Manistee, MI is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Manistee is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Find the best campgrounds near Manistee, plus reviews and photos from other campers like you.
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply/rec-pp
$25 - $65 / night
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79134_79210---,00.html
Lake Michigan Campground is perched on the shores of Lake Michigan, 15 miles south of Manistee. The area creates an incredible setting with a scenic overlook of the lake and a sandy swimming beach. This family campground provides an array of hiking and biking trails, plus swimming, fishing and kayaking.
A hardwood forest gives way to a beautiful sandy beach at the shores of the lake with a playground for younger campers. Trout fishing in Lake Michigan is another big draw. Bird watchers delight in seeing unique species like the piping plover and prairie warbler. The Arrowhead Trail, a short loop trail created by Boy Scouts, forms a loop between the campground and the beach. A trailhead for the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is also within the recreation area.
A hardwood forest gives way to a beautiful sandy beach at the shores of the lake with a playground for younger campers. Trout fishing in Lake Michigan is another big draw. Bird watchers delight in seeing unique species like the piping plover and prairie warbler. The Arrowhead Trail, a short loop trail created by Boy Scouts, forms a loop between the campground and the beach. A trailhead for the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is also within the recreation area.
The recreation area sits on the eastern banks of Lake Michigan along Porter Creek, due north of Hamlin Lake. As the second largest of the five Great Lakes, Lake Michigan provides stunning views and limitless options for water recreation. It covers a whopping 22,400 square miles and ranks as the fifth largest lake in the world. The Huron-Manistee National Forests encompass nearly a million acres of public protected land. Nearly 6,000 acres is wetlands that extend over the northern portion of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
The nearby Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area has abundant trails for hiking and backpacking.
$27 - $32 / night
$25 - $65 / night
Pop open your lawn chair and relax by the crackling fire. Most sites have room for 4 folks, a camper or tent, a boat, a dog or two and a few kiddos :D We have a tiny cafe, a small playground, a fish station, warm showers and bike/kayak rentals! Hop on the Betsie Valley trail for a 3 mile adventure to ice cream, beaches, shops...so much! We are not a big concrete pad RV park, we are a nice small family owned campsite. We try and keep it quiet and calm (but still fun!) If you are looking for the far North Electric Forest, this is not the place. What we are is a great base-camp for all your awesome Northern Michigan adventures!
$33 - $85 / night
Northern Exposure Campground staff takes pride in our state-of-the-art RV campground. Our goal is to provide a memorable experience to campers of all ages. We are a nonprofit organization that's committed to providing our guests with clean, safe, and updated camping facilities, fun family entertainment, and a helpful and friendly staff ready to answer all your questions and assist you during your stay. Welcome to Northern Exposure Campground, thanks for staying and helping us be the best RV camping destination in Northern Michigan!
$30 - $45 / night
Poncho’s Pond is situated on 37 grassy acres. Our sites include city water, sewer, 30 & 50 amp electric service and television service at no extra charge. Tent sites have water & electric only. All sites have a picnic table and a fire pit. For those without a camper of their own, we offer rental Haciendas that sleep up to 8 people.
Fire Pits Picnic Tables Shower Restrooms Playground
Full hookup available Electric | Water | Sewer
$40 - $160 / night
We are a full service RV park and campground with accommodations to fit any taste or budget. We feature full hook-up and electric sites, wooded tent sites, and rustic family and group campsites. We also feature cabins, a bunkhouse and a 1966 Airstream Safari rental. We are located in the heart of the Manistee National Forest close to the Pine Rive, Manistee River, Tippy Dam, and the North Country & Big M Trailheads. We are a 25 minute drive from the historic towns of Cadillac & Manistee, and a 1 hour drive from Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Make Twin Oaks Campground your basecamp for adventure in Northern Michigan!
$11 - $90 / night
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.
Great location away from everything. Spacious sites that are spread out. We stayed in the Oak Loop. Only 5 minute easy walk to beach. Quiet. Enough cell reception to send a text but that's it. Pit toilets only in Oak and Violet loops. Flush toilets in hemlock and orchid loop. No showers, but showers available at convenience store down the street during the summer.
Peggy are host was awesome . It's really clean and a beautiful place and close to the Dunes .
It’s a little cramped making it a bit overwhelming but the sites are nice and kept.
Camp staff very friendly and park is well maintained. Nice hiking trails nearby and a 20 minute drive to a whole lot of entertainment!
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.
I can't say enough about this place. They where so nice, polite and friendly. We had some R.V. Issues and they where there to help. The camp site was very nice. There bathroom and shower were so clean. We will stay there again.
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
Quiet, large sites, like new bath house, 7th nite free, rate$35, good location for northwestern Michigan sites Water on all outside sites. interior sites share water hookups
Nice campsites with enough space between sites. Our site wasn’t level. Most sites are level and have large picnic tables and fire pits with fold away grills. Bring enough supplies for your stay unless you don’t mind a 1/2 hour drive to get resupplied in Ludington or Manistee. Mice and mosquitoes can be a nuisance in the campsite even if you’re careful about crumbs etc. We had a mouse going under our ground tarp under the tent
It was a nice campground. Nestled in nature, quiet, clean, WiFi only at the clubhouse. Private beach with a steep paved walkway accessible across the street. Absolutely the best sunsets over Lake Michigan! Friendly staff, Pool was clean, refreshing, and hot tub as well. Game room for the kids. Various outdoor games-usual horseshoes, shuffleboard, basketball, small playground. Many, many, many speed bumps throughout. Firewood was wet. Other campers we talked to said it’s always wet, that they don’t buy it there. Spent $70 for weekend rate, I think it was $60? For weekday? Just for electric, water, no WiFi, 4 days. With all the campgrounds MI has to offer, this was a very nice campground, and would recommend it, but we personally look forward to exploring other options.
The lake was pretty peaceful and has private residences. One of the private residences had construction noise (generator, nail gun, impact drill, saw). There was a relatively frequent roar of SxS and dirt bikes from a dirt road that went behind the campground.
The sites were each unique, some near the water and some more wooded. I stayed at #7 which was wooded and full of ticks. Despite plenty of bug spray and a Thermacell, I ended up with two ticks on me in the evening and one on the picnic table. Flies were pesky throughout the campground.
The price is considerably high given it's the same price as the paid sites in the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area with its surrounding activities and scenery.
The American Land & Leisure who operate the Highbanks Lake campground could improve the footprints of the sites some to provide better delineation between natural areas and site boundaries which might eliminate ticks to an extent.
Great cabin for winter camping. Electricity, heat, microwave, mini fridge. 2 sets of bunks, sleeps 5. Table with chairs. Wonderful hiking.
Great campground with beach access. It’s great to be in the forest, then take a quick walk over to the beach.
Campground was busy, but very quiet. Neighbors were friendly.
Large open spaces, partially shaded Nice breeze off the Lake Michigan Great sunsets
Stayed on pull through site, did require some leveling as driver side was considerably lower. Delivered firewood to your site. No TMobile cell service & limited TV reception. Dropped a set of keys and they mailed them back to me at no charge.
The park is beginning to look its age. Stayed 4 nights while visiting the Traverse City area. Crowded with families making use of the last couple weeks before schools return. Rained well one night and our grass less site turned nasty. Good Verizon signal and has water available at several stations around each camping loop. Great location, however, to visit Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes.
We were on a waitlist and did not expect to get in but received a call a week later that there was a cancellation. All staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The grounds are very well maintained. Tons of activities for kids. We were lucky to get a shaded spot but several are pretty exposed. Can’t recommend Dunes Harbor enough if you’re looking for a resort/family style campground.
Park had vacancy when I called late Friday afternoon for Saturday. So if you want to stay in the Ludington area but can't get into the State Park, this is good. Just about 2 miles from the State Park beaches and less than 2 miles into downtown. There is a designated paved trail that runs right through the campground. You can easily ride bikes downtown where there is a large variety of restaurants and/or brewery. The whole downtown area is very cool with city parks/beaches/marina/shops. Office staff was very friendly and professional. We camped in the "rustic" section, meaning no electric or running water on site. Bathroom was relatively clean and near our site. Crowd was not too rowdy and pretty chill. Lots of kids ;-) and dogs ;-(. Best features are location (at nothing, but near everything). Worst features mentioned by others - there is no fence between the campground and the busy road, road noise, the cemetery does not bother us. Ludington State Park has MANY excellent opportunities hiking, biking, watercraft, beach bumming. Highly recommend the State Park....but it is very hard to get into in the summer. Stay here instead and you'll be half way between the State Park and Downtown.
Our family and I stayed in campsite B at Orchard Beach, it is a new rustic campsite and it is on top of a hill. It was clean and spacious. The bathroom is a pretty distant walk so prepare for that. But the bathrooms and showers are clean. You will need some good tent stakes as the ground is hard clay. We would absolutely stay again.
It is a nice spot to quick stop and sleep. It’s is nice and close to town. However right next to the cemetery, so if you have superstitions and are weirded out by post death. Our spot was butted up to the road too which was busy most of the night.
I was able to snag the last established spot before the ascent up to the clear cut. The spot was big and beautiful overlooking the river valley. Acces to the river from the site down a 70 degree descent, so not ideal for small kids or old folk. Myself and the hound were able to wade across the river in late spring but it was damned cold. It was a nice spot to wash up. There was ALOT of ORV traffic at all hours and locals/campers harvesting wood that had been clear cut previously.
People are complaining that there is no beach access anymore at this campground. That's correct. Because of erosion you can no longer access the beach from the campground. But a short drive up the road leads to a wonderful local beach. A short drive south gets you into Manistee with a great river walk and restaurants and brew pubs. The best part about about this campground is the availability of sites because people no longer come because they can't waddle 100 yards and put their feet in the sand. The campground is quiet, clean, and right on the water with fabulous sunsets. If you love to camp, and aren't looking for a beach vacation, you will love this park!
Beautiful quiet campground without electricity. Off the beaten path. Lovely waterfront site.
Run down campground with rude disrespectful owner. We were attacked over something that was so trivial...a few hoof prints by our trailer where we we told to park. Horses did not dig or paw. She drove up to us and complained that they tore up her grass, which wasn't true. There was no grass to begin with, it was moss. Our ponied stood quietly tied to trailer as we saddled up and then when we came back from our rife and unsaddled. We were with them the entire time....it was a short day ride with a friend who was camping there. Woman never asked or told us to picket. Normal function for horseman is to ride from trailer. I Just couldn't believe it. Told woman we understood and would be leaving and wouldn't be back. She kept running her mouth. I told her to drop it and that again, we would leave and would not be back. Kept running her mouth, and Id had enough and told her to shut up.
We thought this would be a good place for our first trip in our new to us 5th wheel! We have a 28.6ft 5th wheel and had not problem getting in and parked! Management did an awesome job of spreading out guests until they were full! Lots of things for the kids, basketball, volly ball, a beach area, pond with fishing….. so much more. Very clean, very kind and helpful staff!
This was my first time ever tent camping! Normally I am a car camping person, but I decided to give a good old tent a try. I loved it!! This campground was absolutely amazing for me and my 2 best friends. As 3 women sleeping in a tent in the woods, we felt very very safe. The staff does drive by checks on everyone throughout the day and this not only helped us develop a relationship with the staff but also made us feel very safe. The campground was very well taken care of and clean. My friends and I enjoyed renting kayaks from the campground and paddling along bass lake. The staff was really the best part. Everyone we met was so happy, helpful, and really made our stay amazing. They would even bring your firewood to your campsite for you! The campsite store was so helpful and had everything we needed! Thank you to to the staff for making our trip calm and safe. We will definitely be back soon! I also highly recommend checking out Pentwater!
Camping near Manistee, Michigan, offers a mix of beautiful landscapes and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an adventure-filled getaway, this area has something for you.
Camping near Manistee, Michigan, has its perks and quirks. With the right preparation, you can enjoy a memorable outdoor experience!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Manistee, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Manistee, MI is Cedar Campground — Ludington State Park with a 4.5-star rating from 40 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Manistee, MI?
TheDyrt.com has all 42 glamping camping locations near Manistee, MI, with real photos and reviews from campers.
