Best Glamping near Gowen, MI

Sadly, we just left the KOA Muskegon campground this morning after a relaxing and peaceful three-day stay. While travelling home, plans are already being made for another camping vacay at this KOA. The staff were all friendly and helpful, creating a family-like atmosphere. The cabins were clean, updated, and the beds were quite comfortable. Our deluxe cabin bathroom and kitchenette were also stocked with amenities, making the stay comfortable and effortless. Outside our temporary home was our own gas grill, patio table with seating, fire ring, and Adirondack chairs. How nice it was for meals on the deck and campfires in the evenings! Every morning we looked forward to the 3/4 mile hiking trail around the lake... which was gorgeous. Although, we personally don't fish, we enjoyed watching other guests fishing from the shore and various docks regularly. There is also a fun area of the campground that includes playground equipment, basketball, volleyball, a jumping pad that looks like a blast, and they were setting up some interesting looking mining activity. We did spend time on their community patio overlooking a fabulous greenspace, fire pit, swim beach, and the lake. I could've spent all day on the patio with the relaxing patio lights, flowering planters, and comfortable Adirondack chairs. The camp store is again clean, updated, and well-stocked, but I was also impressed that the prices were reasonable, which is not always the case in these type of"convenience" situations. Overall, cherished camping memories were made this past weekend, and we are anxious to return in the near future for more! Thank you KOA Muskegon staff!

If you have any watercraft, this is a good weekender spot. The hike trails are easily traversed and if you ask the camp ranger at reception, you can also rent single or tandem kayaks for *quite a reasonable price in varying time blocks if you don't have any watercraft of your own - you just tell them what time that you want to start and they will bring the kayak to the boat launch for you, which is great. Trash dumpsters and firewood are available at the campground entrance (if wood for some reason is unavailable, there's a BP gas station nearby that also sells it for $1 cheaper a bundle). The designated swimming area for the site is not the best unless you have small children, but if you like towed tubing, there's plenty of that happening mid-lake, outside of the other pontoons and boats. Also, despite the features listed here, there are no shower facilities available at this site, so bring bath wipes if you want to stay fresh! The water pump was also inoperable during my stay, but came prepared with plenty of bottled water anyway. The campfire pits also do not have grates for grilling/cooking any hot food, but if you have any cast iron cookware, you can get around this by placing your fire pit logs as evenly as possible so you can set your cookware direct on the flame (or just bring a mini grill if you prefer). Also close enough to Grand Haven so you can spend a few hours there as part of a mini get-away and still get to your site within about an hour or so.

This site turned out to be a diamond in the rough. Due to our lack of planning and seeking reservations, Newaygo State Park was one of the few campsites with short notice availability. As we entered we were greeted by spacious plots with enough treeline between them to cover up even the loudest of snorers. We took the next few minutes mapping out our perfect hammock setup. With so many options, we settled on our spots and built up the rest of camp. Nestled in and ready to explore, we walked to the edge of our site to the head of the beach trail to check out what we had gotten ourselves into. Less than a mile hike later and we made it to the 'beach front'. It wasn't much. The shallow buoyed off swim area was sandy, yet immediately upon passing the buoys we were met by very thick seaweed. Nonetheless, the view was breathtaking, there are plenty of lookout points over the lake to spend quiet time posted up in a hammock reading or whatever else you do in a hammock. Nighttime came and we were around the fire. We read that quiet hours start at 10:00 so being conscious of the expectations we kept our conversation at a low level and had light music playing from a phone. Around 11:10 a park ranger stopped by asking us to turn off the music, no big. But it seemed to us that no music after quiet hours should also be a part of the rules. All in all, we had an amazing weekend and we're all looking forward to our next weekend spent here. Thanks, Newaygo State Park!

Spent a few nights here with some friends over the weekend, but the funny thing is we ended up here on accident.  Got in late around 9:30 at night, but was able to find the last camp site.  The sites are small but are all equipped with several spots for tents.  It also includes a parking spot (obviously), a fire pit and a few stairs to either your parking spot or the road that connects all the sites.  There is a bathroom on site, but it was definitely stinkier than some of the other spots I've been to.  Water spigot available.  A great lake view for most of the sites; ours we could see through the trees from afar.  

Pretty easy access to and from the site.  City of Baldwin is close by and they have several places to shop for souvenirs, groceries, alcohol, firewood, flowers, jewelry, meats, fish, etc - Baldwin even has a cannabis dispensary - The Green Door.

One of the campsites close to the lake was flooded as the lake must have risen over the past several months.  

Fee is now $20 a night, not $18 like some websites might suggest.  

I will absolutely return again soon.

As woods lovers, we never thought we would like this... but - consider it! If you like the beach! Yes, the sand in the tent sucks... however, the sun, sand, and water are awesome if you like that sort of thing! Plus, GH State Park has access to a great boardwalk to stroll and a downtown with restaurants, ice cream/fudge, breweries, and shopping! They have a farmers market too!

During normal years (non pandemic), the musical fountain is a nightly draw -/ is the Coast Guard Festival with its parades, special events, and fireworks!

COVID-19 info: the Main Street is a one way as half of it has been blocked off for more outside seating!!! (Love the outside!). The beach is “iffy” about social distancing... The musical Fountain, parades, and festivals are not happening; yet, this is still a cool place if you like beaches.

Cons: sites are Way too close, a lot of people.

Oof! One thing to note: you MUST BRING your own fire pit that sits above the ground and has a cover! We didn’t know this. Luckily, we found one at a local big box store for about $60... but, yes, it was $60 extra that we didn’t plan on nor did we need the item in the future (gave it to one of our kids).

Helpful hint: sites book up 6 months in advance. Cancellation has to happen 14 days before the reservation starts, so you can often book a site (from someone who cancelled) when you start checking daily between 30-15 days out.