Best Campgrounds near Manistee, MI

Wow, what a great, quiet, beautiful rustic campground this was at one point and could be again. Unfortunately, a band of Deliverance locals has taken over this camp as their personal fifedom and runs it their way. That's a more and more common issue you'll unfortunately read about at many other State Forest Campgrounds. So the ruling group often trades prime sites from person to person, so sites never really open to the public for several weeks in a row. The boys have also decided they like having electricity available 24x7. Really, multiple large frame generators run all day and then all night -- ALL NIGHT. If one of the gang is anywhere near your site, you'll listen to gas engines 24 hours a day. If you mention to the boys that the posted quiet hours are 10 PM to 8 AM, they just laugh, tell you how many years they've been coming to this campground and camping this way, and who are you to tell them what to do? You get the idea. After the first night, we called the DNR and the field supervisor and new enforcement agent were genuine, caring, professional, responsive, fabulous people. The locals, however, know exactly how to game the system. The enforcement officer showed at 4 to tell one of the cabal boys to shut off his generator at 10. He ran it all night again and yelled to us while doing so, That loud enough for you, want to call the DNR on me again? They all know no officer is coming back after 10 and he can't write any tickets without witnessing the violation. All you can do is call 911 and tell the Sheriff your emergency is the guy at the next camp site won't shut off his generator. Good luck with that. It's sad this happens more and more across the state. I grew up camping at pretty much every state forest camp in the lower and upper peninsulas. There was always a spirt of cooperation, mutual respect, concern for others and humility that has mostly disappeared. If you want to run your own generator 24x7, listen to loud country or rock music after dark and drain a couple cases of Old Style with the boys, knock yourself out.

Got here around 1730 on a Sunday. Have the whole place to myself. Not bad getting into, signal is poor. Lots of wildlife.

This is my spot. Tents are welcome if you're in a jam. No outhouse yet but town is near. This is just down the road from Leverentz SpR.

We winter camped. Beautiful large spots. Gorgeous pines. Off a main road, quiet area.

This campground is centrally located to everything that’s going on, on the west side of the state. Whether it’s trail riding, Traverse City Cherry festival or hanging in the town of Manton. There is always something going on. Spacious, super clean bath house and on Saturday nights listen to live music right at your campsite!

Was a quiet. Simple.. Just with nature...Site was clean, across street you can buy firewood ...Was a pleasant 2 night's....From site to the nearest store 15-20 min away..If needed...Had no issues...Be back Thanksgiving 2024..

Access road is an unmarked two track that is not suitable for all vehicles. Campground is free and only six sites. Free and no registration attracts lowlifes who appear to have been there a significant amount of time or the whole season. If you have a leaky trailer that needs a tarp over the top, love having your pitbulls run wild, and firing up your generator, this may be the perfect spot for you. Not sure how the folks dragged the trailers into camp. Turned around and went elsewhere. Could have been a nice spot but...

Beach was big and beautiful but you had to drive to get to it unless you love walking with a bunch of beach stuff in a bathing suit. Hamlin lake is close by and is a good spot for fishing.

Super close to manistee beach, came in on the weekend mid September, almost all the camp spots were taken. Forest was super eerie but beautiful.

Camp staff very friendly and park is well maintained. Nice hiking trails nearby and a 20 minute drive to a whole lot of entertainment!

The camping area is amazing. My group camped in the non electric section. Each area was set back from the road. Flat gravel pad. Small paved driveway for your car. It was peaceful. And absolutely dark at night. Perfect for star gazing. The comfort station was a short walk away. Clean bathrooms, shower areas, and a small room to wash dishes. You cannot wash dishes at your site. You must take precautions against bears. So food had to be locked in cars. We didn’t encounter bears. At the entrance is a canoe/tube business. You can float down the river to Lake Michigan.

Our site was great, easily fit a 17 foot trailer and a tent. Trails down to the water were appreciated by our kids. Neighbors are pretty close all around but that didn't matter until our last night. Several new campers rolled in at 10pm and proceeded to throw an absolute rager of a party until 4am - on Labor Day weekend. So overall a great campground but I wish there had been enforcement of quiet time or some kind of consequence for such horrible camping manners.

The campsites are spacious and feature trails that lead directly to the Tippy Dam Backwater. There’s also convenient access for launching a boat on either the Manistee River or the backwaters side of the dam