If you want to explore the beauty of Ottawa National Forest, glamping is an excellent option. Glamping near Ottawa National Forest is a great way to travel off the beaten path. Find the right glamping site for you with our user-submitted photos, reviews, and tips. Whether you're looking for a quiet location in the woods or a site closer to all the action, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect glamping spot.
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
Although not part of the Ottawa National Forest, this beautiful waterfalls is surrounded by the Ottawa National Forest. One of the most popular Upper Peninsula waterfalls. Managed by the U.P. Power Company, a developed trail is maintained with steps and bridges across the river at the base of the falls. This is one fall that is beautiful yearlong, and a variety of plants can be viewed throughout the summer.
The Porcupine Mountains Presque Isle Campground offers 50 rustic campsites near the scenic Presque Isle River. There are vault toilets and hand pumps for water. In addition to drive-up sites, there are also 6 walk-in sites. The campground is split into two loops. The east loop is a generator friendly side, while the west loop is generator free. There is access trails to the nearby Presque Isle River and or to the Lake Superior shoreline. Firewood is available for purchase at the campground office. At roughly 60,000 acres, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is Michigan’s largest state park. It is home to 35,000 acre old-growth forest, roaring waterfalls, miles of rivers and streams, more than 90 miles of hiking trails, the Lake Superior shoreline and vistas unrivaled anywhere in the Midwest.
$4 - $20 / night
Sylvania (Clark Lake) Campground is located seven miles southwest of Watersmeet, Michigan, adjacent to the 18,327 acre Sylvania Wilderness Area. This 48-site campground provides a home base for visitors who venture into the wilderness on day outings. Also a great camping area in general or overnight camping just 5 minutes off Highway U.S. 2. Some electrical sites available, pressurized toilet facilities and an RV Dump and Water Station. Some sites are reservable but there are always sites available on a first come first serve basis as well!
Sylvania's abundant lakes provide plentiful non-motorized boating, canoeing, kayaking and fishing opportunities. Other popular activities include hiking and viewing wildlife.
The old-growth forests and pristine lakes in the region provide habitat for a wide range of animal and plant life, including rare orchids, bald eagles, loons and osprey. The wilderness contains 34 named lakes, some with sandy beaches and others surrounded by record-size red and white pines. The Ottawa National Forest is comprised of nearly one million acres and is located in the western reaches of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The forest's rolling, forest covered hills extend from the south shore of Lake Superior to the Wisconsin border. Lakes, rivers and waterfalls are found throughout this beautiful landscape.
Bond Falls located about 20 minutes North East. Porcupine Mountains located about 1 hour North West. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore located about 2 hours North East. Keweenaw Peninsula is located about 1.5 hours North.
$18 / night
Backcountry sites: An unlimited number of permits can be issued but only 63 spots have a metal fire ring. Fires are restricted to metal fire rings. Cost $14- for 1-6 people. Maximum number per site is 6.
$28 - $40 / night
Camping at River Road RV Park & Campground, Ontonagon, MI near the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Located by the Ontonagon River and Marina with easy access to Lake Superior, and just 1 mile from downtown Ontonagon.
River Road RV Park and Campground offers 30 full hookups with pull through sites for larger RV's and shady tent sites to accommodate all campers. Year Round Camping.
Free Wi-Fi
Pets Welcome.
Coin-Operated Laundry.
The Service Building has a laundry, flush toilets, and a new and modern shower facility that is handicapped accessible and features hot showers and a heated floor for those cool days.
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
Traveler
The Michigan Recreation Passport Solar does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas.
Guide
Great location, and has the basics for the camping. I was in site 44, and most of the sites in the "middle" were more of an open field with a couple of trees. There were no real clear boundary lines . If you are looking for a little more shade or tree cover, book a perimeter site. This is also the first campsite I've been to where the fire pit didn't have a grill grate on part of it. There is water on site, but it is the hand pump style, so it would help to have a large open container to capture the water.
Cell service was really spot (can be a good thing when camping), and I wasn't able to pick up a lot of radio stations either. Still nice to enjoy the quite dark skies. Short walk down stairs to Lake Superior which offered some great sunset views.
Lots of great hiking trails, and close to a lot of other fun attractions. I would plan on coming back up here another time, and possible pick a different site after being here.
Guide
We stayed for 3 nights. Lovely old and second growth trees. Bear and Wolf precautions, please. Hiking was good, fishing was good.
Guide
We stayed here the 2nd week of October. They were actually turning the water off for the year when we left. We had the park mostly to ourselves. They water access is nice and it is right off a main highway, although it was not too noisy. There are some state park hiking trails access from campground, also. Facilities were pretty standard state park fair. Sites seem to have plenty of room.
Traveler
We come up every year for the meteor shower, and every stay is a great one. New shower rooms, and huge dog park are awesome!
Traveler
Came to this campground for 3 days to hang out at the fireman’s picnic in arborvitae. The campground is old as dirt, had a nice lake for swimming and fishing but that’s it. Tiny game room with Pac-Man . 2 wash machines and couple dryers. The sites are very small. Electricity has no breakers to shut the juice off before hook up which is very dangerous . Water is good pressure. All in all the campground works if you don’t want to do anything and just sleep.
Traveler
Lake Cunard campground was designated a "Quiet" campground several years ago - one of only two in the 18 different Northern Highlands American Legion state forest campgrounds. That means no "noise producing devices", including generators, radios, TV's, video games, guitars, etc. No means none. Prohibited. It's good to know this before booking a reservation!
Also note that the posted rules for ALL campgrounds read, "At no time may a person engage in.. boisterous, unreasonably loud..or conduct that tends to cause a disturbance" - defined as " interfering with another person's enjoyment of the forest".
This transition in 2019 was perhaps difficult for long time visitors at Cunard to adjust to. However, the quieter experience there has become a favorite of many who appreciate the peaceful atmosphere. 👍 It is an older, more rustic property - and could use some updates (ie new toilets), but if you're looking for that serene Northwoods experience - Go!!
Traveler
Beautiful spots, friendly staff, clean toilet and trash canat each site. Will definitely return.
Traveler
I have been camping at Crystal Lake every year for 20+ years. It is by far our favorite in the area. The showers and toilets are clean. The pit toilets can get pretty ripe by the end of the season, but if people would learn to keep the lids closed, it wouldn’t be so bad. The bike trails are endless! What fun. The water and beach is clean. The staff is friendly and helpful. I cannot say enough good things about this area and the campsites. Worth the trip for sure.
Legend
Twin Lakes MI SP: (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer) Overall Rating: 2-3 (A very clean campground, but old facilities, currently. A huge facelift in 2024 is being touted. New paving, new bath/shower rooms,and pavilion are coming. Shutdown during some of 2024 is anticipated. ) Price 2023: Usage during visit: 30% mid week Site Privacy: Poor Site Spacing: Poor Site surface: Blacktop Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Seems quiet Road Noise: Right along Hwy 26. Some sites back up to the Hwy. Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: Yes Generators: Not needed Bathroom: Flush and pit Showers: Yes Pull Throughs: Some. Most are back in. Cell Service (AT&T): Very good Setting: Some tree cover in between the highway and Lake Roland Weather: High is I low 80s Host: Real nice young and helpful men manning entry booth Rig size: Large rigs Sites: Lakeside sites are the premium here and the only sites that would seduce me to visit. Good stop over place while
Traveler
About 5 miles in on a dirt road, but the sites are pretty nice and secluded.
Guide2 day stay in mid august was absolutely lovely (bring bug spray). -> gorgeous hikes nearby (hiking around Clark lake is an 8-10 mile trek that’s gorgeous the whole way -> bathrooms kept clean -> nice and quiet -> beautiful views of the forest from every campground (not just staring at other campers), very private.
GuideStayed on a Wednesday and there was space available but booked solid for weekends. Filled up by 4 pm. Spots are small, side-by-side and no privacy, but they have several spots to watch spectacular sunsets. That was worth the stay.
GuideBeautiful sites, some very private and right on the lake. Boat launch nearby. Sites are spacious and privacy depends in the site. Some are isolated, others are mean to camp with friends. All have fire pit and table. First come, first served. We got there on a Thursday and lots of sites, but was full by the weekend. You have to drive around and pick an open site and caretaker comes around about 11am to check you in. Pit toilets, some ADA accessible.
GuideSecond time staying here and it was great. I didn’t get a lakeside spot like the previous stay but it was still great. Clean facilités. Wood and ice available onsite. Beach, boat ramp, dump station, and a great view.
RangerThis is a small campground, with sites that are somewhat close together. However, there’s a great view of Lake Superior, and the sunset from our site was wonderful. (Site 7) Nice and quiet too. We’d return if we’re in the area again.
Legend
This is a beautiful campground right next to the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park in the U P of Michigan. After reading the reviews of the Union Bay Campground in the park, I'm glad I could get a reservation here!
This is a well established campground. There's 50 sites with water & electricity, but no sewer. There is a dump station.
Some sites have more room than others. We had site 16, which was roomy. Site 20 is also roomy & shady.
The best sites over look the Union River. Sites 27/28 are nice & site 29 is outstanding. There are a few pull throughs.
Any of the perimeter sites would be good. These have a woods view in the back.
Avoid sites 24A/45&46. these sites are very near the dump station, with 45 right by it. There's a tall fence separating you from it.
The bathrooms are beautiful! Clean with hot showers. Decorated nicely, with music also. There's a community fire pit on the front lawn with swings & chairs. A nice view of Lake Superior. The sunsets are outstanding. There's a free beach across the street. You need to take the stairs down to it. Don't try climbing down the rocks!
I didn't have much luck looking for Yooper Stones.
The gift shop is small, but has some nice things.
Out of the 3 campgrounds we stayed at this trip, this was our favorite!
Guide
Nice big camp ground with boat ramp. Nice big site we had. 90% ish are full-time camp sites nice out door pool. Some of the full-time campers are not so nice.
ScoutLove this campground had water site beautiful lake quiet was by road but not lot traffic bathrooms nice site were good staff was great camp host was very nice friendly Great beach lot mosquitoes but your in woods,will come back we loved it
TravelerSpent the 4th of July here on site #5. Grounds are very clean and well maintained. Sites 7,8,9,10 have the best water views.
Scout07/02 We pulled up to the office with our RV and a trailer attached with a sxs on. The girl was nice gave me a map with directions to our campsite and sent us on our way. At our campsite we disconnected the trailer took off the sxs and set up camp. We then decided to take a ride because we had forgotten a few things and we were meeting up with my son for the 4th so we thought we would look for trails. We stopped at the office to see if they had trail maps, when I walked in the girl (Chelsey) slammed the window shut and told me she hated those things. I asked if she had a trail map and all she said was "we have no trails around here." Chelsey needs to take a class in customer service she was very rude. As we left we saw several other sxs going down the road so we knew there were tails. We stopped at the Gogebic Lodge and saw they were serving a lobster boil so we decided to go back to get money from the camper as we pulled in there was the camp ranger waiting for us and signaled for us to pull over. He then told us that sxs were not permitted in State parks. I told him we go camping in our local state park all the time and they are all over the campground. His name was Eli and took the time to talk to us and explain and did a great job but that meant we had no means of transportation at all. I also asked why when we registered or stopped for a trail map were we not told of that rule, he couldn't answer that but agreed we should have been told. He also stated it was on the website. Well it is on the state website we booked on the Gogebic State park website. I feel if state parks are going to have different rules it should be stated on the website you book your stay. He also said we could park our sxs out by the road and walk to use it but we are both handicapped and we couldn't walk that far. We felt like prisoners at our campsite we couldn't go and get wood for a fire or the extra supplies at the store down the road. Finally on the morning of the 4th i decided I could maybe walk to the office and carry 1 bundle of wood so we could have a fire on the 4th. Our original plan was to meet my son and his family and go to all the different 4th events in the area but we could no longer do that. When I got to the office the girl there took my money and told me where to grab the wood, she then asked if I was walking and I explained the situation, and she said oh your the one. But offered to drive the bundle of wood to our site which I thought was very kind. When I got back to our site we decided to call and see if she could bring a couple more bundles. I called she asked if I could hold, she put the phone down and I could hear her switching sites for someone then she asked if they needed wood or ice and they took wood and she told them it was last of the wood. So when she came back to me she said they were out of wood and I told her I had already paid for my wood and that last bundle should have been mine. I was told to try the store up the road, and that she would be dropping off my money to me. The store up the road even if she knew I couldn't. My experience at this campground was very disappointing. I felt the they did not communicate with us and when they tried to they were rude. I will never camp here again in fact I will think twice about camping at any state park again.
GuideThis is a great campground. The best sites are lake sites (obviously), but there are some better than others. Look along the east side of the lake for a sandy beach off of your site. Those on the south side don't have a sandy shore, but still have a sandy bottom.
Roughly 1.5mi trail around the lake and you can walk from the campground to Fallison Lake to do a hike there.
Great to camp anytime of year. Though there aren't really electric sites, having showers and flush toilets is a huge plus.
We have Verizon service and it is spotty in areas, though given that you can see a cell tower towards Sayner it should be a lot better than it is. I think it is the heavy tree cover that impacts the reception. Even when we had 3 bars, it wasn't much better than the 1 bar at our site.
GuideI stayed one night at the end of May and it was stunning (from inside my van). Unfortunately, the mosquitoes came in clouds but that’s expected. Was able to make it in my van and would be back a different, less ferocious time of the year. Just stunning.
Guide
This is a perfect small sized campground with trail access to UTV /Atv trails. If you are coming here to ride I would recommend going west on the trail. North a lot of the trails were closed. The coin operated atv wash is $1 for a minute. Bathrooms were extremely clean and well kept. Sites have electric no water hookups at the site . Fill of station is across from site 1.
LegendThis is a great campground in a group of the campgrounds in the area. Lots of water sites so I would highly suggesting getting one so the you can paddle right from the shoreline. Good fishing as well. No the rules when you come onto the lake as motors are not allowed which is why I chose it as it made paddling much easier. Lots of sites on the water and have some privacy. Really a nice campground in the busy area.
LegendWe would return here again and again. On the Presque Isle River, numerous hiking opportunities by the water, in the woods with mega views. Campground was quiet and in the woods, the perfect retreat for those looking to relax and get back in touch with nature. Truly extra ordinary, quieter than Union Bay, close to Lake of the Clouds. Recommended!
Legend
Decided on a last minute get away here and it was perfect. Super quiet and the views were great for the weekend. Yes there are flies and yes there are mosquitos, but get on the water and it is not so bad. I was able to grab a site near the water so I could get in and out with the kayak, but also the location lended itself to other lakes to fish nearby as well. Sites are fairly private because of the lower vegetation so you don't feel as though you are right on top of your neighbors. The sites in the back are super private and easy to get away from noise of other people, but they do have more flies bc it is less breezy. I did go down to the swimming beach and watch some turtles laying eggs. I will certainly come back again. I love this area!
If you get the chance to get a walk in site...do it. They are very much in a perfect location!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Ottawa National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Ottawa National Forest is Lake Gogebic State Park Campground with a 3.9-star rating from 25 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Ottawa National Forest?
TheDyrt.com has all 31 glamping camping locations near Ottawa National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
