Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Pictured Rocks National Park

This is a fabulous campground! There are over 20 sites, about half of which are located lake side (not directly on the lake, but there are little paths that lead you there and you can somewhat see the water from these sites.) There is a boat launch on one end of campground and the amazing beach on the other. The water is clear and warm (perfect lake for swimming) and there is both sand and grassy areas on the fairly large beach. The beach also offers picnic tables and benches. The only negative aspect I can see about this campground is that the sites are right on top of each other, so if you have a loud group or a generator next to you, it is noisy. But most campgrounds have sites set real close together, so you will find this pretty much everywhere. Def camp here! About an hours drive from a Pictured Rocks National Park. There are no showers or running water. Camp hosts were very nice, helpful, & welcoming.

This was our first campground experience with our RV. Not being sure what to expect but we really enjoyed our stay. We had a back in site, very close to the bathhouse which was nice and clean. Cleaned daily &closed for cleaning between 9-10am. Our site was right across from Lake Superior with beautiful sunset and sunrise views. There was a dog park for dogs to enjoy. Location is in the town of Grand Marais so you are a 10 minute walk into town for stores & dining. Very quiet campground, perfect for relaxing. Long staircase leading down to the beach. We will definitely be back.

Stayed here for 4 nights early July 2020. Social distancing had some sinks and urinals turned off. Seemed super clean. 4-6 tent only spots are in pretty good shade. All sites had at least water and electricity. Swingset and covered sandbox for kids. Volleyball net. I saw dogs and cats; we brought 1 dog. 

Cell coverage (AT&T for my family, Verizon for my friends) was pretty hit or miss at 0-2 bars at any given time. I could sometimes stream audio for an hour or two. Other times, it wouldn't do anything. Wifi was available, but it wasn't any more reliable than cell service down in the tent area. Service wasn't normal until hitting either of the east-west roads at the north and south sides of the UP that run along Superior and Michigan, ~8-10 miles north or south of the campground. We like limited to no signal, but realize some count on it, so try to always include it in reviews. 

Campground was pretty busy and the internal noise levels were fine, but you could hear vehicles (possibly cars as well as ATVs) racing off grounds in the night. I'm a very deep sleeper, so this didn't bother me, but I did hear it when I was awake for my nightly jaunt to the potty. My buddy mentioned it kept him awake for a while.

Went tubing with a launch from the grounds and got picked up by staff about half to 3/4s of a mile down river. My guests paid, so not sure how much, but perfectly nice little break from the heat for an hour. 

~20-5 minutes to closest spots to hit the beach, both of which were about 10 degrees cooler than the campground.

Open, level gravel sites and some concrete pads scattered throughout this pretty new campground. A few baby trees in the open meadow are trying to get started, but other than those there is no shade. We stayed in a full hook up 50 amp site, and experienced no power issues despite 2 days of freakishly high winds and scorching heat in the 90s. This is an immaculately clean and well run campground. Wi fi is ok for email and phone scrolling social media. The only reason we didn't give 5 stars is due to construction in the campground with dump trucks and beep beep beep of machinery backing up every day. Once they are finished and the shade trees grow this will be a premier campground in a beautiful area. Pets allowed on leash. Trash receptacles convenient to each area of the campground. Bath house with coin laundry machines.

This 217-acre state park is located right on Lake Muskallonge and a short walk from Lake Superior. We chose this park because it was close enough to travel to the eastern of the 40 - mile long Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (NL), Tahquamenon Falls and the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. The plan made sense – stay at a nice place and explore a beautiful area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But, things did not work out as planned. We quickly learned that to get to any of these places you would have to travel on gravel washboard roads which can make for slow travel and long days. The other problem we had was that hiking in Pictured Rocks with our dog was not going to happen. Turns out dogs are only allowed on a couple of short trails and in developed areas like campgrounds and parking lots.   

We camped here in mid-July and the campground was packed. Campers and tents were scattered about and it was hard to distinguish some sites from others. Our site was a long pull-thru which was gravel with a large gravel patio with a picnic table and fire pit and had a partial view of the lake. It gave us a little bit of space on our patio but campers on the other side were right next to us.  Not all sites are created equal in this park. Our site was one that they recently upgraded to 50 amp and the gravel but some are just grass. We did not get cell or internet service with our Verizon phone and don’t even think about getting over the air antenna television channels – not happening. There is a WiFi hotspot at the office/camp store but we did not use it.

Next to the playground is a swim beach (where boats are excluded) that was extremely popular especially since it was so hot. A concrete boat launch with short dock is a short distance from the campground and is suitable for launching motorboats and paddle craft. Many people who launched their boats left them tied up in the campground for easy access.  

We really enjoyed the state park and found it very relaxing but it was not as close to attractions as we originally thought. There is a portion of the North Country Scenic Trail that runs through the park but that portion of it had recently washed out and was closed when we were there. The closest towns are a good 30 minutes away so make sure you bring groceries and whatever supplies you need.