Best Equestrian Camping near Grand Rapids, MI

Ely Lake Campground is a County campground in Allegan Michigan. All of the sites are rustic. Here are the bullet points:

• There are no bathrooms, just pit toilets. 
• There is no electricity. 
• There is a hand pump for water, although I would recommend bringing your own drinking water because the water from the hand pump is very discolored.
• Each site has a fire pit and a picnic table.
• They don't sell firewood, but you can by some in town on your way in.
• There is a beach.
• You can make reservations online ahead of time, or show up and find an empty site (but bring cash or check to pay because its a drop box).
• They have equestrian trails and sites.

First the positives: It is a beautiful rustic campground. We stayed on the side with sites 49-73 (specifically site 50) which has larger more secluded sites than the other side of the Lake. The Lake is for non-motorized recreational use so it is mostly used for kayaking and canoeing and fishing. There is about a 1 mile trail that you can walk around the exterior of the Lake, however it is ill defined in some places so just keep your eyes peeled for yellow markers on the trees (which are everywhere so you wont get lost).

This place also attracts a lot of equestrian campers and they have trails specifically for horseback riding. So if you have kids that love horses, you may see some on the weekends. 

The negatives: It is a wonderful experience until about 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday night. This place attracts a rowdy crowd and in the evenings (apparently there is no where else for the locals to have a rager). There is loud music , people yelling, fireworks going off and… not very much sleep. And I am not just talking about a few people with their music on -- it was someone blasting their sub-woofer with electronic dance music until 4:45 AM. It was really disappointing because otherwise the experience was positive. Luckily my kids are all deep sleepers so I was the only one who had to sit up all night.

They clean the bathrooms daily from what I can tell, but otherwise the campground is not maintained. There was trash around our site, and when you walk the trail about the lake you will see cigarette packets and beer bottles occasionally. Also along the trail were two massive hornet nests that really should have been removed by park management - but it's clear they don't ever maintain the trail. 

If you're willing to overlook some garbage, and if the party people stay away you could have a wonderful camping trip. Allegan County has a beautiful natural resource here, but sadly it seems like it is being squandered, and wont last.

Run down campground with rude disrespectful owner. We were attacked over something that was so trivial...a few hoof prints by our trailer where we we told to park. Horses did not dig or paw. She drove up to us and complained that they tore up her grass, which wasn't true. There was no grass to begin with, it was moss. Our ponied stood quietly tied to trailer as we saddled up and then when we came back from our rife and unsaddled.  We were with them the entire time....it was a short day ride with a friend who was camping there. Woman never asked or told us to picket. Normal function  for horseman is to ride from trailer. I Just couldn't believe it. Told woman we understood and would be leaving and wouldn't be back. She kept running her mouth. I told her to drop it and that again, we would leave and would not be back. Kept running her mouth, and Id had enough and told her to shut up.

Campground Review: 

After finding our original campground full, we were directed over to Fort Custer. We found a campsite that was large with vegetation separating us from neighbors. I didn't expect to find something this interesting as an alternate to original plans but it worked out nicely.

There are a couple hundred sites and most of them were full. Our site was on the far end of a loop. This meant a longer walk to the restrooms and showers. On the other hand, we were right across from an access trail to the blue hiking trail. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. It was overcast upon arrival only to have the sun shine down the next day. We soon found out that there was enough clearing in the treetops to give our camp full sun for most of the day. If you camp here, I suggest one of the other sites that would give you a break from the sunny heat.

We hiked on a multi-use trail that the ranger suggested. The blue trail goes around a couple lakes and was wonderful. We did miss a sign or two and ended up turning our 4 mile trip into a 6.5 mile one but there are plenty of spots to rest and enjoy the time. We passed other hikers and bikers and even some people trying their luck at fishing. There are quite a few mountain bike trails on the other side of the recreation area. A horse trail circles around the outside edge. 

Product Review: 

As a Dyrt Ranger I sometimes get products to evaluate. This trip I tested out the Midland X-Talker two way radio - T77VP5. The kit we used came bundled into a zippered case that is perfect for keeping everything organized. We charged it up before our trip and even tried it out in a school building. 

We read reviews that said it might not work well in buildings and thought we should see. I gave them to two high schoolers and asked them to run throughout the place testing them as they went. They came back happy and excited and wanted to keep using them.

The real test came out in the woods. The belt clip snaps on easily and this stayed connected to my pack strap for our entire hike. The X-Talker fits nicely in the hand and the buttons are perfectly placed. Another feature I wanted to try was the weather radio. It scans channels automatically to find a weather channel in range. You just need to listen to the report as it cycles through the days. We had some rain and storms moving in so this proved useful in helping us sneak out of camp really early to avoid the downpour that was looming.

The Midland X-Talker T77VP5 radios worked wonderfully and will certainly see more use on future adventures.

Great campground ! Cabins, electric and bath houses!

Amazing spot away from the city! The owner of the place is very accommodating and pleasant to be around. Private lake with no motors so it is very quiet and peaceful!!!

I liked it.

The cabins are clean and nice, the view of the lake is beautiful. My 6 children had a great time here

Your kids will LOVE this place-we had a blast! Train rides, Pool, Scavenger hunt, trails, bike rides, there just weren't enough hours in the day! We should have reserved an entire week! The facilities were spotless, there is a store, gated entrance, nice shady lots, friendly staff, everything was perfect, we can't wait to go back!

We stayed here for only 1 night on a weekend and the place was packed. However, most of the campsites are spaced out enough that it isn’t a big deal. The pool is big, has a playground, a nice store on site with food, games, and camping equipment. The best part about it was the on site horseback rides!

Many miles of great riding trails!