Best Campgrounds near Garden City, MI

General: Large state park with 256 campsites, all with electric (20-30-50 amp) hookups. Sites 1-11 and 21-29 have full hookups (water, sewer, electric). Also, there are a lodge and cabins. The park is very well maintained. This park is close to Toledo and within spitting distance of several refineries although you’d never know it! 

Site Quality: All sites are very generous in size and appear to be spaced with a decent amount of space apart with foliage providing varying levels of privacy. Some have beautiful trees that in peak fall color would be stunning. All camper pads are paved and long enough to accommodate large RVs. Some have concrete pads for picnic tables, although the sites in our loop did not. A wooden picnic table and fire ring complete each site. 

Restroom/Shower house: Very clean, however, bathhouses are shared between two loops. Each bathhouse only has two shower stalls, which may necessitate a wait when the campground is full. A hook and a small bench but nowhere to put soap/shampoo in the shower. Good warm water. 

Activities/Amenities: So much to do! Several lakes are good for fishing or boating. Many trails, some grassy and some paved are good for walking, running, and biking. A beautiful and extensive boardwalk constructed by the Ohio Civilian Conservation Corps is available only for foot traffic. Bike rentals are available. A small camp store. Laundry facilities. Donuts and muffins on the weekends. Several playgrounds. Bird houses and feeders are located throughout the park and especially in the spring, you can hear many varieties of birds chirping (however, you will also experience the by-products of so many birds!). Excellent cell service (Verizon). There is also a dump station.

There was a warning that due to the proximity to an urban area campers, bikes, etc. should be locked up but I didn't feel that vibe.

We enjoyed two stays at this campground, once in September and once in May. Even though this large campground was full when we were there on a weekend in September, we did not feel overcrowded. There were many empty campsites when we were there during the week in May (the week before Memorial Day); we very much enjoyed our stay both times!

So I checked in today to stay for a week and noticed that there is no one here. I must have ended up at the wrong campground, because I usually camp around other nomadic campers and I was having bad anxiety being the only person there.  The people run this decided to play games with me.

First I told them i am leaving and they had the audacity to try and say they will charge me 30 bucks for plugging my wifi in so I can text my friend with my phone since it only runs off wifi and an argument ensued.

They suggested I use their office wifi.

I walked up to it after I unplugged my damn wifi trying to text my friend, there was no password on their office window. It wasnt free. So i walked back to my camper, plugged my wifi back in, texted the idiot who runs the place demanding the password so i can text my friend and they didnt respond, so its like they were trying to entrap me into paying them 30 bucks just for using my wifi. I told them there will be a problem. So I got in touch with my friend, my friend arrives and I made sure they gave me my full refund back. I was gonna lose it if they kept trying to interfere with me trying to reach my friend.

I do not recommend this campground. It is more like a storage unit for campers. 

Still trying to find where all the nomadic people are camping right now.