Looking for the best Onekama tent camping? You can find tent campsites by type, including drive-in, walk-in, and even hike-in for a backpacking adventure. Each spot offers quick access to one or more of Onekama, Michigan's most popular destinations.
$25 / night
The campground is under township management
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
$15 / night
Timber Creek Campground The campground is located near a small impoundment, however the impoundment is not a popular site for fishing. The busiest use is the North Country National Scenic Trail trailhead located in the campground. In the winter this site is plowed and provides access to the Ward Hills Snowmobile Trail. ORV use is prohibited in the campground.
$10 / night
This camp has 6 sites and is located about 2 miles from the Trail's End Road trailhead on the Platte Plains hiking trail south of Empire just off of M-22 and is about 1/2 mile from the Lake Michigan shore where you can obtain fresh water. There is no well water at White Pine, so if you use water from Lake Michigan, it must be treated before drinking it.
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
South Manitou Group Campground is a tent-only backcountry facility on South Manitou Island in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. Campers must take a 1.5-hour Manitou Island Transit Ferry trip or boat ride to reach it, and must backpack their gear into the campground from the dock. **Booking for individual sites on South Manitou Island are made on a first come/first served basis directly through Manitou Island Transit .**This facility is comprised of three reservable group sites at Bay Campground and three others at Weather Station Campground. Each site is open to groups of nine to 20 people only. Smaller parties must plan to occupy multiple first-come, first-served individual sites at Popple, Bay or Weather Station Campgrounds on the island. Bay is the closest campground to the dock (less than a mile/1.6 km) and a short walk from the beach. Weather Station overlooks Lake Michigan from the bluffs on the south side of the island; the hike from the ferry is about 1.3 miles (2 km). If group sites are full, your group may be able to split up into multiple individual campsites. Be sure to book reservations on the Manitou Island Transit website or call (231) 256-9061 for transportation to the island. Or contact Sleeping Bear Dunes for more information at (231) 326-4700 ext 5010.Summer temperatures range from the upper 70s to 90 degrees F (25 to 32 C) during the day, and from the 50s to 70 degrees F (10 to 25 C) at night. Winters are cold, with daytime highs from 20 to 30 F (-7 to -1 C) and lows in the 10s and 20s F (-12 to -7 C). Snow is usually on the ground from late November through March.
There is no shortage of activities on South Manitou Island. Visitors can hike around the 10-mile perimeter of the island via pebble beaches, take a tour of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse during summer months, view the 1960 shipwreck of the Francisco Morazanon or go on a motorized tour to learn the history of the island. Visitors can also hike day-long excursions to unique sand dune formations and old growth cedar forests. Both campgrounds have beach access where campers can beachcomb and swim; group sites are closer to the beach at Bay Campground than at Weather Station.
South Manitou Island is part of an island chain in Lake Michigan that extends north to the Straits of Mackinac. The island consists of a ridge of tilted layers of limestone, buried under a blanket of glacial debris. It features unique sand dune formations, 10 miles of pebble beaches and a grove of old growth white cedars that date back over 500 years. The campgrounds lie on sandy soils among younger forests.
For local information, please call (231) 326-4700 or call (877) 444-6777 for general information.
$30 / night
Scout
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!
Traveler
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..
TravelerAccess 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...
Traveler
Conveniently located but proximity to the road makes it noisy. Locals drag racing on the nearby road subsided around midnight. Campsites were clean and spacious. I stayed at one of the two sites down the road by the boat launch. I stopped here after my first campground stop was full. This site will definitely get the job done but don't make this a featured stop.
Guide
After a decent ruck in, you have some immediate camped spots and can travel further for even more. Summer time is busy so get there early for a spot. Have been multiple times with bigger groups and have always found a spot for tents and hammocks. Enjoy hikes down the best for a distance view of the dunes and enjoy fires with lake views at night.
Guide
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.
Scout
Very nice park, walkway to the public beach, paved path behind the grounds. Modern, clean bathhouse. Not a lot of privacy between spots, big mature trees all through the grounds. Right by municipal airport with lots of flight activity.
Guide
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.
TravelerA small gem of a place. Park and pay to be in the National Forest...or disperse camping on Green Rd. We parked and hiked the mile and a half in to the Dunes. Take all your gear that you need if you don't want to trek back. Can not ride bike in or have anything with wheels on the trail. At the end of the Beautiful hike you come to the Dunes. Go to the right and you will see some spots to put a tent up(do not camp on Dunes or beach). To the right is easy walk and find. If you head to the left you will have to walk over some Dunes for a bit but this is where we went and found a perfect spot right where the forest and Dunes meet. Very short walk to the beach and it's AMAZING! We had it all to ourselves for hours. It's like looking at the ocean. Beautiful views, sunsets, night sky's. The water was warm and you could walk out a ways before it got deep. Great for swimming. It was perfect. One of my favorite spots away from the busy crowds. So worth the hike. Make sure you get wood and might have to hike it in. There is little to NO wood out there laying around. If you are willing to put the work in to hike out there then I promise it's worth it.
Guide
It’s a little cramped making it a bit overwhelming but the sites are nice and kept.
Traveler
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.
Guide
Camp staff very friendly and park is well maintained. Nice hiking trails nearby and a 20 minute drive to a whole lot of entertainment!
Guide
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.
Guide
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.
Traveler
Most sites have direct river access. All sites are walk-in, but not far from the parking area. There are two pit toilets for six sites and both were clean. They sites are large, but fairly open, not much between the sites.
Traveler
Elk is a great place to spend the night after a day of paddling or fishing. There are four sites with decent space between them. The pit toilet was decently clean and well away from the sites, so no smell. The only downside is that access is tricky. The landing is a steep bank with large rocks on the river bank.
Scout
David and Gail were so friendly and welcoming, especially for the inconvenience of a last minute stay on Labor Day weekend! I had questions during the booking process and messaged them- I had a response in minutes. We had a quiet spot and were able to get some uninterrupted sleep after a long afternoon at the beach.
There are several places nearby with beach access (the turquoise water of Lake Michigan is beautiful), and lakes under 5 minutes away for fishing. For rockhounding, check out the beaches near Old Mission Lighthouse. Should we find ourselves back on the road to the UP, we'll be sure stop back in. Thanks again for being so accommodating!
Traveler
Small campsites, but nice bathrooms and showers, close to Baldwin
Traveler
Went there to use dump station after camping at the local veterans retreat, nice facilities and staff. 15$ fee to use dump station
Ranger
Stayed at site 3. It was a relatively easy hike until you hit a hilly spot towards the campground. Mid July was very buggy.
Site 3 has easy access to an overlook which we made use of for photos of a storm that rolled in over North Manitou Island, our original destination. There was one vault toilet at the opposite end of the campground.
Like at Weatherstation, it was easy enough to get down to the beach for swimming and refilling our Grayls but to get back up was a bit of a challenge that grew old after a few trips.
Our last night, we stayed at the Bay campground which was nice. Fire rings are available and getting to and from the water was much easier. I'd recommend the Bay for people who want a more leisurely experience and one of the other campgrounds if you want to get some miles and get more rustic.
ScoutI 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.
Traveler
No running water.
No electricity.
No flush toilets.
No internet.
No phone signal.
Pure heaven.
Rustic campsites. 50-100 yards from the river. Great water from the pump. Nice clean vault toilet. Very quiet at night. Peaceful and beautiful. We've gone ever year for the last 5 years. Going again next year.
Highly recommend a satellite-based GPS unit like Garmin or TomTom in your car. I was serious when I said no phone signal so Google Maps ain't gonna' get you there.
ScoutThe campground is a small, family friendly campground that has a lot of activities for both adults and kids. It is clean, has level sites and well maintained facilities.
TravelerThe 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
ScoutQuiet, 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
Scout
Not a bad campground. Easy drive to Traverse City. Camp store is small and closes early, 7pm.
ScoutGreat campground. Booked two nights and had to request a third it was so perfect. We went up because it advertised orv access right from campsite. It’s really handy to not have to trailer over to the trsilheads. Quiet, bug spaces, huge bathhouse. We will be going back!
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Onekama, MI is Insta-Launch Campground & Marina with a 4-star rating from 3 reviews.
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