Best Campgrounds near Sand Lake, MI

General: A real hodgepodge of options: paved sites, sandy sites, some with electric, hammock sites, several different types of cabins, and domes. Our stay was in 2023, and this review is based on that, but the campground was closed for the 2024 season for upgrades. 

Site Quality: Varies greatly. We were able to secure two different sites for our two-night stay. Upon arrival, however, we doubted we would be able to navigate our 18-foot camper van into Site 58– it was sandy, narrow with trees, and cars were parked alongside the narrow access road, making backing in very difficult to impossible. We were able to switch to Site 69 for the first night. The second night we were in site 56 and enjoyed listening to the waves lapping up against the shore. Not all sites are level. Little privacy/separation between sites but if you can score a waterfront site, then it’s all good. Sites 93, 95, 95A, 98, 99A, 101, 103, 105, and 107 back up to the old river channel and the water was very stagnant and green. The beachfront sites mostly have nice views of Saginaw Bay/Lake Huron but be cautious when selecting: some are sand and not level. You will hear road noise from M25 on the 19 sites that back up to the road (and also some of the sites opposite these). 

Bath/Shower: Two bathhouses (east and west) plus a couple of vault toilets. The East Bathhouse was very modern and clean. The West Bathhouse looked to be a bit older but still seemed fine. 

Activities/Amenities: Beach access, fishing, swimming, and an observation platform for bird watching or night sky viewing (the weather did not cooperate to check these out). There are nearby hiking trails, a playground, a basketball hoop, and a horseshoe pit. There is a dump station. Kudos to Michigan for extensive recycling! 

We arrived late at night, and I was able to get in a nice walk around the campground before the rain started, dampening our options for the rest of the day. Obviously, our stay here would have been better with better weather, but I caution you to be careful when reserving your sites based on your type of camping. Despite the abundance of mayflies (gross but not biting) and the muddy sand-covered road from all the rain, we’d stay here again if we could get a beachfront site. We enjoyed our time here and would love to see what improvements were made when the campground was closed (although I thought it was very nice before).

This county park (open May 15– October 15) has a mix of no hookup, electric only, and full hookup sites. We stayed here with friends in their 43-foot Class A in an electric site facing Lake Huron and the view was phenomenal! It would be a bummer if you had a site behind a large class A blocking your view of the lake. The full hookup sites were completely full mid-week in June. 

The sites are on grass and very close together with no separation/privacy between them, but the view of the lake makes it worth it. It rained all day the second day of our stay and the dirt road and grassy areas accumulated quite a few puddles. 

The bath/shower house was reasonably clean, but it took a few minutes for the motion light to go on (I thought it wouldn’t). Didn’t use the shower so cannot comment on that. 

There is a playground, boat launch (separate fee), and reasonably priced firewood ($5/bundle). You can tour the lighthouse for which the park is named for $5 per adult or $3 per child (but you can only climb to the top on select– usually holiday– weekends. The volunteers are very passionate about their knowledge of the lighthouse. 

We would definitely stay here again as long as we could get a water view site (and the price was reasonable).

Alright camp ground, it’s a members only. Few grouchy people that seem more miserable than into relaxing. It’s definitely an interesting atmosphere compared to other campgrounds. Staff are hit or miss, seems like the pleasant ones take layoff and move on. Small improvements are made year over year, which is nice.

Nice park. Can feel a little tight on some spaces, especially if your neighbor sprawls over the lines. Restrooms could use a little improvement (like replacing the crappy doors leading into the building) and some maintenance, but are clean. Being on a point between Lake Huron & Tawas Bay, there's almost always some breeze. There's beaches on both sides of the point. Staff friendly. Like most MI State Park sites, it's electric only. Tawas has no (as of this review) FHU sites. There's the Tawas Point Lighthouse here, which you can climb for a few bucks. Nice little gift shop next to it. It can get really packed here on weekends, and the day use gets closed because of being too full.

Big rigs, note that the roads can be tight, especially when inconsiderate campers crowd the road, cause you know... It's all about them.

All in all, it's one of our favorite state parks.

Hit Klenow's Market in town. They do great sandwiches!

Most campgrounds we have been to had lots of road noise but not this one! We stayed for 2 nights/3days and this campground was quite.

The vault toilets were well stocked with toilet paper, although one had a hornets nest inside and the other was extremely smelly.

Access to the river was good and the sites were a decent size with privacy in between.

We enjoyed walking some of the nearby trails

Good campground on a nice fishing lake. Large wooded sites but none that have lake access unfortunately

Nice sites. Though a few have the Shore to Shore trail going right through them. But there is access to the river. While I was there, it was peaceful, clean and easily accessible.

The only complaint about the week I spent was they didn’t cut the grass, other than that I had an amazing birthday week at Rifle River Campground,  we found amazing flowers blooming  like yellow and pink lady slippers I even found Agates, fossils if you’re a rock hunter and when you climb up the tower there’s a extremely large eagles nest.

The fishing wasn’t very successful I only caught a small one but the water was warm and clear you could see the sand doons.

We only stayed one night but it was very nice, right by the water. One other camper nearby but completely out of earshot.

A rustic state forest campground on Avery Lake. I had 3 bars of service here :)

A horse campground located directly on trails. Rustic campground with lots of trees. Non horse campers stay in lots 1-8

Jake from the Dyrt here!  Beaver Trail Campground is new and bookable to the Dyrt.  Check them out and share your trip on the Dyrt!

Gorgeous sites with lots of privacy. Basic pit outhouses no other services.

Only complaint is that contrary to Dyrts listing, it's not actually free.

Pretty large lots, some have natural blocking from other sites but some do not.

Felt like I had the beach to myself for two of the four days of my visit.