
Traveler
This was our first camping experience in Michigan, so we weren’t exactly prepared. My rating takes this into consideration.
First of all, if it’s rainy or muddy, you might want to think twice about entering the rustic camping area. We have a 4Runner, so it was no problem but a few little cars did slide around and have trouble on the hill by our site.
Our site wasn’t level, so we were rolling around a bit. If I went there again I’d try to find a spot towards the end of the loop by the exit. These sites were higher and some of them were private. I’d examine the map carefully because some of the sites were horrendously open and basically on the road. Maybe good for a vehicle with a rooftop tent or a trailer of some sort, but it would have been annoying for us. Site M22 was big and far enough away from other campers, but again not level. Probably a good location for a group of hammock campers.
All that aside, the biggest problem was mosquito activity. The camping area sits on an inaccessible lake with a marsh area.
When we rolled in the first thing we noticed was that everyone had screen houses set up.
We didn’t have anything but our tent and a hammock with a big net so everyone got bitten up while cooking and hanging out by the fire. It was pretty miserable. Yes, I realize this is mostly our fault.
I’ve since purchased a thermacell backpacker and some bug net hats and stuff. I’m looking into constructing an ultralight screen house that can be suspended from trees.
The last problem was drunk campers hooting and hollering all night but that isn’t the camping areas fault.
This place is super close to where we are living so I’ll probably schedule it next spring and come prepared. There are lots of nearby lakes and recreational trails so it’s a fun place to be with family.
Scout
We were the only tents on site. Very little shade, with no river access at all. No amenities, but there is a nice bathroom.
GuideMet the new owners as we were driving by and they gave us a brief description of what they were doing to the grounds to make it more cozy but comfortable as before sites were pretty tight. Adding cabins to their already 8’ish to accommodate additional “glampers” as some of us enjoy a bit more than a tent and or camper OR don’t have a tent/camper. Lake looks big n clean along with activities laid out for the kids outside already can’t wait to see what they put in place next year/ season!
Guide
We got site 36. We put our tent up on the hill tucked back up in the woods. Shade from the start!
Scout
Grest family run campground. Friendly staff, nice sites, tent and RV. Dog friendly, kid friendly, quite relaxing fun tim.. cant wait to go back
ScoutThis is a fairgrounds RV and tent park. Very peaceful when there are no ongoing events. Large bath house with Showers. No office in park, so find a space and park. The manager will stop by to collect your $20. Confidently located a mile outside of Charlotte, with all the conviences of restraunts, walmart, Meijer etc.
Traveler
This was our first time staying here. Great private campground with rustic, elec, water/elec (30 amp), and concrete pad sites. Very clean campground with nice shower house. Owners are very friendly. Direct connections to the Waterloo Pinckney trail system. Near Hell, Michigan and Chelsea, Michigan. Large pool in season. Priced reasonably.
Traveler
Great spot. Friend rented out two plots in the rustic campsites. The walk from the parking lot to the site was a bit of a hike but it was nice to be near the lake and not a bunch of cars. Great fire pit and place to place tents.
TravelerRangers working the area are very friendly. Many options to choose from in terms of camping, from rustic, tent to fully functional cabin lodging. The park is very large, so it is always good to have a vehicle able to drive to the trails and beach. Campsites are decent sized, can fit probably 3 four person tents per site, which includes a concrete firepit and picnic table. In the north campsites there is a lot of tree covering, and there are a lot of walnut trees that were shedding a lot this time of the year. Bathrooms are well spaced between the campsites you, and have showers along with some vending machines outside of them. Spigots are scattered throughout and are very accessible. Be sure to bring at least 100 feet of extension chord if you want electricity, because the power ports are not as accessible from some areas. Overall very pleasant campground.
Ranger
Appleton has a few sites, very rustic and perfect for tents.
Not for RVs and no hook ups.
Appleton lake is perfect for kayaking or very small fishing boats. No real beach area at this lake but Brighton rec is minutes away
ScoutWe go to sleepy hollow about every other year. Normally we go closer to the fall and it is a great park. This time, however, we could tell that the staff does not keep up on it as much. The firepit was surrounded by water, and our site (142) really only had dry space for one tent.
RangerI liked that this campground had sites that were fairly secluded from each other. Each site has a fire ring and ample space to park your vehicle and set up a tent or small trailer.
My only complaint is the vault toilets were not clean and very full.
ScoutLots of sites to choose from, lake had some good fishing. The tent worms were terrible where our site was. Ranger patrols a lot, which is nice if you need them. Lots were a good size. Bathrooms were pretty clean too. Overall it was quite and we enjoyed our time.
Scout
All of the sites on the water side are huge! Plenty of room to set up however you want. A good mix of RVs and tents. However, I haven’t heard any generators from the RVs. Very quiet place except for a few laughs heard from other campsites. Site 6 has a beautiful view of the water and perfect hammock if trees.
Traveler
Bathhouses were clean and free of bugs. Roads are nicely paved. Campgrounds are nice. Good for multiple tents. Fire ring is good. Beach was amazing and so were the trails. The concessions at the park are sparse. Family dollar is right down the road though. Firewood sales at location. Very buggy but your in the woods so expected.
TravelerCoolest place in Hell:) the staff is very helpful and wonderful if you need something. They either get it for you or point you in the correct direction. Mostly RV however tents are allowed. Pool, showers, restrooms are very clean, they have full hook ups at most sites or at least your electric and water. If you stay around awhile they treat you like family! This is an awesome place
Eaton Rapids, Michigan, offers a variety of tent camping options that cater to outdoor enthusiasts looking for a peaceful retreat. With scenic landscapes and well-equipped campgrounds, it's an ideal destination for a memorable camping experience.
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