Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Mackinac Island, MI

It is a municipal campground so we didn't expect much but the access to the Little Traverse Wheelway and views of Lake Michigan were awesome - and full hook ups for the price was great.  It has a small bathhouse and the sites are pull-though with back to back setup (so utilities are at the same post as one of your neighbors) but we scored that the 2 sites in front of us cancelled (it was wet, cold, windy and in general miserable weather but we lucked out day 2 and got a bike ride in to Petoskey State Park and a stop at Burnt Marshmallow Brewing before rain rolled back in) so we had a big open space for the kids to bike around on and allowed a view of the lake.

link on The Dyrt doesn't work - try this:

https://www.petoskey.us/departments/parks\_and\_recreation/campground.php

PROS: was really quiet, our neighbor is a regular and was extremely friendly and helpful.  The bike path to Petoskey State Park is right in front of the campground and takes you by the harbor and can branch off into town too.  Really close to downtown (which we did not explore but looks really nice).  We originally planned on staying at the state park but the campsite was half closed due to construction (so it will probably be really nice next year) but this worked out great.  Full hook ups on long pull thru sites for the price was great.  Firewood was available at the check-in kiosk and there is a playground on site.  Bathhouse with showers.  Less than 1 hour from Mackinac Island.  I read mentions of the hospital noise and while trucks unloading during the day was noticeable during the day, we didn't hear anything from there at night - the camp ground did have a transformer that was loud the first night but it was fixed by the next night.

CONS: it is no-frills and could be packed in during summer, but that should be acceptable for the price if you are looking for an easy base camp with access to everything in Petoskey.  The bathhouse was clean but dated.  The campsites look like they did not get a lot of cleanup - I filled a grocery bag full of trash from our site and the 3 open ones next to us.  

Ideal site would probably be as close to the lake as possible - the road in front is not travelled much since it dead ends at the campground.  There was a city facility at the end but it was not open on the weekend and we were told is pretty quiet when it is open.

NOTE: This was our first MI campground as part of out trip from GA to MN via TN-KY-IN-MI-WI-northern MN before staying in MSP for a week, then return via MN-IA-MO-IL-KY-TN-Home.

Spent four nights here while we explored the surrounding area. Took two trips out to Mackinac Island - the ferry sompanies have free pick up at the KOA. The tour of Soo Locks is only an hour north, and was another great experience.

The campground had a nice pool and mini golf was well maintained. It rained most of one night which caused some muddy spots but not terrible.

Our party was in sites 28, 14, and 15. This gave us an almost private campfire area at site 15, shielded from all other campers. The bug open field behind 15 was a great place to exercise the dogs.

This camp ground is located right on Lake Michigan, and close to the bridge, and the dark sky park. We camped here for a night since camping is not allowed on Mackinac Island. It served our needs, but I felt that the campsites were really close together- I would have liked to have a bit more privacy from our neighbors. There are bathrooms and drinking water throughout, and each site had a power outlet to charge up.

Nice beach along the Mackinac strait. Good view of Mackinac island. Close bike ride to St Ignace. Some walking trails with great views of Mackinac Bridge. Has electric at most sites. Dump station with water. Shower clean.

This campground is really nice and has amazing views of the bridge! It is very close to town and very close to the ferries that take you across to Mackinac island. I would definitely stay here again!

Clean park with hot showers, decent sized sites and a great base camp for exploring the Eastern UP, Mackinac Island or the Soo. Freighters pass, the bridge amazes and life was good. Some sites directly on the straits.

This State park is a great stay! It's a universal location, you have Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City, AND the beautiful Bridge all right here!! Sites are large, well spaced out. Trees to provide shade and it's right on the water

Very large and busy campground. Worked well for a base camp while visiting Mackinac Island and the other attractions. My site was an okay size but very unlevel. I had to pull in sideways. I noticed many unlevel sites, so be weary when choosing a site for a bigger rig.

Most people go to Wilderness State park on the south side of the bridge, but this is an equally wonderful campground.  As with Wilderness, this park has two sections of campgrounds- a higher loop in the woods and a lower loop along the shore of Lake Michigan.  Both are desirable and have decent sized sites.  There is a good hiking trial through the park with multiple vista points for viewing the lake and Mackinac Bridge.  It's a couple minutes away from the ferry to go to Mackinac Island.  Highly recommend this campground particularly when other ones are harder to get into.

Very cheap - 30 amps, water and sewer hookup on unlevel overgrown sites. Not exaggerating that weeds are a foot high covering all the sites and grounds like a pasture - unless you bring your own weedeater or mower. The ancient class c camper next to us doesn't appear to be movable and has no sewer hooked up. 2 cars park on either side of it, although that means one car comes and goes constantly and is parking on our site right outside our door. Across the highway is a large prison, just down the road from an airport. This is a very old, sad, and poor small town with no amenities, so plan on driving 30 minutes to Sault Sainte Marie for groceries, restaurants, and anything else you could possibly want to do. The rv park also has the township's memorial dog park. Guess what? Not mowed, and full of dog waste. We watched a man bring 5 dogs every weekday around 5pm, put them in the gated dog park and sit looking at his phone for 30 minutes. Then he calls them after they have all pooped, loads them into his SUV, and drives off. Just wanting you to get the whole honest picture - you cannot beat the $20 per night full 30 amp hook ups, and the power and water are good quality. There are good reasons why here in 2021 there are probably 35 unoccupied sites. Stopping for a night? Sure. Staying for a month - only if you know what you are getting into.

Excellent campground with even better service. Location is central to several activities; Mackinac Island, Petosky, Burt Lake, Mullet Lake etc.. 55 gallon trash bins throughout campground so you don’t have to go all the way to front of campground for dumpsters and they collect regularly. Staff escorts you to your site and lines you up with water/sewer. Will definitely return soon.

This is a pretty decent campground. It met our needs for a day trip to Mackinac Island. It’s within biking distance to the Shepler’s Ferry dock which is super nice of you’re planning to take bikes along. Most of the sites are partially shaded and fairly spacious. We stayed in site 32 which worked out perfectly for our 36’ trailer. We definitely enjoyed our stay here.

Half of the camp ground was under water. We booked three sites together over the phone. When we got there we were not together. When we asked about it we were told that they had to move people around and this is the best they can do. The pool was green and not useable. They did offer a shuttle to the ferry’s to Mackinac island. So that was nice.

We stayed here on a trip up to visit the Mackinac Island. It was great for that as they offer a shuttle service to the ferries. Site was small and awkwardly set up. But a goo place for the home base of the day trips we took. We had fun playing the mini golf that was offered there. The staff I talked to was helpful with the questions I had.

Overall nice well maintained campground.

You can see the bridge and are witin 5 minutes of the ferry to Mackinc Island.

The bathrooms and showers are nice- be careful the shower head came off on one and the water pressure was intense!

I enjoy that many of the sites are wooded, even though you are nearby other campers you don't feel completely overcroweded.

Nice place to stay if you are enjoying St. Ignance or Mackinac Island.

Offers some sites close to the lakeshore and others a little farther back. Nice facilities and location. Picnic table provided at each site. Our site and most of the others had nice tree cover for shade. We had some great views of the mighty mack bridge and even saw the northern lights one night! The road into camp is nice and smooth! great location to stay it if you are planning to head over to Mackinac island!

This is a big state park with easy access to town. My campsite was right on the water. In fact two women kayaked up from Ludington, MI, and camped right next to me. It's a great place to camp with wooded sites. However it was quite busy. I was able to get one of the last sites available so you might need to make reservations. The ferry to Mackinac Island is easy to get to. The views from lakeside are impressive.

It’s what I expect at a KOA. Nice level pull though spots, good amount of space between campsites, very clean facilities and plenty for kids to do(pool/mini golf). The only weird thing about the sites was the water hook ups were shared (which is tough for a pull through) so we needed three hoses to hook up. Not a huge deal just a tip. Super close to the docks for a trip to Mackinac Island which was great.

This is a nice family-friendly campground. We appreciated that they squeezed us in on a weekend, short notice! Although busy, it was very quiet at night and we slept well. The site was pretty level and no problem with full hookups. We used the campground showers and they were clean and well maintained. Hosts were friendly and the store was stocked with most things you might need. It was centrally located to Mackinac Island and Petoskey, etc. Great stay!

We loved our stay at Straits over July 4th holiday. it’s a popular campground with great amenities. biking distance to downtown, grocery market, and the ferries that go over to Mackinac Island. the shower facilities are clean and excellent. The lower campsites are all close to the water, with access every 100 feet or so. if you want to rough it, you can came on the water, but no power. fresh water stations are thoroughout the grounds. firework is plentiful and affordable. cops come thru just to have a presence. family friendly.