Best Tent Camping near Pictured Rocks National Park

It just so happened we were there on the very last night they were open for the season. And yet they still had over half the sure booked! It's a small campground, but very near the lake, and the coolest part is the old blast furnace (hence the name of the camp on the bay) on display. Mother Nature took it over, but you can feel the history!

A few spaces are actually on the water front with beach access, but one is taken by the camp host, the other two are reservable.... And they were reserved. But there were others, all within an easy walk of the sand. Ours was tucked in the woods, others more exposed, all with fire pits and grills and picnic tables. Even a hanging post of some sort. Drinking water was also a perk.

There is no electric and there are no showers, but vault toilets are centrally located. There is an adjacent park with more tables and grills. Even though there were a lot of RVs, we heard no generators the night we were there.

This is a forest service campground in the Hiawatha Forest. Sites are $20 each as of 2019.

Hurricane River Campground is a rustic campground located along the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. The campground is accessible from Au Sable Point Trial Rd, or by Hiking along the North Country Trail. Campsites here are first come first serve. This campground has a Upper and a Lower sections of campsites. The lower section has 11 sites and is close to the shores of Lake Superior. The Upper section has 10 campsites. Some Sites will fit trailers but some are tent only. There are a couple sites for handicap visitors. Handicap sites become available each day to the rest of the public after 6 p.m. if not occupied, they do ask that you leave the next day at your earliest convinces rather than the 12 p.m. normal check out time, so if a Handicap person does come looking for a site the next day early it is available for them to use. This Campground is Rustic and offers vault toilets, drinking water, and trash/recycling bins. And I did see 1 bear box for food storage. Each site has a fire pit, picnic table, and a lantern pole. Each site was separated from the next site by trees, so your sites were so what private.

Each section of the campground has a Kiosk that has a drop box for payment of your site, and information on weather and actives that are in the area, along with the campground rules. There are lot's of things do keep you busy around this campground. You are located along the Pictured Rocks NLS. You can take a 1.5 mile hike along the shores of Lake Superior to the Au Sable Light House stopping to see old ship wreck remains. There are lot's of hiking trails around including the North Country Trail that begins in New York and ends in North Dakota. You could also just spend the day hanging out on the beach, and checking out the small waterfalls along the Hurricane River. The beach and river mouth is located a short walk from the Lower section of the campground, if you are staying at the Upper it is a 0.2 mile hike through the woods to the beach.

If you are planning on staying at this campground I would recommend that you arrive early to get a site especially in the summer months. Be aware of other close campgrounds as back up in case the campground is full. Little Beaver Lake Campground and Twelvemile Beach Campground are a couple that are close by.

• Crystal clear lake superior is accessible by stairs near this campsite. Beautiful rocks to explore. When we went, the stairs were damaged and not open, though we were able to use them anyway. 
• Potable well water is available along the hike in to the site, about .5 miles from the Hemlock campsite. We didn't expect this, and could have left our water filtration set up at home. 
• Free firewood is provided right near the entrance to the campsite. We had no idea about this, and it was a great surprise. 
• Fire ring and benches were at the site.
• There was a bear box and pit toilet provided for this site, too.
• The hike in is flat with some nice views of Lake Superior along the way. 
• We didn't have too many problems with flies or mosquitos this year. It's been a very dry year, though.

I loved this campground. I wish we were on the lake side for the spectacular views, but it's not a long walk over to watch the sunset or enjoy your morning cup of coffee.

Our site had a pole for a lantern, picnic table, fire ring and tent pad. The water spigot was a few sites over as was the vault toilet. The vault toilet was clean and didn't smell. There were many garbage cans.

Our site was large and private. We had neighbors on either side of us but didn't hear them or see them from our site.

The flies were extremely bad or first day but not our other two days. Bring lots of DEET for you and permethrin or something for your dog just in case!

Overall great experience and can't wait to come back!

General: Very small (12-site) rustic campground on Lake Superior (Pictured Rocks National Seashore); although none of the sites have a direct view or access to the lake, it is just a short walk down some steps to a small but rocky beach. Reservations are required. Same-day reservations are accepted (but the campground was full when we were there). 

Site Quality: All sites are wooded and spaced a very decent amount of space apart, providing ample privacy. Each site has a tent platform and fire ring with grill grate. No hookups or any type. 

Bath: Two vault toilets only. Clean but no hand sanitizer so make sure you bring that and a flashlight at night! 

Activities: A short walk to Au Sable Lighthouse (1.5 miles). We took our chairs and a light snack to the beach to enjoy the sunset. 

We appreciated the privacy that foliage provided between sites and generally like small campgrounds compared to large ones. This was only an overnight stay for us. We did not check out the Upper Unit of the campground, about two miles from the Lower so don’t know how many sites are there or what they are like.

The channel marker campsite is the perfect distance (about a half mile on a well maintained flat trail) from the ferry dock and could be accessed by water too! There is a primitive toilet at the site along with a bear pole and storage locker, and a campfire ring with grill top. The site is private yet still close to the trail with an adjacent trail down to the beach, both areas include beaches. 

The site requires that all tents are placed within 15 feet of a sign which only grants space for 1 tent easily. We also were able to fit one hammock within these guidelines.

There is provided firewood at most all the other campsites we walked by, but no wood was provided to this site.

Also note the bugs (mosquitoes and flies) are horrendous! Even with strong deet spray. Good idea to invest in the bug net gear the ferry service recommends!

I have been visiting this campground since the early 90s with my family. My Dad used to come here when he was young. It does not have all the modern “glamping” amenities - no water/electric hookups here! No showers or running water! Outhouses only! And that’s just how it should stay. Half of the campsites have direct private lake access for swimming or boating purposes. The other half cozy up against the deep woods. All campsites are decently private, with a fair amount of foliage and woods separating all of them, unlike some places where you pitch a tent ten feet from your neighbors. There is a boat launch and a fish cleaning table, and every site has a picnic table and a metal ringed fire pit. This is perfect for the true rustic tent camper. I spent five days here in early July 2020 with nothing but my motorcycle and a two person tent, and it was all bird songs and wildlife. The only downsides are that there’s only one location to dispose of trash, so you could have a decent hike to do so, and the fact that there’s no electric hookups means glampers tend to run generators which can be a little annoying. But this is a wonderful place and it holds many good memories for me!

This campground is close to Munising therefore convenient for visiting Pictured Rocks and other tourist draws in the area. In the busy summer season it may be difficult to get a last minute spot with an RV, but as I was tent camping and pleased to take a walk in site I had no problem getting a same day reservation even in August. The tent sites are all walkin, with a tent parking area and then various distances to hike in along a path to the different tent camp sites. The campsites themselves are gorgeous, with tall trees and right on the shore, and privacy in between. Also, they provide several wagons in the adjacent parking area so you can easily tote your gear into your site. All of that would make for a 5 star rating, maybe 4 due to road noise from the nearby highway. However, I am only giving this experience a 3 because of one really important drawback: there needs to be at least an outhouse provided adjacent to the tent area. As it is, if nature calls you first have to hike down the path through the tenting area to the tent parking lot, then hike through the campground to the bath house which is a good distance away. Apparently this is too far for some people so they decided to just poop by a bush by the tent site trail and left it right there. Worst yet, the spot I saw like this had be left there for probably a few days, which shows a need for maintanence to patrol the tenting area more often and clean up such messes as they are health hazards as well as nauseatingly ugly. I wish this hadnt happened as otherwise it would be a pretty decent place to tent camp!