Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Empire, MI

Dog-Friendly Camping Reviews near Empire, MI

756 Reviews of 111 Empire Campgrounds

• 

  Amanda L.

  Ranger

  Aug. 9, 2018

  D.H. Day Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

  Perfect Day Away

  This campground, first and foremost, requires a National Park Pass, which is $20/week or $40/year, for 1 year from purchase date. Tent camping was $20/night. This campground was in a great location, lots of signage helps you find it and navigate the roads without use of GPS. Seriously, you don’t need one. At least from Empire, anyway. One thing to be cautious of is the poison ivy. It is everywhere. Two other notes on the side of caution, when my mom and I were hiking in the area we did see two ticks, and secondly, the campground is an active black bear area, so keep food and scents in your car. You will be located near Glen Arbor, Glen Haven, and Empire, and quite close to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive as well as the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The campground backs right up to the Heritage Trail, which is 20 paved miles to hike, bike, walk, ski, or whatever. Th campground, while quite packed, was still so so quiet at night, which was really nice. The tent pad is nice and level which really matters when it rains, like it did while we stayed. Firewood is available out of a mobile vending machine, and takes $5 bills. WiFi is available at the ranger station, I believe.

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• 

  Nancy W.

  Legend

  Jun. 8, 2017

  Traverse City State Park Campground

  Great Proximity to Downtown, Beach, and Breweries.

  The location of this campground is great and it's best feature in my opinion! This park is just two miles to downtown Traverse City (one of Michigan’s most popular resort towns), a quarter mile from a pretty beach and the beautiful blue waters of Lake Michigan, and it sits along the TART Trail which is a 10.5-mile bicycle trail running through the city.

  While the park is small at just 47 acres, it holds pretty many campsites – approximately 350 (and two cabins). Campsites are set among tall pine trees so there is a bit of shade but that also means that they are sandy with little grass. Roads are paved and narrow if you are trying to maneuver with a large (40+ RV) and you may have difficulty backing into your site with the numerous trees lining the road. All sites are back-in with electric. Sites and patios are sandy with varying degrees of levelness. There is a dump station and water spigots are scattered throughout the campground. Picnic tables and fire pits are at each site. Sites are $31/night ($49/night for the cabins) and reserveable online.

  This park is right on US-31/M-72 which means there is easy access in and out but it can be noisy if your campsite is close to the road. Expect the campground to be very busy on weekends and in the summer and tightly packed.

  Amenities include: picnic area, beach, fishing, hiking/bicycling trail, three bathhouses, playground area, camp store, pet walk (no off-leash dog park).

  Outside of the park there is a lot to do in Traverse City. Early July is the ever-popular Cherry Festival which lasts for a week. But you better book your campsite early if you want to enjoy all the festivities (which happen to be close to the park). The summer farmers market is great and held every Wednesday and Saturday. Early in the season, asparagus is plentiful and locally-grown asparagus is the best you will ever have being super sweet, tender, and inexpensive. For beer drinkers, consider paddling the beer trail that takes you from Boardman Lake to Lake Michigan and past numerous breweries where you pull over for a pint. If it's ice cream you want, you have come to the right place. There are multiple creameries with Moomer's being our favorite and for some reason eating it right at the farm stand was the best.

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• 

  Nancy W.

  Legend

  Jul. 1, 2017

  Wooden Shoe Campground

  Great place to relax and enjoy the water.

  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

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• R

  Ross G.

  Guide

  Jul. 24, 2022

  D.H. Day Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

  D H Day Campground

  Enjoyed the D H Day Campground. Really liked the elevated boxes for tent placement and the site was clean. Pretty close to your neighbors, but our site still had some good tree cover. Easy walk to Lake Michigan through the campground. Vaulted toilets, community water and trash. Make sure you have bug spray. Great proximity to Glen Arbor and Empire. Short drive to the dunes for hiking and cannot over recommend Empire Beach to watch a sunset.

• 

  Jill B.

  Guide

  Apr. 21, 2019

  Traverse Bay RV Resort

  Very high-end class A Resort

  We have spent six weeks at this park for the last 6 years. We attend a horse show circuit near by. It is the creme de la creme of RV parks. The sites are individually owned (and leased out) and many of the owners have made their lots very nice. The park is limited to Class A, Fifth Wheels and Class C only. This park is dominated by big, very nice class A's.

  We have a 5th wheel and have appreciated the amenities very much. Great wifi, curbside garbage pickup, trails, dog park, and many others. You are limited to 2 dogs, and they are very strict about leashes and picking up poop. But, that keeps the place looking nice.

  We enjoy it very much and it is so close to the horse show, it cannot be beat. Because they are such a popular place to stay during the show (July - mid August), they sites book up a year in advance.

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• N

  Nicholas R.

  Guide

  Jun. 23, 2022

  D.H. Day Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

  D.H. Day Campground

  Overall the campground has a very pleasant and rustic charm. The foliage helps create privacy but the campsites are close in proximity overall. The one warning that should be more clearly indicated is that there is poison ivy surrounding every single site so please be aware if you have pets and small children. The fact that there was so much poison ivy is the only reason I gave it four stars. Lake Michigan is a short walk away and you are able to walk to sleeping bear dunes along the beach. For those who would like convenience Glen Arbor is only five minutes down the main road and has a ton of restaurants, parks and a nice grocery store.

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• 

  Eric H.

  Guide

  May. 31, 2019

  Platte River Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

  Platte River Campground

  NOTE: The GPS location in this app is incorrect, the actual location is 5685 Lake Michigan Rd, Honor MI.

  This is a very nice wooded campground in within the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park. The sites are wooded and pretty private and provide tree coverage. Bathrooms are nice, but you must pay to use the showers. Campsite isn’t directly on Lake Michigan, but there is a hiking path to the lake.

  The real draw of this campsite (which fills up extremely fast, so reserve early) is the Sleeping Bear sand dunes and surrounding areas. When you are consider doing any of the following: Tubing the Platte River Hiking The Empire Bluffs Trail Visiting the Dune Climb Driving the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive Swimming at any of the beaches in the Empire area

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• 

  Kaleigh J.

  Guide

  May. 9, 2019

  D.H. Day Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

  DH Day and Sleeping Bear Dunes

  One of my favorite parts of MI. 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. The campground is 4 miles from Glen Arbor and barely a mile walk to Glen Haven. The Heritage trail runs right through the campground. The sites are rustic and wooden and farther apart than normal sites. The campground is between Glen Lake and you can walk to the shore of Lake Michigan. Nearby the dune climb, Empire bluffs and North Bar Lake as well.

• 

  Kristina M.

  Scout

  Jul. 14, 2021

  Log Lake Campground

  Would never visit again

  First off we couldn’t park our trailer until a boat trailer was moved from our site. Then there was glass, rusty nails, and trash all over the site so we had to do a quick clean up of site before unpacking. It only got worse as night time came as the campers next to us drank and partied all night with half the campground, every night for our entire four day stay. They even smashed into our vehicle as they wrestled and sprayed silly string on each other at 1 a.m. When we ran to town for a few items we came back to their kids playing near our camper. They seemed to personally know the care takers as they were partying with them, so nothing was done about any of it. The following day we again went to town and these people allowed their guest to park in front of our camper, next to the hitch. The beach area was un-swimmable and full of trash, cigarette butts, duck poop as well as dog poop because it was used as a dog park. There were also old clothes and shoes left all over the beach area. The bathrooms were dirty and left with no soap. The woman’s bathroom looked recently painted but the men’s bathroom was completely disgusting. The showers had old food in them and you had to pay for tokens to use them. The trails were ok, the frisbee golf area also looked good. But that’s about the only good thing about this park. We would never pay money to stay here again.

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