Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Houghton, MI

A short drive from Houghton brings you to the shore of Lake Superior. McLain sprawls along the shore giving almost every campsite a beautiful view. Our site has a picnic table and even a couple wooden deck chairs looking towards the sunset. Every site has electric with water available at a few locations. There is a dump station near the trash bins. With the park stretching a couple miles you can get in a good walk along the paved camp road. There are a few extra trails to add some adventure. We found some that parallel the road and head to the beach - there’s even a dog beach! There are plenty of shelters and benches to find some personal space. Humans can walk down to the sand and sit by the beach (no dogs for most of it). Some folks put their kayaks in to paddle a bit. One drawback is the sparse restrooms. A centralized shower house is by the entrance. Vault toilets are around but you could have a bit of a walk. Tips: the entrance is earlier than google will take you so keep an eye open. Another camper told us to stop by the Jam Pot in the way north along 26. The monks make and sell a variety of things but Greg kept raving about the cupcakes. It’s nearJacob falls. We are stopping by on our way out tomorrow.

We are on site 22. Very spacious have room for our 20ft TT and could have put up a large screen tent but there is a big dip in the site which caused a huge puddle where we would have placed it. Nice view of the lake can see at least part of it from almost anywhere in the camp. Picnic table and fire ring on every site. There are several full hook up sites (water sewer electric). There are a few pull through sites. Some of the sites (the ones a crossed from us) have a huge dip right at the edge of the site to get in out of the site that can cause some issues with low sitting vehicles. Hosts were very friendly and informative, offered some scheduled programs through out the week and free coffee and doughnuts Saturday morning at the host site. DNR staff almost always available. Serves as a great base point to see probably hundreds of water falls. Some are located just down the street from the campground. Mordern shower clean and had hot water and restroom, clean but toilets are a little tricky to flush...doesn't seem to have enough flushing power. Verizon phone works great... hotspot from Verizon phone works great as well. there is also some WiFi available from somewhere that works but doesn't work(cuts in and out) not sure if it is the parks or a nearby place. The roads in the campground are narrrow but manageable. The park is located on a main highway (41) so you get the noise from the traffic on the road...sometimes this noise can make it hard to have a quiet conversation with those in your camping party....it quiets down some at night but still a lot of noise. Also train tracks runs along the back of the campground which can be quite noisy. We've been here almost a week and have heard only one train(we aren't here a lot during the day we are out exploring). Nice day park across the road from the campground. Located about 30 min. From Houghton (and a Walmart) and about an hour drive to the porcupine mountains.

We stayed at Van Riper State Park three times during June and July. The park is always clean and well-maintained. The bathrooms and showers and generally always nicely maintained as well, and there are plenty of both. The bathrooms do tend to run out of soap and toilet paper at busy times. Dogs are not allowed on the beach but also cannot be left unattended in your site. The rules are heavily enforced in this park. Park staff will ask you to move vehicles if you have more than two, and you will be asked to turn music completely off upon quiet hours. This is not the place to go if you want to party.

Sites 15 and 17, as well as several other sites along that side of that loop, now have a wooden fence at the back of them, so they are not as large as they appear in the photos online.

We have stayed in sites 14, 90 and 93. We travel with a 34’ trailer.

Site 14 is narrow but manageable. It is well-shaded by large pine trees on the site. Site is entirely dirt. There are trees to hang hammocks or clotheslines in.

Site 90 is on a corner by the propane tanks. It is a large site. It does have some roots and low spots. It is partial grass. It has nice shade and is adjacent to the bathrooms. There are trees to hang hammocks or clotheslines.

Site 93 is a large site that backs up to a small grass/tree buffer. It is across the road from the bathrooms. It has nice shade. There is a place to hang a clothesline but not hammocks.

Pros: Clean, well-maintained park

Quiet

Lots of playground equipment

Bike/scooter pump track

Excellent beach area

Lots of green space

Hiking trails

Wood and ice available for purchase at the entrance

Laundry is available; one washer and two dryers

Very kid and pet friendly

Cons: Park website has out of date information, specifically that there is no longer a store on the beach, nor are there kayaks/SUPs to rent

The Water Warrior Island is no longer in the lake

There are very few sites with buffers between

It is sort of far to the beach and laundry from the modern campsites

No non-reservable sites available