Best Tent Camping near Gladwin, 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.

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.

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.