Cabin Camping near Petoskey, MI

Cabin Reviews near Petoskey, MI

517 Reviews of 37 Petoskey Campgrounds

• 

  Nancy W.

  Legend

  Jul. 1, 2017

  Camp Petosega

  Great Find!

  This park is operated by Emmet County and offers a very remote feel yet it is only 15-20 minutes from Petoskey, Michigan. Camp Pet-O-Se-Ga sits on the 1,080 acre Pickerel Lake and has 90 campsites which offer electricity and water and five of which are pull-through sites with sewer hook-up. There are also rental cabins, playgrounds, a recreation hall and pavilion, a canoe/kayak launch, basketball court, hiking trails, beach area, restrooms/shower house, and it has various events like pancake breakfasts throughout the year.

  You really get a feel of remote peacefulness here but have the luxury of pretty modern facilities. As we drove to the park we got the feel that we were in the middle of nowhere but realized from downtown Petoskey it was only a 15-20 minute drive. The 300-acre park dates back to the 1930’s and started as a boys camp where young men learned various skills like archery, shooting, tennis, orienteering, camping, and aviation. Emmet County purchased the property in 1992 and added modern facilities and opened it to the public.

  The grounds and sites were very well maintained. We were thoroughly impressed with how clean and cared for everything was. Despite having lots of green space and open fields for lawn games it was all mowed and not overgrown. There was no trash at the sites and fire pits were clean and picnic tables were in great shape. The roads throughout the park are paved.  Sites were a mix of gravel and paved but all ADA accessible sites and pull through sites were paved. The restrooms were very clean and seemed large enough to handle the volume of campers. Showers are in individual rooms across from the restrooms and were also clean.

  You can reserve a site by filling out a reservation request online or calling. There is a two night minimum. The price was $22/night for Emmet County residents, $25/night for non-county residents, and $30/night for a full hook-up pull-thru. There is also a $10 reservation fee. Sites vary among 30 and 50 amp so be sure you reserve one that fits your needs. There are also some sections that are RV only. 

  The canoe/boat launch has a floating dock that extends into the lake that makes for easy access. Fishing is popular in the lake with game species like largemouth bass, walleye, pike and trout being favorite target species. 

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqbMWvL2GLw

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• 

  Nancy W.

  Legend

  Jun. 24, 2017

  Magnus Park Campground

  Great Location to Downtown and Lake Michigan

  This 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.

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• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  Nov. 3, 2022

  Magnus Park Campground

  Convenient to Petoskey

  General: Nestled in between Lake Michigan, a waste-water treatment plant and a hospital is Magnus Park, a public city park and campground. 77 sites, 36 with full hookups, and the remainder with electric hookups. There is also one cabin. 

  Site Quality/Facilities: The campground is laid out in typical RV park fashion with zero privacy between sites. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. Although some of the sites have somewhat of a gravel or dirt driveway, mostly it seems like areas where the grass has just worn away. IMO, if you are not able to get Sites 3-16 or Sites A-C which face Lake Michigan, then the best sites would be the ones that back up to the trees. When we reserved many months ago, we were lucky to get one of two available sites, and ours did back up to the trees. Be aware that sites 61-68 back up directly to the hospital. Other than it being imposing and detracting from the feeling of camping, the only thing I found objectionable was more frequent loud sirens of ambulances arriving. On the other end of the campground, there are nine lettered sites (A-I) that are larger but are on a grassy area with no driveways or defined separation. These sites (as well as 18,19, 20, 22) are close to the wastewater treatment plant. When I walked by, I did not notice any offending odor, but other reviewers have said they did. I did, however, hear a humming noise emanating from the plant. By luck of the draw, the site NEXT to ours (51) flooded significantly with heavy rains overnight. Ours did not puddle up too badly.

  Bathhouse: Was generally clean considering it is part of a public-use city park. Rarely did I see anyone in there as most of the campers were in RVs and on our second day, it rained so no one was at the beach. The showers were warm with somewhat wimpy but adequate water pressure. They were on the small side, however, and are only available to campers with a code to access (although there was one shower in the restroom that could be used by all). 

  Activities/Amenities: There is a centrally located playground. Easy access to the bike trail, however, it was closed just south of the campground due to erosion (north is not a problem and a short walk into the town of Petoskey). WiFi is available and you are given the access code upon check-in, although I did not use it so cannot comment on how reliable it was. 

  Our first thought upon arrival was “yikes, why in the world did we decide to stay here?!” but the proximity to the town of Petoskey (less than a mile walk), and views of Lake Michigan outweigh some of the negatives.

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• 

  Allison H.

  Guide

  Mar. 1, 2021

  Leelanau State Park Campground

  beautiful, small rustic campground.

  This is a smaller wooded campground at the very northern tip of Leelanau Peninsula.  It is rustic, with no electricity or modern bathrooms (pit toilet). Most of the sites are wooded and some are a little smaller. Perfect for tent camping and smaller popups.  Since it's at the end of the land mass, the waves are stronger and always in the back ground.  It's a wonderful way to fall asleep!  There is a lighthouse you can tour and a small maritime museum on the property.  The beach is a fair size but all rocks (no sand).  There are a couple small cabins with bunks, electricity and grills.

• M

  Melissa A.

  Guide

  Jun. 25, 2018

  Straits State Park Campground

  family tent camping

  We reserved site 83A for our family of 5. we were in close proximity to the newly constructed bathhouse complete with dish washing stations. it was a full campground on the Friday night that we were there. We waited a short time for our morning showers (5+1 handIcap). The showers were private, deadbolt locking individual showers with hot water. they automatically go off every five minutes and you press a button to get another 5 minutes. there were no cooking grates on the campfire rings but there is a lakeside community-use grill. They sold firewood at the entrance of the park. The Park is within minutes of the St. Ignace ferries to Mackinac Island. There is a Family Dollar store at the entrance of the park. This campsite had views of Lakes Huron, Michigan and the Mackinac Bridge. If you are traveling across the bridge, there is a $4 toll per 2-axle vehicle.

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• 

  Samantha S.

  Traveler

  Aug. 28, 2022

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Sweet Little Getaway

  We got back from our 5 year anniversary trip, and this time we stayed at Clear Lake State Park!

  It was a beautiful campground. It’s was busy but not too busy, if you know what I mean? There’s electricity, full bathrooms with showers, private beach access, and they had wood and ice for sale. There were definitely a lot of kids around, and it appeared like there was a lot of group camping (which this campground’s layout was perfect for)!

  We stayed on site 271 in the Lower Campground. The site itself was a good size, big enough for our tent, canopy, our Ford Escape, plus the provided picnic table and fire ring. There were significantly more RV’s and trailers than there was tent campers, but that’s not that’s not a huge deal. It wasn’t really buggy, which is always an added bonus while camping. We were very close to the beach, which was so amazing and convenient. At night, it was so dark and so clear that you could faintly see the Milky Way!!

  The beach was beautiful too. It wasn’t busy until closer to noonish, but that makes sense. The water we was clear, and really there wasn’t a lot of debris. The lake allows for paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and swimming. It also allows for motorized boats, though in my opinion the lake isn’t big enough for that (besides a motorized fishing boat)…

  Our neighbors weren’t crazy loud, the general environment was peaceful, and overall it was a super relaxing trip! We would definitely go back again!

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• J

  Julia H.

  Ranger

  Jul. 13, 2024

  Mackinaw City / Mackinac Island KOA

  Great park near Mackinac Island ferries

  Our 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.

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• 

  Nancy W.

  Legend

  Jul. 1, 2017

  Young State Park Campground

  Young State Park.

  Here’s what we really liked about this park … it sits on beautiful Lake Charlevoix, is just a few miles away from the super cute town of Boyne City, some campsites with access to water right out of their back door, and the park has lots of beach to enjoy. Young State Park has a typical rustic campground feel. The park covers 560 acres which encompasses a campground, hiking trails, a large beach area with concessions, boat launch (located in the Terrace Campground loop), picnic area, playground, baseball diamond, basketball courts, and fishing pier. 

  Reservations can be made on-line via the Michigan DNR site. The advantage of making reservations online is that you get a really good description of the site which includes length, width, hook-ups, amount of shade, length of site, distance to restrooms, and best of all - pictures.  We visited Young State Park in the summer but in talking to locals this place is wonderful in the winter and great for cross-country skiing with trails that wind through wooded areas. The price ranges from $20 to $33 per night depending on the season and electric hook-ups.  

  There are three camping loops – Terrace, Spruce, and Oak.  Campsites in the Spruce loop don’t have a designated “pad” so you can arrange your RV or tent any way you like. This was the case with groups of friends who had two or three sites and arranged them so they faced each other with a common area in the center. The Terrace and Oak loops have less sites and seem a little quieter. The other plus of these loops is the easy access to water (some of which have great water views). All campsites are a mix of 20/30/50 amp or 20/30 amp with water spigots scattered throughout the loop. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit (firewood is for sale in the campground on the honor system with the nice thing being that you have access any time of day to purchase it).

  The pros about this park are the easy access to Lake Charlevoix and being just a few miles from Boyne City (which has a great weekly farmers market, delicious food and beer at 7 Monks Tap Room, and a weekly Friday “Stroll the Streets” with live music). The park has a large beach area with a camp store/concession stand that has food and items for rent. It is really convenient that you can rent beach chairs/umbrellas/watercraft instead of having to bring them. Behind the concession stand is a fishing pier that was really popular with the kids. 

  The cons are that the roads in the campground are pretty narrow and when someone was backing into their site it caused a traffic jam.  Sites are close together and the park has a very crowded feel. The bath/showers are not large enough for the amount of campers in the park and despite being cleaned daily they got lots of use and were always busy and by the end of the day, they were pretty dirty.  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NzcOOzCSk

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• 

  Nancy W.

  Legend

  Sep. 27, 2017

  Wild Cherry RV Resort

  Nice Park, Lots to Do Nearby

  We visited Wild Cherry RV Resort on the recommendation of some friends and found the park to be nicely maintained, sites were well-spaced, and we LOVED the area. Our site was a pull-in that faced a large pond on a corner that overlooked a four-acre lake. We never had a neighbor on the site next to us during our stay and since we were on a large corner there was nobody on that side either so we never felt crowded. The park was very quiet and since our site was in the back of the park there was not much traffic.

  The park is called a “resort” which is a little misleading because there are very few amenities. There is no swimming pool, no tennis courts, no shuffleboard, no fitness center, no playground, in fact there were not even bathrooms/showers (except for porta john and tent shower in the rustic camping section).  There was a small club house and a driving range but that was pretty much it. You do get a free newspaper delivered to your site daily. It turned out that we didn’t care about the lack of amenities since we were so busy exploring and we don’t often use all the amenities that private parks offer anyway.  The park is a mix of seasonal and transient people. Most of the seasonal people went to work during the day which made the park even quieter. And while they do have a lot of seasonal campers none of the sites were junked up. Sites are gravel with paved patios with the average lot being 45x70 (according to their brochure). There are nice grassy areas between sites that is very well-maintained. All sites have picnic tables but not all have fire pits (if you have your own you are allowed to use it). 

  The roads are very wide and there are not too many trees so maneuvering big-rigs is not a problem. The water, sewer, and electric were all placed appropriately in the site so no extended hoses were needed. There was no cable but sites are very open allowing for good satellite reception and we were able to get over a dozen antenna channels. Sites are either pull-in (which we had) or back-in. There are no pull-thrus. Set back in a wooded area are a scattering of rustic tent sites, rental cabins and yurts with potable water, grills, fire pits, and picnic tables. These sites are so tucked in a wooded area that I never noticed them until the last day I was in the park.

  There is a lot of activities within a short drive of this park and we wished we would have stayed longer. The park is in a perfect location to explore the towns of Leland (and Fishtown), Lake Leelanau, Northport, and Sutton’s Bay. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the town of Glen Arbor are a 20 minute drive and Traverse City is about 45 minutes. All these towns are quaint coastal towns with shopping, galleries, good restaurants. The park is on the Leelanau Peninsula which is one of Michigan’s most well-known and revered wine region and there are three wineries within a couple of miles (one is just across the street from the entrance). That being said, there are nearly some 20 wineries within 15 – 20 minutes of the park. There are a few state parks and county preserves nearby that have hiking, scenic views of Lake Michigan and picturesque lighthouses.

  All-in-all we really liked this park and would definitely come back. We took advantage of their “Big-Rig Special” which gave a 25% discount if you booked 4 nights. Otherwise, the price per night was $69 which we found to be expensive for what you get. The biggest dings we give this park are for the high nightly price and the lack of amenities that should come in a “resort” with that high a price. This area is one of our favorites in Michigan and we easily could have spent a couple of weeks here enjoying the area.

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