Best Cabin Camping near Iron Mountain, MI

Fantastic.. group cabins available.. great for big family outings. But great facilities and camping sites. You can fish Lake Michigan or swim off the beach or hike the park.

Along our travels in Michigan's Upper Peninsula from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore west to the Porcupine Mountains, we stayed at Van Riper State Park campground.  We found this campground located along U.S. Hwy 41 about 40 minutes west of Marquette MI. The Park sits on the west shores of Lake Michigamme.   Van Riper State park has both a Modern and Rustic campgrounds along, with hiking, biking and ATV trails.  There is a fine sandy beach, and playground.  At the beach there is a concession stand.  The park offers areas for boating, kayaking, and jet skiing, and fishing.  To book or check into either campground you must stop at the park office.  A Resident Recreational Passport is required or a charge of $11 will apply for each vehicle without one.  The park office also has firewood, ice and even ice cream for sale. I recommend to get your firewood from another local area, the bundles are $5 but are very small bundles like 3 or 4 pieces.  They also offer kayak rentals the price on those was decent.  $10 for a 2 hour kayak rental.

We stayed in the Modern campground.  There are 147 sites and 2 Mini Cabins.  Sites are equipped for tents, trailers and RV’s up to 50’.  There are free wifi by the restrooms, flush toilets, showers, drinking water, sanitation station, electric hookups at each site along with a fire pit and picnic table.  The daily price of sites is $22 - $24 and $49 for a Mini Cabin.  We stayed in site 92 that is located right next to the restroom/showers. Which was great having young children with us who seem to need to visit the restroom numerous times. This site is more for a trailer or a RV being the ground is hard and full of rocks.  We all used air mattresses so that wasn’t much of an issue.  We did take the time to remove any sharp rocks from where our tent was being placed to make sure no holes were made in the tent or mattresses.  Sites are very open and non private.  There is a host site that has information on activities around the park and neighboring areas.  They also offer activities for children to do.  

A short distance from the modern campground is the rustic campground.  There are 40 sites and a Camper's Cabin available. This campground offers vault toilets, and drinking water.  I did find out that for $2 per person for a day you can have access to the showers at the modern campground.  The daily price of these sites is $13, and $86 for the Camper’s Cabin.  These sites are equipped for tents, trailers and RV’s up to 30’.  There is no electric hook ups.  

During your visit to the park there are lot’s of scenic, historic, and recreational sites to visit.  A few miles from the park is the location of where Iron ore was first found in the Lake Superior region.  There is a Iron Industry Museum.  Lake Michigamme offers lot’s of activities for those visiting.  If you are really looking for a awesome adventure not too far from camp, you can drive an ½ hour west on Hwy 41 to the “Grand Canyon” of Michigan, this gorge and waterfalls are located along the Sturgeon River.  There is access to the North Country Trail here as well.  The Canyon Waterfall and Gorge are just breathtaking.  It is a 10 minute hike along the river from the parking area to the Canyon falls and gorge.  You can hike further in if you wish and discover the rapids area along the river.  We did not venture this far having small children with us.  Can’t wait to return on a adult trip to hike further along the river.  

I give this Campground a 5 star review, it is a great place to take the family on vacation.

The road in to the cabin campground is beautiful. Tall trees stand guard as you enter an even more peaceful area than the forest you were driving through. 

There is a communal parking area with a few of the cabins in sight. You can reserve the cabins individually or get several for your family or group. You can see some recreation areas near the parking area. 

The Lost Lake Campground is just down the road. This has a larger beach and boat launch. The lake is perfect for fishing. There are also several short trails and longer ones nearby.

Drive a bit further than Lost Lake Campground to Chipmunk Rapids Campground. There you will find a wonderful artesian well where you can fill up on great drinking water.

Had the best time staying in a very large and warm cabin

I went here a few years ago when my kids were a little younger and it was great. I believe it used to be a private camp that has now been converted to a public one. The cabins are a few hundred feet apart and there's access to the lake for swimming or boating. They have a main lodge which had some games and equipment for use. There's also an on site host with firewood for sale.

The interior of the cabins are spacious and could easily accommodate a large family. Its not too far from activities in Eagle River and there is a DNR center with some educational exhibits a few miles to the east. It was a really nice place to go to introduce the kids to the camping experience while they're young without having to pitch a tent or "rough it" right away.

some sites are low, so water flows to the site on rainy days. there are some trails you can walk, there is a ball diamond for kids and a small court for basketball. there is also some nice cabins and areas for tents. you can meet a lot of really nice people here.

Nice campground right on Lake Michigamme, variety of sites (tents, cabins, electric hook-ups), big clean beach, showers. AT&T was okay, ended up using it for internet over Starlink, which was spotty due to trees. Son had a good time skateboarding and using the playground. We've stayed twice now and likely will again. I did notice the AED was missing from the beach house/laundry area....otherwise it seems accessible.

The Diamond Lake area is a great example of good places to be to enjoy the Fall foliage. A simple camp setup is all I needed to enjoy my time here. The best feature here would likely be space to roam under the trees.

This campground boast a variety of site types from cabins, to a yurt, to a bunkhouse, pull-through sites, and much more. They have a playground as well as nice beaches to access the lake from. Minigolf is yet another feature on site. If you want one place that has it all for the many types of camping you may like to do, Diamond Lake is a great camp.

This is a state park with a host usually at camp. Games available for campers from the host site as well as dog poop supplies. Great waterfront improvement with a store, kayak and SUP rentals, and inflatable water feature to use for a fee.

We got our new Marmot Tungston 4P tent so I took the wife and kids on a quick weekend trip to J.W. Wells State Park campground in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to test it out. I found J.W. Wells by searching for waterfront camping along Lake Michigan. There are plenty of state and national parks along Lake Michigan but not many where you can pitch your tent right along the waters edge like J.W. Wells. It also happened to be the only site within 4 hours drive of Northbrook, IL (N. Suburb of Chicago) with such close proximity to the waters edge that I could find.

The site itself is tucked right along the Green Bay coastline about 1 hour drive north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. There is a main campground for tent and RV but we chose to stay at 1 of 3 rustic tent sites a little north of the main campground. The campground was well maintained with picnic tables for each site, firepit, and a nice well groomed plot of grass for us to pitch our tent and setup camp. The main campground has showers and a playground right in the middle.

The view from our site was majestic, especially watching the sun rise over the horizon of Lake Michigan. The sunrise was the pinnacle moment of this trip. And that's really the only reason why I gave it 3 stars. The campground itself and the views are incredible, it's just that there isn't much to do around these parts. There are a couple short trails for hiking or ATV's and the Cedar River about a mile north of the site which I assume has some fishing and boating, but that was about it. The only other activity we found was to drive 30 mins north to check the small harbor town of Escanaba. Really not much to see or do there either.

I probably wouldn't recommend this campground for families or persons looking for lots of activities or places to see and visit while camping. It's great for a simple quick getaway with a great view to just sit around camp and relax.

Van Riper State Park is a must-visit if you’re traveling through Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  It’s popular year-round, although camping is only open between May and October. Stop for the day to hike the trails and go for a swim, or stay a week and enjoy the sunsets and serenity.

The state park covers both sides of the highway with the campground and day-use area on the south side and a huge section of trails and wildlife viewing areas on the north.

There are 147 sites in the modern campground, including some sites with 50-amp electric service, and there are another 40 sites in the rustic campground. Plus, there are two mini cabins in the modern campground if you don’t own a tent or RV. All of the campsites have a fire ring and picnic table.

One thing we noticed is that the sites at Van Riper are very large– so much bigger than many sites we’ve seen at other state parks. This means there is plenty of space for your trailer, truck, bikes, screen tent, kids’ toys, etc. without feeling like you’re infringing on your neighbor.

Another plus for the state park is the laundry facilities. Two washers and dryers are located in the restroom building near the beach.

Van Riper State Park is extremely family-friendly, with activities for everyone. There are approximately 5 miles of hiking trails on the north side of the state park. One trail provides a very nice overlook of Lake Michigamme and the surrounding area. Other trails run along the Peshekee River or through the woods and may even provide the chance to see the moose that live in the area. The trails are not difficult, but there is some elevation to get to the lookout. If you don’t want to hike the whole 5-plus miles from the campground and back, you can drive and park at the group campground and go from there.

A sandy beach awaits both kids and adults on Lake Michigamme. The lake is popular as it is much warmer than most of the lakes in the Upper Peninsula. A large, fairly new playscape is also located near the beach, as well as a swing set. One of the most unique activities is a bike pump track. This is the only state park that we saw that had one. It was very popular with the kids and is conveniently located between the campground and the day-use area. The lake is popular for fishing and if you have a boat you can use the launch in the back of the park. It also is a good location for kayaking.

The Peshtigo River Campground as it’s name implies, sits on a crook of the Peshtigo River. This makes it a perfect ending spot for the tubing rentals that they offer. The Campground itself is very clean. It has some of the cleanest bathrooms we’ve ever found. It has a small but very open playground. It even has a game room with a SouthPark Pinball that is fully working. There are several full hook up sites that are nicely spaced. All in all, it is a peaceful, clean, well run campground that I highly recommend. 

The rent tubes for $14/person. Cooler floats are $8. This includes the bus service to the drop off anytime between 10 and 3pm. I would dedicate 3-4 hours to the tube trip.

We are not a big state park fan as, in Michigan, there are very close sites and tons of noise. This one was relatively quiet. The site were the standard Michigan close but the campgeound was t full and there many options to choose from. The lake is real nice and the beach area is clean, spacious and it has a general store that has firewood for sale. We first reserved a rustic site, then changed to an electrical hook up site after arriving. The ranger was very accomodating.

This was our first experience at this park in the southern section of the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Many of the sites are just feet from Lake Michigan.  We listened to the waves all night long.  The park is very well maintained and clean.  We checked in on Labor Day just as the majority of campers were leaving.  The individual sites are grassy with many trees throughout the campground.  The restrooms/showers were spotless and constantly maintained.  While this was our first stop, it won't be our last.  Being that close to the lake is wonderful.

Van Riper State park has very unlevel sites with no water and 30 amp service. Unacceptable with today’s campers. Time to update Michigan

Nice state park campground with grassy, but tight sites. Located right on Lake Michigan. Very nice beach. Showers were okay, but always seemed a little dirty

Great views of Lake Michigan! Beautiful sandy beach just a short walk away! Really nice playground for the kids. Overall, one of our favorite places to connected camp!

One line of sites is right in the water. Like all the Michigan SP we’ve been to, getting a big rig set on the site takes a bit of skill. Should have wonderful sunrises.