Best Tent Camping near Iron Mountain, MI

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Cons: Park website has out of date information, specifically that there is no longer a store on the beach, nor are there kayaks/SUPs to rent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

The hike to these sites is very short. We paid when we parked. It’s a great place to camp if you want to experience being in the woods for the first time. We stayed on the south loop which has 6 sites. The sites still feel very secluded and private. There is a fire ring and picnic table at each site. There is no bear box and there definitely are bears (during one camping trip some hunters treed and shot a bear in the early morning and we saw them carrying it while hiking out) so you’ll want to hang your food. There was access to the lake from our campsite.

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.