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Northern Exposure Campground's spacious waterfront sites welcome pets with designated dog-walking trails along the Manistee River. The campground features water and electric hookups at all sites, including pet-friendly cabins, tent spots, and RV sites. Pets must be leashed throughout the campground, including on the hiking paths that follow the lakeshore. Seaton Creek Campground provides rustic pet-friendly camping with large sites that accommodate up to 25 people and their pets. Both campgrounds maintain clean facilities with restrooms and trash collection. Pats RV Park also accepts dogs but requires leashes at all times on their lakefront property. At Northern Exposure, many campers appreciate the paved roads for easy dog walking and the proximity to water access points where dogs can splash and cool off during summer months.
Manistee River Trail offers 23 miles of pet-friendly hiking that connects directly to several area campgrounds. Dogs can accompany owners on the suspension bridge near Seaton Creek, the second largest in Michigan. The nearby Hodenpyle Dam area features quiet water areas where pets can swim away from motorized boats. During peak summer months, early morning or evening walks are recommended to keep pets cool on the trails. Northern Michigan's wooded terrain provides ample shade at most campsites, though tick prevention is essential when camping with pets in this region. Most campgrounds near Mesick enforce quiet hours starting at 10 pm, which helps prevent excessive barking disturbances. Local reviews consistently note the tranquil environment and large camping spaces that provide adequate separation between sites for pets who may be reactive to other animals.
"The campground offers clean facilities, general store, rentals for the lake, and camp events like movie night. With sites right on the water remember to bring your kayak!"
"We asked to be away from the lake because of our young kids but the lake lots looked beautiful. We will be back."
from $30 - $45 / night
Check Availability"Every year I camp on the Green Lake side of Interlochen State Park, and this year was the first year I allowed a guest - my fiance."
"Not super close to Michigan cities, but can drive back and forth to Traverse City."
from $20 / night
Check Availability"You are surrounded by beautiful pines. I wasn't able to explore as much as I liked to but hear there are great trails and you are in walking distance of water."
"It's right by the second largest suspension bridge in Michigan. Great please to stay before you canoe or kayak the Manistee river."
from $30 - $80 / night
Check Availability"Although this is listed as "dispersed" camping, the camping on the Manistee River Trail side of this loop is mostly at designated sites. Most sites seemed to be able to accommodate large groups."
"I've hiked and kayaked this trail on a few occasions and I can confidently say this is one of my favorite trails in all of Michigan."
"This KOA is just south of Traverse City and very centrally located to all that makes this area so awesome! Wineries, Sleep Bear Dunes, golf courses, and of course downtown Traverse City."
"This place is the perfect spot to camp to get away yet stay close to Home (if you live nearby!). Its great for a traveler as well."
from $60 - $120 / night
Check Availability"Pets are allowed in the campground. The sites are a little tight, but if you are looking to hang out in Traverse City, this is a convenient location. Bathhouse was always well maintained."
"300+ sites, pet friendly, sites for all shapes and sizes. Open year round, with heated cabins. It's a great location, just across from Traverse Bay with just across the road."
"Hiking to Lake Michigan, bike trails, Sleeping Bear Dunes just a short drive away. For those with dogs, Esch Beach, at the end of Esch Road, is about 10 minutes by car and dog friendly."
"One of my Favorite places in Michigan to camp. Out of the way without being out of the way. The walk in sites are a very short walk and well away from the other sites."
from $22 - $50 / night
Check Availability"Absolutely gorgeous surroundings. Great hiking. One family had over 70 pumpkins carved and set up a trail. Impressive night walk. New owners. Like 8 days. Very accommodating."
"A few trails to walk around the property, and not far to Manistee (bakery downtown is the best in the state). Will definitely be coming back here."
"There are some trails to walk the dogs, lake access, and plenty of spots to enjoy your he views!! Simple and quiet spot!!"
"Hodenpyle Dam lake is a great, quiet area. It close enough to several places which makes it convenient to get in some sight seeing in Traverse City, Frankfort and Manistee."
from $25 - $90 / night
Check Availability"This campground is absolutely gorgeous, clean, well kept and each site area of pitching is nesseled into the woods while having easy access to vehicle. Therr is a restroom every 4 campsites."
"The walk-in tent sites were gorgeous, very hidden away in the trees, and 2 sites are literally right next to the river."
from $15 - $35 / night
Check Availability
GuideGreat place to take a camper with family. The campground offers clean facilities, general store, rentals for the lake, and camp events like movie night. With sites right on the water remember to bring your kayak! Trails in forest give oppertunity to explore, and just down the road from Mesick also.
LegendThe location of this campground is great and it's best feature in my opinion! This park is just two miles to downtown Traverse City (one of Michigan’s most popular resort towns), a quarter mile from a pretty beach and the beautiful blue waters of Lake Michigan, and it sits along the TART Trail which is a 10.5-mile bicycle trail running through the city.
While the park is small at just 47 acres, it holds pretty many campsites – approximately 350 (and two cabins). Campsites are set among tall pine trees so there is a bit of shade but that also means that they are sandy with little grass. Roads are paved and narrow if you are trying to maneuver with a large (40+ RV) and you may have difficulty backing into your site with the numerous trees lining the road. All sites are back-in with electric. Sites and patios are sandy with varying degrees of levelness. There is a dump station and water spigots are scattered throughout the campground. Picnic tables and fire pits are at each site. Sites are $31/night ($49/night for the cabins) and reserveable online.
This park is right on US-31/M-72 which means there is easy access in and out but it can be noisy if your campsite is close to the road. Expect the campground to be very busy on weekends and in the summer and tightly packed.
Amenities include: picnic area, beach, fishing, hiking/bicycling trail, three bathhouses, playground area, camp store, pet walk (no off-leash dog park).
Outside of the park there is a lot to do in Traverse City. Early July is the ever-popular Cherry Festival which lasts for a week. But you better book your campsite early if you want to enjoy all the festivities (which happen to be close to the park). The summer farmers market is great and held every Wednesday and Saturday. Early in the season, asparagus is plentiful and locally-grown asparagus is the best you will ever have being super sweet, tender, and inexpensive. For beer drinkers, consider paddling the beer trail that takes you from Boardman Lake to Lake Michigan and past numerous breweries where you pull over for a pint. If it's ice cream you want, you have come to the right place. There are multiple creameries with Moomer's being our favorite and for some reason eating it right at the farm stand was the best.
GuideWe have spent six weeks at this park for the last 6 years. We attend a horse show circuit near by. It is the creme de la creme of RV parks. The sites are individually owned (and leased out) and many of the owners have made their lots very nice. The park is limited to Class A, Fifth Wheels and Class C only. This park is dominated by big, very nice class A's.
We have a 5th wheel and have appreciated the amenities very much. Great wifi, curbside garbage pickup, trails, dog park, and many others. You are limited to 2 dogs, and they are very strict about leashes and picking up poop. But, that keeps the place looking nice.
We enjoy it very much and it is so close to the horse show, it cannot be beat. Because they are such a popular place to stay during the show (July - mid August), they sites book up a year in advance.
LegendThis park is a very nice RV park. All 257 sites are full hook-up (with cable), level, and have paved patios and for a $2 up charge you can get a paved site. Our site was super long (over 100’) and had a nice view of the large pond. There is pretty good separation between sites and on one side of us were large bushes that added privacy from our neighbors and the adjacent pathway. There are tent sites set off along one area of the park near the bathrooms. There are a few trees among the tent sites but they are not very private and located near the garbage dumpsters/recycle bins and on a main exit thoroughfare. There are also three “haciendas” for rent.
One of my favorite features of the campground was the fitness center. Poncho and his wife are triathletes so the facility is top notch with weight machines, free weights, cycles, treadmills, elliptical, medicine balls, and lots of bands. There are three heated pool on the property – two outdoor and one indoor with and two spas. Since we were there in mid-October the outdoor pools were closed but the indoor hot tub and pool were open (albeit, super crowded on the weekend with kids). There are two laundry rooms and three bathrooms that are very modern and clean. One of the cable television stations displays security camera footage around the property which was nice because I could see how full the laundry was before carrying all my stuff there. There is a game room for kids, playground, shuffleboard, and a clubhouse. There is a stocked pond on the property but it is only for kids (17 and under) to fish in. Cable television yielded 55 channels and WiFi was available at our site with a decent signal. The campground is very well-maintained with nicely mowed grass. The grounds crew was always working but they were not annoying with constant loud machines. There is a railroad track that runs behind the park but it does not get a lot of use so the noise was not too bad. If you don’t want to be near the tracks, ask for a site away from the south side of the park. There is an off-leash dog park but it really is too small and narrow for big dogs.
The campground is very convenient to lots of shopping and restaurants and within walking distance of a McDonalds, fruit market, drug store and grocery. Downtown Ludington is only about five minutes away which has a cute downtown with shopping, galleries, and restaurants. Ludington State Park is about 15 minutes away and has miles and miles of hiking trails and beach access. There is also a city park downtown which is along Lake Michigan with beach access and lots of room for a nice walk (but dogs are not allowed). The office staff was super helpful pointed out places to hike and things to do for the weekend. Also loved that they gave us a choice of sites and let us drive around the campground (in their golf cart) and pick out the one we wanted.
We camped here in an RV and really couldn’t find anything we didn’t like about it. New customers get a 10% discount and during our stay we fell into low season and nightly rates were discounted 50%. So for $28/night we got a really nice site with lots of amenities in a great location. If you are looking for a nice RV park at a great price near a nice coastal Michigan town, give this place a try.
GuideOverall the campground has a very pleasant and rustic charm. The foliage helps create privacy but the campsites are close in proximity overall. The one warning that should be more clearly indicated is that there is poison ivy surrounding every single site so please be aware if you have pets and small children. The fact that there was so much poison ivy is the only reason I gave it four stars. Lake Michigan is a short walk away and you are able to walk to sleeping bear dunes along the beach. For those who would like convenience Glen Arbor is only five minutes down the main road and has a ton of restaurants, parks and a nice grocery store.
ScoutThe Layout of the campground is great. Perfect to bring your pets. Nice pools and close enough to the state park to go tubing or a beach day at Lake Michigan. Everything is close so you are not missing anything.
GuideGreat little campground just on the outskirts of Cadillac. Great rates especially for full hookups. This was our first time at this park, we originally had a site next to the pool, but quickly realized our TT would not fit due to the trees. The front desk quickly changed our site and we were good to go. All sites were well maintained, they had a petting zoo (goats) and a store with a little game room in it. I would definitely come back.
ScoutFirst off we couldn’t park our trailer until a boat trailer was moved from our site. Then there was glass, rusty nails, and trash all over the site so we had to do a quick clean up of site before unpacking. It only got worse as night time came as the campers next to us drank and partied all night with half the campground, every night for our entire four day stay. They even smashed into our vehicle as they wrestled and sprayed silly string on each other at 1 a.m. When we ran to town for a few items we came back to their kids playing near our camper. They seemed to personally know the care takers as they were partying with them, so nothing was done about any of it. The following day we again went to town and these people allowed their guest to park in front of our camper, next to the hitch. The beach area was un-swimmable and full of trash, cigarette butts, duck poop as well as dog poop because it was used as a dog park. There were also old clothes and shoes left all over the beach area. The bathrooms were dirty and left with no soap. The woman’s bathroom looked recently painted but the men’s bathroom was completely disgusting. The showers had old food in them and you had to pay for tokens to use them. The trails were ok, the frisbee golf area also looked good. But that’s about the only good thing about this park. We would never pay money to stay here again.
TravelerPretty standard Michigan State Park campground. Nice staff. Park maintenance is currently building a wood fence to keep folks away from steep bluff edge. Views of Lake Michigan fairly limited. If these were improved, this would be a much more popular park. I was very disappointed that their stairs to beach had been eroded near its base so you could no longer access beach but had to drive to one of two local beaches. I stayed one night and unfortunately had to camp next to a group who had a very barky, anxious large dog. Some folks need to leave their poorly trained dogs at home.
Camping options near Mesick, Michigan expand beyond the main riverfront campgrounds into the surrounding Manistee National Forest. The area sits at approximately 900 feet above sea level with pine forests dominating the terrain. During summer months, temperatures typically range from 60-80°F, with cooler spring and fall seasons that provide ideal hiking conditions without the summer crowds.
Hiking suspension bridges: Visit Peterson Bridge near Wellston, about 20 miles southwest of Mesick. "There is a hiking trail goes right from camp. In fact there is also a day use parking area. Peterson bridge is big and crosses right outside camp," notes Art S., who enjoyed the Peterson Bridge Campground.
Kayaking and canoeing: The Pine River offers a more challenging paddling experience than the Manistee. "We went across the street to rent a Canoe and float the Pine River. Great location," says Kitty B. after staying at Peterson Bridge Campground. For calmer waters, try Hodenpyle Dam Lake where Pats RV Park provides direct access.
Rope swinging: For adventurous visitors, seek out the hidden rope swing near Seaton Creek. "He told us about a rope swing across the river if you take a particular path. I've never done a rope swing before and I can't wait to do it again," shares Jonathan W. about advice from the Seaton Creek Campground host.
Spacious sites: The campsites at many Mesick area campgrounds provide ample room between neighbors. "My kids had a blast, paved roads, beaches, camp store. I think next time we will get one of the lake front sites. The view is amazing," reports Macy M. about her stay at Northern Exposure Campground.
River access: Direct access to water ranks high among camper priorities. "The drive-in sites are pretty small but nice. Drop toilets are clean. They also have one building with flush toilets," notes Shelby S. about Peterson Bridge Campground, which offers walking access to the river and easy kayak launching points.
Evening activities: Many campgrounds organize regular events to keep campers entertained. "Nice spots both on the river show and across the road. Easy water access for very little children and non-motorized boats/Kayaks, etc. Nicely equipped playground and evening activities at the Camp Store/Office on special weekends," says Anne G. about Northern Exposure Campground.
Wildlife awareness: Bear sightings occur regularly in the Mesick area. "During our stay a bear wandered through the camp," reports Bryan T. about Peterson Bridge Campground. Another camper at Peterson Bridge noted, "He informed us they had a bear with cubs in the area. We never saw them but something to keep in mind."
Cell service limitations: Most campgrounds have minimal connectivity. "With only 1 dot of cell signal, just turn it off and know you can still call out in an emergency," advises Art S. about Seaton Creek Campground. This makes these sites ideal for digital detox but requires advance planning.
Water availability varies: Many rustic sites have limited water access. At Coolwater on the Pine River Campground, campers appreciate the balance of amenities. "Very affordable with water and electricity. A few trails to walk around the property, and not far to Manistee," notes Emily P.
Camp store conveniences: When camping with kids, having supplies nearby helps. "Great place to take a camper with family. The campground offers clean facilities, general store, rentals for the lake, and camp events like movie night," explains Dalton B. about Northern Exposure Campground.
Playground access: Some campgrounds offer dedicated play areas. "Beach, boat launch, children's playground, fish cleaning station, store, pizza place, and nice hiking trails. I feel very relaxed here," shares Kammy H. about her Northern Exposure experience.
Educational opportunities: The Manistee River Trail system offers learning opportunities about local ecosystems. "The weekdays are super quiet. Definitely a vibe here for everyone," says Ben L. about Manistee River Trail Dispersed Camping, where families can explore designated hiking paths with informational signs.
Site selection matters: When booking, check site dimensions carefully. "We stayed at the north end of the campground in back which was very quiet during the weekday. I think next time we will get one of the lake front sites," suggests Macy M. about Northern Exposure Campground.
Paved sites advantage: Many RVers appreciate the concrete or paved pads available at certain campgrounds. "It's nice to have paved campsites in a national forest camp. It wasn't raining when we were here but we still appreciated the pavement," notes Art S. about Peterson Bridge Campground.
Loop road navigation: Some campgrounds feature winding roads that can challenge larger rigs. "The dirt roads leading to the sites were hard to navigate as well and made me go in circles. There is no entrance map so I had to use GPS which took me to a dead end," warns Amanda H. about her Seaton Creek Campground experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Mesick, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Mesick, MI is Northern Exposure Campground & RV Park with a 4.9-star rating from 18 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Mesick, MI?
TheDyrt.com has all 201 dog-friendly camping locations near Mesick, MI, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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