Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Traveled here in August of 2020 with my family. (2 adults, 4 kids) Since there are a lot of us we got two joining sites so we could spread out a bit and we were glad we did. The sites aren't super tiny, but having two was worth the extra $$. The kids loved the beach and swimming in the clean Lake Superior water. 

Close enough to Sault Ste. Marie  and Taquaminon Falls. 

Very quiet but we were there mid-week so it wasn't too crowded either.

Facilities were fine, especially for a state park.

The Straits State Park in Michigan's Upper Penninsula sits on the North end of the Mackinaw Bridge in St. Ignace. This bridge conects Upper and Lower Michigan at the crossing of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. This campground is clean, and well layed out with just about a campsite for the taste for everyone. From campsites on the shores of Lake Huron to open sites and wooded sites. Take the drive to the look outlook area in the park for awesome views of the Mackinaw Bridge and Mackinaw City which sits on the other side of the bridge. St. Ignace is a tourist town with lodging, restaurants, shopping and bed and breakfast inns and even a casino. There is a grocery store for your needs just before the entrance of the park. If you decide to take the 5 mile trip across the bridge to Mackinaw City, be prepared for a cost of $4 every time you cross and possibly heavy blowing winds across the bridge. There is a service at the entrance of the bridge that will drive your vehicle across for you if your feeling timid. Mackinaw City on the opposite side is definitely busy during the Summer months and more touristy feeling than St.Ignace. With plenty to do on either side quiet isn't hard to find. From visiting lighthouse's in downtown Mackinaw and another lighthouse just a short drive East of Mackinaw City at Headlands International Dark Sky Park sits McGulpin Lighthouse. You can travel North 45 mins and hit historic Sault Ste. Marie at the border of Canada and United States or visit the beautiful Tahquamenon Falls area for sights never to be forgotten.

Brimley is in great proximity to Sault Ste Marie and Tahquamenon Falls, so there is plenty to do in the area. I especially recommend driving down the Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway And also checking out the Bay Mills Farmers Market on Thursday evenings in the casino parking lot.

Right across the road from the campground is a small IGA store where you can get many different food items. Also down the road is Superior Pizza and Subs which is a great place for a quick and easy dinner.

In the campground itself, many of the sites are generously sized with electric access for those who need it. There are three bathhouses throughout the park, which is where Brimley loses a star. I am only familiar with the largest main bathhouse, but I imagine the other two are similar. The main bathroom is often dirty, and the showers (which are closed off little shower rooms) have no working ventilation and get super hot with mildew and mold growth on the walls.

However the shining star of this campground is the beach. The swimming is some of the best with a nice sandy bottom and no rocks. The water is generally cold, as Lake Superior often is, but it’s nothing too cold for swimming in. The view is lovely, and you can often see the freighters that pass through The Soo.

All in all, I highly recommend staying at Brimley State Park if you are in the area.

Stayed here last weekend and was extremely happy! The sites are very large and spacious and there are trees that allow lots of privacy between sites. If I had to point out a negative, it would be the bugs (which you’re camping so it comes with it!) but the mosquitoes were ruthless in the morning and though the horsefly’s didn’t land on us or bite, it’s hard to say how it would be for pets! My dog is a hot target for them in the past with other campgrounds I’ve stayed. I 100% plan to stay here again, the price was reasonable, offered sites on the water or inland and there is even a boat launch in the river! I’ve already planned another trip with my friend in a few weekends! :)

Visited the site in a winter storm. A little worried before getting on the wild cat road. Turned out no issue at all. Road is covered with heavy snow, no issue with an AWD camper van. Snow shoeing in the woods and alone the lake beach. Fantastic!

We camped here for a couple days in mid July. They had sites big, small, on the lake, and off so something for everyone. Only thing is that it fills up fast. The first night we drove through late and every site was full, while we were there we found most were full not long after checkout (2pm). Our site was nice, not right on the lake but a short walk. When we went the mosquitos were insane as the sun went down. If you went by the water they would instantly swarm you. If you had a smoky fire going early you might be safe, but there's no guarantee. They seemed immune to bug spray and everything citronella. We could have sworn we even saw one fly straight out of the fire itself, so we wish you luck. There are blueberries everywhere if you come at the right time, in the campground and much of the area around it. We were told there's actually a blueberry festival in early August in the town closest to it (Paradise, MI). It's not all that far from the falls and whitefish point also. It has vault toilets and a water pump, no electricity and very little to no cell reception. You must also have a recreation passport to camp here, regardless of where you're from. If you don't have one you will have to pay an additional fee to purchase one at the time of your registration. For in state residents it was $17 (+ nightly fee) and they would mail it to your house, can't remember the out of state cost unfortunately. Quiet hours from 11pm-8am, $15 a night, no reservations, pet friendly (we found this out by hearing the dogs barking at every passing stranger, as they do). There's a campground host as well, we found that most campgrounds in the UP have them. In the middle there's a public beach and picnic area, we didn't use it but it looked nice. We went fishing once for a few hours and caught 5 bass between the two of us all about 12in, so if you're looking for some good fishing you might be out of luck with this lake. Also, you have to take a dirt road to get there as you do with many places in the UP, so heads up on that. I was worried about scavengers, but we didn't end up having any problems with them. We were careful to throw out any food packages before bed, but we kept our food in a small tent and that didn't draw anything in.

I was camping with my disabled husband and small dog. Checkin was a pain and the DNR was aggressive and rude. My husband who has ALS and therefore no use of his hands or legs, was walking our dog while I set up camp. He can’t hold a leash but our support dog obeys his verbal commands. Not good enough for the DNR and they harassed him even though we complied with leashing her to his wheelchair as soon as we were told to do so. They could have approached things with less aggression and gotten the same result. It ruined my time. I packed us up early and headed for friendlier grounds.

Just a short drive from Mackinac lies a beautiful campground to sink into the quietness of a river setting. I stayed in the rustic portion with campsites right along the river. River access is available for small boats along with a fishing deck. Vault toilets and water merge with large campsites to create a quiet ambiance. Showers and a modern toilet are available in the modern portion of the campground which is a short walk through a playground and separating trees.

My site meant waking up to fog drifting down the river, birds chirping and quiet forest behind me. Walking my dog through the forest was nice as the fallen pine needles created a soft path. My site had plenty of room for the tent as well as tress to hang my hammock on. My dog couldn't wait to jump into the hammock and relax in the cool Michigan air. The campground hosts came through and we had a nice chat (which added to the homey feeling).

This campground is not by the Tahquamenon Falls area so I would make sure to get the correct location. It sits south of Paradise, MI. It was a 20 or so mile drive to get to the falls area with beautiful hiking trails. The remote location of the campground adds to the perfect Northwoods feel. The North Country Trail goes past the campground on the other side of the river. You can hike all the way to the falls area if you are up to it.

Reviews can be so subjective, an employees bad day, the crowed at the campground etc.....

Let's start with the campground on its own merits removing all people involved. 

Bathrooms - Centrally located and exceptionally clean and modern with very nice individual shower stalls.

Campground sites - Sites ranged from normal size to no chance for privacy whatsoever. We stayed in site 3, it seemed to be one of the sites with a bit more room.

Ok we arrived at what turned out to be a few minutes before the office closed. The guy working the office seemed to be in a hurry to leave and did not really give us much info on the campground, he just highlighted the available sites and sent me on my way. When we got back to the office, less than ten minutes later, he was gone and it was locked up. So I used the phone service and called my site in. 

As I was doing this another state park employee walks up to the office, I inquire about wood, he says it is not available any longer because the cash drawer is closed out already. I was like can you put $5 on the counter and do it in the morning? No He tells me I need to drive to town and find wood, but does not tell me where to get it from.

I was a bit surprised because we had been camping at state parks in Michigan for a week and had nothing but amazing and super helpful park employees at every park. 

So we drove to town and finally found someone who had wood in stock.

When we got back to the campground we set up camp, settled in and took the dog for a walk. Headed back to our campsite to get a fire going and relaxed for a bit enjoying the fire. After we settled in for the nite, things got loud, people yelling, dogs barking, it was one of the noisiest campgrounds I have ever been in. I am not sure how late into the night it went but it seemed like there were a lot of campsites that got together to party. 

So other then the time around the campfire the stay here really was not our cup of tea so we moved on the next day and most likely will not return to this campground.

We brought our two kids and dog camping and had a great experience. Camp sites were decent sizes, and we had great access to the water. Restrooms were clean and well-maintained, and our kids loved riding bikes all around the campground. We stayed in the Hemlock part, but they could easily travel between the two. Just a note, the mosquitoes were bad in September, so take bug spray!

Wonderful campground! We have stayed here twice. There are quite a few sites right on the lake, and all the sites are well spaced out, with a good balance of shade and sun. Sites on the water can get a little breezy if inclimate weather rolls in. The campground has outhouses, pump water, is dog friendly, and some sites have electricity. Great for campers or tents. There is also a nice three mile hiking trail right off the campground.

We stayed in the Lower Falls modern campground for 3 nights. The Lower falls were a short hike away, and there was a nice hike to the Upper falls 4 miles away. Unfortunately our campsite backed up to one that was full of noisy, ill-behaved children and a very loud dog. The bathrooms and showers were not cleaned very often and were covered in mud. If I went to Tahquamenon again I'd probably choose the Rivermouth campground in the hopes that it would be more peaceful.

This was by far the nicest and most spacious KOA I've ever stayed at. There were a ton of trees and nicely wooded spots. We had site #16 right near the front, which meant we had some traffic noise and kids running to the adjacent playground, but the spacious lot size made up for it (and having 3 kids of our own, we didn't mind the playground being so close). Big towering pines and a soft bed of needles kept our site shady and cool with plenty of room to set up our camp chairs and hammock. Made for a relaxing place to read. The back campsites looked really nice and were much quieter.

The pool was a little on the older side, but was clean and warm. There was (free) mini golf for the kids - pretty basic and again, older, but the kids didn't care. A couple of old-school playgrounds as well. Laundry facilities were clean with 6 washers and 6 dryers. The "dog run" was pretty laughable, as I'm finding with all KOAs - it was at most 20' x 20' square, so not much room for bigger dogs to actually run around. Wifi provided an excellent signal. The staff was friendly, but not very informative about things to do on Mackinac Island or the surrounding area.

We have a handi-capped son who loves camping as much as we do. They have a few handi capped sites which we love because they are all paved for these folks and he’s able to use his wheel chair to get close to the fire pit and enjoy a hot dog, or marshmallow with us. The area is so beautiful with the falls and its a great hiking area for us. The park is very safe, and firewood is available at anytime thru there self-check station. The folks who work there are the best we’ve met at a state run campground.

There is easy access to both the Tahquamenon River and Lake Superior. If you plan ahead, you can reserve one of the riverside campsites and just slide your watercraft into the river. You can travel a very long way before you encounter the lower falls, and catch plenty of small walleye. Accidentally, my dog and I went ashore right where there was a trailhead for the North Country Scenic Trail. It looked well marked, though quite rustic, and ran alongside the park for quite a while. The Rivermouth Campground is about 14 miles from the upper falls. We stopped there on the way home. It was OK and real touristy, but we prefer access to the river, so were happy with our choice of campgrounds. It was fully booked so was quite busy, though the river was nice and quiet. The showers and restroom building is very new and modern.

Best campground in Michigan. Sites aren’t too close together yet there are bathrooms in a reasonable walking distance from each site. Wonderful camp host and the beach is the best I’ve seen in Michigan.