Best Tent Camping near Harrisville, MI

The lake has an island in the middle and is great to explore by boat. Not sure how much there is to do without watercraft, as there’s just a really short trail. A friend snowmobile camps here in winter, that’d be beautiful to try. Nice basic primitive state park tent camping. Clean and simple. Shady.

We visited this campsite for a long weekend in October, looking for that autumn experience. Our site was right on the lake, and had a great view of the river and the trees changing. Our site was very large, especially for tent camping, and that seemed to be the trend. Others were camping with campers and tents, but there was pretty of room to spread out in the late fall.

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!

Lovely rustic campground, with several sites fronting Lake Huron. We tent-camped in August and swam twice a day in that beautiful crystal clear water. Our site was not particularly private (a medium-sized RV came in part-way through the week and its generator ruined our serene quiet), but its location on the water was priceless. We enjoyed touring the area, and especially loved Presque Isle. Some gorgeous farmlands to drive around, too, and we serendipitously came across an amazing sunflower farm. We'd love to return to this campground.

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.

We chose this campground because it had rustic/tent sites left and because it is right on the water. I chose the last of the rustic sites because they appeared on the maps to be on the edge of the property, and we hoped that would allow our crew some privacy/quiet. Unfortunately we ended up between 2 roads so we heard a lot of cars, more in the mornings because folks also come to use the boat launch. There aren’t any trees on the lots, which we found disappointing.

Wood was easily accessible - drop $5.00 and grab a bundle - and clean water was available. The bathhouse was clean and easy to get to. The sites were nice and grassy and the fire pits were cleaned out. Each site had a picnic table, which were in good condition. Loved that we were close to the lighthouse and to Port Austin (we went to the farmers market and t PAK) and Port Crescent State Park for hiking.

We would camp here again but try to get a site on the water, so as to have some nature views.

Not a huge park, but complete with bike and walk/jog trails, access to Harrisville, which is quite lovely, and should thrive now that Covid has subsided. Nice Lake Huron access!

This is one of my favorite campgrounds in Michigan! This campground has a rocky beach, great for finding pudding stones and Petoskey Stones. There are several sites right on the beach, however this campground is extremely difficult to get into on the weekends. My family and I stay at this campground every year for Fourth of July weekend and we can sit on the beach and view the fireworks right from the campground! We take our bikes with us and ride up town. The town is very small, but worth visiting. If you get a chance, visit Northern Accents just before you get to town. This was a hidden find and I cannot wait to go back. They have everything you may want or need for home decor! Harrisville State Park is extremely busy and hard to get into, but well worth booking. There are plenty of things for the kids to do and they will have so much fun!

A lovely state park right on the lake. Our site was two ones in, and we still fell asleep to the sound of the waves at night. Backing in was tight but doable. We loved walking to the beach and rock hunting every day, and ice cream in town is just a short ride away. Stock up on groceries in Oscoda, though — most everything in the town of Harrisville has gone out of business.

We camped At Harrisville State Park for one night (4th of July) as we headed north to make our way around Lake Superior. The campground was packed as you would expect on the holiday. Our site was right on the shore of Lake Huron which was nice, and had a large fire pit. The bathrooms were immaculate. You purchased firewood from a vending machine. I would have enjoyed this campground a lot more, but it was really busy and loud. One of the noisiest places I have ever camped, although quiet hours were enforced luckily. I learned more about our neighbors issues with garlic making her fart excessively than I ever wanted to know. I’m a single mom that camps with her teenage son, so I don’t generally have an issue with kids, but it felt a little like Lord of the Flies- kids everywhere, especially on bikes tearing through the place in small packs. One kid got knocked off his bike by a person just trying to drive through the busy park road. He wasn’t hurt in any way but it did cause a brief verbal argument between the kid’s dad and the driver.
Taking into consideration that it was a holiday weekend, the crowds and noise were somewhat to be expected. I did really enjoy camping so close to the lake and walking along the beach. Very nice park if you aren’t seeking solitude.

We stayed here last year for Fourth of July weekend as well as this year, and we had a good time, but this year was not as enjoyable! First of all, site 129 and 130 are the two worst sites in the entire park. I do not recommend reserving either site. These sites are LOW and WET. It is fully covered in trees so no sunlight is able to shine through to dry it out. The site is MUDDY and tight. We will not be returning next year as during our walks we noticed many sites were low and wet. It did rain the day before we arrived, but most sites were low and I feel that the campground should take note of that and add some gravel or dirt to raise the site. The bathrooms were very nice as they were last year and the park was well maintained. If you enjoy peace and quiet, DO NOT CAMP HERE. This park is off the chain with kids, bikes, animals, and noise! The park rangers are on top of keeping the park quiet after 10pm, so there were no issues there. My brother arrived at almost midnight and we were trying to put up his tent in the dark and within in a few minutes a park ranger was on his bike telling us to be quiet. The park roads are paved, but most of them are so narrow that two cars have trouble passing each other, add five thousand kids and bikes and it is nerve wracking to drive through. The beach was nice, but for us rock pickers, with the water levels being so high (which is good) the rocks were covered with water. The Mayflies were not out this year so that was good! Last year they were covered all over all the buildings and campers! The dump station is good and wasn't very busy. Check in is quick and easy. I gave this three stars because the water is nice, the bathhouse is nice, and there are trails and paths that are good for bikes. I will not be returning to this campground again because of all the little kids on bikes and small sites that are low and wet. Do not get me wrong, I do not mind kids, but when they are zipping through the campground and not paying attention to cars coming, it gets stressful for me! Harrisville town is very close to the park and we rode our bikes for ice cream a few times during our week stay. THERE IS NOT INTERNET SERVICE!!! Do no plan to send or receive emails or check facebook because you are not going to have service. There are zero television channels here as well. Some people like to be off the grid, but not this girl!

Sand, pine trees, vault toilet, fire ring, gorgeous views, serenity, bear pole - my family adores this place. It is possibly the nicest camping we've done in Michigan. Water filter is a MUST unless you want to walk to the parking lot every time you need potable water. None of us ever got sick drinking the filtered lake water. Kayaking and canoeing in is easy. We have walked in, too. Having a wheeled cart is nice for bringing in large family-sized tents and other heavier items.

Location is excellent.  This is a well maintained park, fantastic beaches and nice trails.  I arrived on a Thursday and left Sunday.  The sites are on the small side without any barriers, which was fine midweek.  On the weekend, overcrowding was the norm.  This was my first experience at a Michigan state park, and I do not know if others have designated spaces based on the size of the RV or tent.  This would make a more pleasant experience for campers.  My guess is the park was designed long before people hauled around a 30 foot camper.  No park rangers facilitated parking that I could see, and clearly you should book your spot as early as possible.

Midweek 5 stars, Weekend 1

We got lucky for a spur of the moment weekend get away and scored the perfect site at a campground we had never been to before. It's a busy campground.. but this site made us feel like we were in our own little world. The lake was only a few yards from our tent. There is also a dark sky preserve there which worked out perfectly for the meteor shower that was going on that weekend. One of my favorite camping trips ever... it was just gorgeous. I booked online through the michigan parks website. There must have been a cancelation that I got lucky and grabbed. It really was the perfect camp site.

We tented at this campground and enjoyed it so much! Loved being right by the water, and bathrooms were so clean. Would go back!

Nice open area big enough to put our 8 person tent. Picnic table and power! The Lake Huron is a stones throw to the East. Great place, we will be back soon!!

Mostly shade but not dark like other sites. Large area so room for camper and tents. Fire ring located near back corner... away from your awning. Path behind site makes for short walk to the beach.

Pprivate. Modern and Rustic, so tents don't need to be in a Zoo of RVs. Tons of trails, great kayaking and canoeing

Narrow and tight, lots of tents, pop ups and sand. Nicely treed area though and of course next to the lake

My husband and I last minute decided we wanted to go camping for the night and the one and only site he could find with a short(ish) drive was here. We decided to go for and and we are so happy we did! We tent and the site was so nice and big for us and our tent, hammocks, and 2 kayaks. It was very spacious even with neighbors on all sides. For the park being for what we could tell 100% booked, it was roomy and quiet. They have a vending machine for wood which was so convenient but someone also drove past our site selling it. The bathrooms were clean, but they were right on the beach so the area was heavily trafficked which was kind of strange to me, and that was the only thing I didn’t really like. There were some beautiful sites right on Lake Huron that we are hoping to get next time we are there, because we will be back!! The pictures are from the sunrise this morning. We woke up and walked just a little way to a beach area to watch it come up. It was beautiful!

The one thing this campground has going for it is the location: Right on Lake Huron. We reserved (after trying so many times) a spot right on the lakeshore with its own private trail to the beach. We were very excited. Sadly, lake levels are at historically high levels and thus there was no beach. The waves did, however, sound amazing while sitting by the fire and when laying down in the tent at the end of the night. Lastly, in my opinion, most of the camp sites are way too small and therefore seem way too close together. Without the beach the entire appeal of this campground is gone. If you are looking to camp on or near a beach on one of the Great Lakes I would look elsewhere.

Picture Description: The picture of the tent shows that most of the site was an asphalt pad leaving very little space for anything else.

The other picture shows the absence of the beach. This was about 15 feet from the back of our campsite. It did make for great ambient noise (as mentioned above).

We absolutely love camping here weather it’s in a tent, hammock or RV we have always loved camping here.

Night sounds are so relaxing.

We typically do the sites closer to Mio sites 1-6

Plenty of trails and fishing.

No water No electric No sewer

This has been an annual destination for my family. We would camp here 2 weeks every summer with all of our relatives and basically turn this little place into home. There are nice clean sites, facilities, and easy access to town (Pt. Austin) if you want to go explore. I highly recommend Grindstone's Ice Cream place in Grindstone City. During summer months, it books up 6 months in advance. So learn their online reservation system and be quick at it if you have a specific site in mind. The sites on the front row by the water are the best in my opinion. Amazing sunset views and quick access to the beach. When storms come it, make sure you have everything put away and your tent staked down reeeeeal good, cause I've definitely seen 60mph+ winds and tents end up in the trees.