Whether you're an RVer or tent camper, Onaway, MI is a great place to post up for the weekend—or longer. There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. At The Dyrt, campers like you share their favorite spots, plus tips and photos. No matter where you're headed in Onaway, you'll find the best spot for you and your camping crew.
"Onaway SP is a quiet little park with electric pedestal at each sight. Sanitation/dump station has water to fill your fresh water tank for your visit."
"Onaway is a great state park! Beautiful setting, clean and well kept by friendly staff. Book in advance in the summer to score a lake front spot. You won't regret it!"
"My family has been coming to Cheboygan/Onaway
MI for as long as I can remember. This campsite is always clean, comfortable and fun."
"I stayed at the lower which has campsites right next to Black Lake. The sites were great and the grounds had all amenities."
$25 - $147 / night
"This is a beautiful state park with the best of pure Michigan woods and Lake Huron sandy dunes and beaches ."
"Electrical box did have both 30 and 60 amp service. Our site was gravel and pretty much level. Large cemented fire ring and site was spaced great (especially for a SP)."
$30 - $34 / night
"There’s 3 different sections, the first 2 being older with mostly “no camping pad” electric sites, and the 3rd is newer with gravel full hookup sites. The lake is easily accessible and wonderful."
"Fully stocked camp store with pizza and ice cream. Fishing off the inlet and Jetties were good.
Not all sites have full hookups"
"Large, level electric sites. Very large campground in general. Since we were there in September and mid week, it was quiet. Bath house clean, but a bit outdated. Nice beach and swimming area."
"Staff was helpful, neighbors were friendly, bathrooms were clean, and it's right on the lake! Very pet-friendly, very busy. Reserve in advance."
"Butting up to Tomahawk Lake and surrounded by the Atlanta State Forest Area, you are close to Oqueoc Falls, hiking trails, and other natural wonders northern Michigan has to offer."
"Only maybe 12 sites and about half with waterfront access to the little lake. Lake tomahawk is attached to the first unit."
"We recently camped at Twin Lakes June 23-25th. The sites were a decent size and the Campground only had one other group."
"This is a typical Michigan State Park. The facilities are well maintained and clean. On a nice lake with a good swim area."
$27 / night
"All of them are great, vault toilet and hand pump for water, drive up (although the road in can be a little rough). "
"The nice thing about Michigan State Parks is that you can make a reservation, which is nice reassurance if you’re traveling on a busy summer weekend."
$15 - $20 / night
"You can’t beat $15 a night, each rustic site is fairly secluded with privacy, and you’re right by Michigan’s only area to view free roaming wild elk!"
"This campground is right on the north central bike path and I came to this here for that easy access."
RangerOur site was $99.89 night.
We were in Site# 98. We had Full hook- up with a gravel pull-through.
We travel towing a 14 foot trailer and were able to fit both in our pull through site along with my jeep. The site was easy to level.
Our site was not shaded with limited trees (many were shaded though). This was a smaller lot with our neighbors fairly close.
This lot (a premium lot) comes with a concrete patio with a round table with four chairs, two Adirondack chairs and a fire pit and a charcoal box grill.
It is an easy access to the campground from highway -(approximately 1 mile from highway).
There is free WiFi. They offer Cable TV and there are many channels.
There is not a community outdoor kitchen or community fire pit.
They sell wood for $7 a bundle.
They pickup your garbage at your site daily.
You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. They also allow you to rent regular bicycles and e-bikes. They do not provide golf cart rentals. There is really not a need to have a Golf cart because it is a smaller campground.
They do have a Swimming pool. There is a Playground. They also offer Gaga ball,horseshoe, and corn hole. There is a Reading lending library and board games to borrow.
They have a great general store. There is an electric car charging station. They sell propane.
There is not a snack bar/restaurant on site.
The streets are gravel so not great for riding bikes.
There are great places to ride bikes outside of campground. From the campground, there is a nature trail that you can take your bike that leads you to the. North Western State Trail.
They have cabins for rent and tent areas.
They have one shower house. The shower house has individual showers. Toilets with sinks are in a shared bathroom. These are kept very clean.
There is a laundry facility. It is a cash only facility. There are approximately 5 washers and 5 dryers. It is approximately $2.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry a load.
They have a fenced in dog park.
Bugs (mosquitoes/flies)did not seem to be an issue.
There were trails to hike off of the campground.
Some fun things to do outside of the campground are go to the beach (1 mile away); visit Mackinac Island (both major ferries will transport you for free - this KOA provides you information for Shepler’s Ferry). Both ferries offer packages that include horse drawn carriage rides, Fort Mackinac admission, Island Hotel Admission, Butterfly House admission, Mystery Town admission, and Parking options). There is a Jack Pine Lumberjack show.
TravelerWe decided to splurge on a yurt for our first camping trip of the summer. Well worth it! We stayed in"Kai" one of the newest yurts. It's at the end of what we came to call"the yurt village". Complete with electricity, indoor and outdoor string lights, two deck chairs, a heater, a queen sized bed, and an electric kettle with pour over coffee supplies, it was truly a treat! The bathroom and shower building is about.1 miles each way according to my fitness tracker, but it's doable. Downside: the firepit is small(about the size of a small charcoal grill) and shallow, so it's not really suitable for cooking. Bring a propane stove or some no-cook foods, or go enjoy some of the area restaurants! The site is still a diamond in the rough with cut downed wood and sawdust scattered about, and the ground is uneven. With time, though, it will probably turn out beautifully! We were there for three weeknights and rarely even heard other campers. A quiet and peaceful retreat.
ScoutI just saw a review from another camper who experienced the same as me; generators everywhere, no peace and quiet, no rangers to tell people to turn down their music, no one to police the crazy orv drivers who treated the 10 mph roads as race tracks. Do not go here if you're looking for a nice time. This campground is horrible, loud, dirty, and not managed. It’s full of drunk yahoos who use it as a cheap place to stay in northern Michigan.
GuideThis campground is located just out of town in Mackinaw City, MI. The location of the campground is within 5 minutes of downtown Mackinaw, within 1-2 miles of a beach and about 10-15 minute drive of St. Ignace. The campground pretty small and quiet. We camped in a small back in site with water and electric hook-ups. There is one bathroom and shower facility but it looks like they are building another. The bathroom was clean and constantly maintained. The staff was friendly, and helpful. They offer trash pick up each morning and ice delivery. There is a small campground store with some basic essentials. There is some construction going on, but we haven’t heard any equipment and the area is fenced off with a privacy fence so we haven’t seen the construction either. Overall this campground is very nice.
ScoutMake reservations early! This is a beautiful state park with the best of pure Michigan woods and Lake Huron sandy dunes and beaches . Very family and pet friendly but also quiet and peaceful for couples who just wanna get away . Only drawback is low signal cell service but hey getting off the grid is what’s its all about. Unplug and recharge yourself. Electric hook up availability 20/30 amp . Hiking and biking paths , a cute play ground , sandy beach with volleyball area all walking distance from campsites! Friendly staff , we love this park !
LegendWe looked forward to our stay at this campground so close to Mackinaw City. We arrived just before 5 pm behind another camper. Walter was having difficulty handling both of our check-ins: he couldn’t find the other camper’s reservation (apparently not a one-off) and then his computer kept freezing while processing ours. The process to get both of us checked in took almost 30 minutes.
The advertised group gathering gazebo seemed to have been taken over by the office; I saw no other covered gazebo. And the fire pit was horrible! It spewed toxic smoke the entire time we were checking in (I had to keep stepping outside). As Becky’s review mentioned, there was junk surrounding the “office” and close by area.
The RV sites did not have any separation/privacy between them. We had reserved a water/electric site but in the end, chose one of the tent sites that faced the lake. We didn’t even see a number indicating what site it was– it was mostly a large grassy area.
The mosquitos were horrible (I realize this is not the fault of the campground although the grass was a bit tall).
Although I’ve seen worse, the restrooms were just passable. The floor was wet. At least there was soap and paper towels. Did not use the shower so cannot comment on that.
The best part of this campground is the view of Lake Huron. As advertised, there is a (far-off) view of the Mackinaw Bridge from the beach, but you have to look through the wall of mosquitoes.
It’s my understanding this is a city-run campground and if that is correct, we expected better. In order for me to give this more than two stars, it would have to:
• cost less ($50 was way too much money to pay for this campground),
• have a more efficient check-in system, and
• be cleaned up of all the junk lying around.
If we would not have lost all our money, we would have ditched and looked elsewhere. We didn’t even cook in our van, opting instead to eat in town. We were up and out early the next morning.
LegendThis park has some strong positives that outweigh the negatives so depending on what really annoys you about a campground determines whether you may or may not like this place. The park is run by the City of Petoskey and sits on 21 acres in downtown Petoskey overlooking Lake Michigan. Petoskey has a really cool downtown with great restaurants (we liked Beard’s Brewery, Palette Bistro, and Grand Traverse Pie Company), shopping, a free art center (Crooked Tree), parks, and a pretty marina with a scenic breakwater lighthouse. If you have never been to this part of Michigan, you should definitely come for a visit.
The campground is very popular because of the price and location with about 1/3 of the park occupied by seasonal or monthly rentals of people that have been coming for many years. There are 71 sites which can be used for RVs or tents. Roads are paved and sites are grass/sand. There are fire pits and picnic tables at each site and a nice large grassy area in the front of the park near Lake Michigan with multiple picnic tables in a common space.
There are many positive attributes of this park. The location of this park could not be better and the price of $30/night (water, sewer, 30 amp electric; $28 for electric and water only) is a great deal. (Especially because other private campgrounds in the area are easily $60+/night in the summer season.) They have free wifi that worked well and we were able to get over-the-air antenna television channels. You are really in a prime location with Lake Michigan in front of you. Many of the sites in this park have a great view of the lake (especially sites 1-16). Running through the park is the Little Traverse Wheelway which is a paved bike path spanning from the cute towns of Charlevoix to Harbor Springs. (If you don’t have a bike with you there are plenty of rental places nearby.)
Now for the negatives. The bathroom/shower houses are old and tired but were clean. The park sits between a hospital and water treatment plant, one of which can be smelly on warm days the other of which has a very loud HVAC system generating lots of noise. The park is located close to the busy road M-31 so there is a bit of road noise. The sites are very close together so there is not much privacy. The park is open to day-use and has a heavily used bike path running right through it so there are lots of people coming and going.
LegendIf you've camped at a KOA before, then you know what you're getting here. Easy on, easy off I-75. It's close to the interstate, but the noise was never intrusive. Mostly because of the stiff wind blowing out of the North.
The sites are tight, particularly the inside pull throughs. The back in sites are more spacious, though that's relative. Site 7 is a very spacious back in site. 1-6 are by Trails End Road, but it isn't really that busy or noisy. I would get a back in site, especially if you can get away with 30 Amp service. 16-20F are back in sites with 50 Amp. There are some deluxe pull throughs with patio & grill on site. There are some extra long pull through sites.
There are the usual KOA amenities like a heated pool, playground, a game area & bike rental. There's a nice hiking trail in the back. It takes you to the bike trail, so back track back to the campground unless you want to walk on the bike trail/road.
What makes KOAs & this KOA special are the clean bathrooms & showers. It's always a pleasure to know that a shower will be KOA clean!
Staff was courteous & efficient. They delivered ice & wood to your site.
This is a good base camp for the area. I would stay again if in Mackinaw City!
LegendHuge campground in a wonderful location. They have everything here- huge playground, pool, beach, great store, lots to do. The view of the lake from our site was spectacular. There is a beautiful grassy and rocky shoreline that is lined with fire pits for viewing the sunset and bridge lights in the evening. Very cool and communal in a good way. You buy your ferry tickets to Mackinaw Island at the camp store and it's 10 minutes to get there with boats leaving every 30 minutes. The island is amazing and worth a day of your life to ride around it on a bike and get some good food and fudge.
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