Best Tent Camping near Rose City, MI

If you're looking at getting into backpacking or unsure if backpacking is for you, Negwegon is a great place to start. First of all, each of the sites are only a mile or two away from the parking lot of the park. This gives newbies the chance to take a small hike in for that backcountry feel. Second, each site has a fire ring and picnic table... and a vault toilet. This means you get a few of the comforts of car camping but with beautiful views of Lake Huron and limited interaction with humans. Staying at Blue Bell, site #1, we were treated with Lake Huron just about 100 feet away from our campsite. We had the chance to check out site #3– for those that love sand, that is the spot for you.

As for the camping site overall, #1 is a great start. It is about 75 feet off of the trail, but in the fall, foot traffic was very limited. The wind provided us with plenty of fallen limbs and brush to start a fire. If you pack a hatchet, options are expanded to larger fallen branches. There are a few spots on the site to pitch your tent– with it being windy, we setup tucked in a flat area surrounded by thick evergreen trees that provided wind protection. Lake Huron is very clear and we filtered about 10 cups of water to drink throughout our stay.

Going in mid-fall, be prepared for that breeze blowing off of the lake, we came prepared for the cold, if you don't, you'll be miserable. Upsides of camping in the fall, limited to no bugs. We didn't have any issue with bugs and in fact, we saw no wildlife at all– even including a hike up past site #4.

Seems much larger than most state forest campgrounds in Michigan. There are 6 loops here with numerous sites on each loop. And yet, you don't feel crowded in and there's decent privacy in many of the sites. Jones Lake is peaceful and offers some great sunsets. Dirt road leading in is in decent shape and navigable by any size rig. Some of the sites may require some tight maneuvering for larger rigs but site size is good overall. Trees offer good shade cover at different times of the day depending on site location.

Rustic campground, so no water or electric are available, but there are vault toilets, as well as trash and recycling receptacles.

Each site has a picnic table and fire ring.

We had a very pleasant stay.

Deecnt cell coverage -- 2 bars LTE on Verizon, 2-3 bars LTE on Google Fi.

This rustic campground is right on the ORV route. This means you can camp here and even ride in you Jeep or side by side right from camp.

I stayed here and rode dirt bikes from jere and swam in the lake afterwards. It was refreshing and there is a small sandy area to swim out of.

The lake is very peaceful and quiet. Great for kayaking or canoeing! There are no houses on the small lake and it is typically calm water.

The campground has vault toilets, camp fire rings, and picnic tables. The fee is $15 per night and is paid at the entrance.

There is a water pump here so fresh water is available. There is also a dumpster for your trash.

I will be coming back as it is easy to get to as well.