Best Tent Camping near Hale, MI

The campsites are purely for tent camping and are around 20'x40'. We went with a group and fit four tents on one site with a picnic table and fire pit for less than $10 each. There is a large bath house with showers, a pavilion/picnic area, where they sometimes have a DJ at night. And there's a really nice open area and playground for the kids. The front store /check-in desk has some supplies for while you're there, and they also offer canoe/tubing/kayak trips with transport, directly from the grounds. We had a great time and plan on going back again.

I have camped here a few times over the last decade. I have tent camped in the past and now with a travel trailer. The sites are large, and some humongous. The campground is quiet, and the lake is right behind the campground. A nice sandy shoreline and shallow water makes for a relaxing day. There needs to be some maintenance done at this campground, at least two water pumps are without handles, one was with out a handle three years ago as well, so the missing handles may be part of the campground management plan. There are a few vault toilets placed in various areas in pairs. Of each pair, one is closed, presumably to reduce costs associated with maintenance.

The fire rings in some sites are brand new, so it is obvious that maintenance is underway.

Overall this campground is still on a list of favorites that we return to once or twice a year.

If you are looking for decent modern campsite Harrisville offers that. There is a bike trail that goes into town. Friendly host that offer books. There is wood on site to purchase through a vending machine. Only takes exact amount. Sites are pretty close together which makes getting to know your neighbors from the get go. The bathroom was very nice. Extremely clean and well kept. Staff was there several times even this late in the season cleaning at 6:30 am. The view of the lake was lovely. I happened to have site 74 which has a great view of the lake. Though the traffic of bathroom goers is annoying. The bathroom offered such bright beam of light I never used any of my flashlights. Depends on how you feel about that. If you’re looking for nice weekend to sleep outside this is nice. If you’re looking to get away from it all and have peace and quite. This is not it. Even in September. Staff was super friendly. I originally booked 82 and it was extremely tiny for a tent site more suited for a RV. Be mindful when picking your site. Majority on the water side are tiny and are more suited for RV not a tent. I mean tiny!

This is one of the best campgrounds for kids that I've ever visited!!!

The campground itself is beautifully laid out and maintained. It features roughly a 150 some odd sites ranging from tent sites to RV and cabins. Each site has a cement fire ring and electric hookup. There are communal water spickets generously scattered around the grounds. The bathrooms and showers are very clean. They are closed an hour a day for thourgho cleaning and restocked and wiped down in the late evening. They have one large group camp area, but it is for organizational reservations only (as most of them are). Howeve, there is a cul-de-sac of 5 or 6 (I can't remember) sites off by itself. Those sites are very large (except the one on the end, which of course we had reserved for the weekend) and have huge space between them. There is also an additional parking pad there for overflow. Though they're not a sanctioned group site these would be perfect for it. We've already planned to reserve these sites next year for our large (35+people) family camp weekend. The drive around the campground is all paved and very long, so be sure to bring your bikes!!

Now for the amusements and conveniences. . . . . There is a small playground in the campground, but you have to cut through campsites to reach it. There are trails for hiking around the wider state park area as well as a few that lead across the street to the swim area and day park. Take a 2 min walk from the camp office across to the day park and you'll find the Spray by the Bay splash pad, a huge timber playground, beautiful sandy beach along Lake Huron, sandy swim area, geocaching, pavilions, well kept bathrooms and changing rooms. We spent all day at the park with 4 kids 6yrs and under and not a single on of them complained of being bored.

They have campground hosts that facilitate free activities organized by the park. We did a kids craft and enjoyed hot cocoa or coffee Saturday morning and then returned after dinner for Back-to-School bingo and popcorn. See pic of the August schedule for a better idea of what was offered.

They sold ice and wood at the camp office and there was an ice cream place next door to the park. It's a 5 min walk from the park office.

We didn't have to leave the park once all weekend. It was so relaxing to have everything we needed on hand and not have to run out for things.

One final note: there were quite a few May Flies. According to the park office they're pretty much there all summer. They weren't bad at the campground except at night around the bathrooms. We walked over to the day park before breakfast one morning and the playground was covered with them. As the day got hotter and the playground got busier there were hardly any, but that morning visit was rough. We actually abandoned the playground till later in the day.