Best RV Parks & Resorts near Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Rustic campground on a steep hill overlooking Lake Huron. Website makes promises campground doesn't deliver. We reserved 50 amp full hook up. We were charged an additional $15 to guarantee our site. We arrived today to find a tight sloping site with only 30 amp service for our 34 ft motorhome. Upon calling the office, the very young woman who answered, first of all, could not locate our reservation even though a packet and map were waiting outside for us. Second, she asks which site, fumbles around, and finally declares "well some sites are 50 amp and some are only 30 amp. Can you spell your name again for me?" This location is close to everything in this nice town, so if you come here to stay you will be paying premium site pricing and spinning the wheel of chance as to whether it will be electric only, electric and water, 30 amp full hookups or 50 amp full hookups, because the website says one thing and reality on site is altogether different.

We were a little confused here, as we thought the camping spots were the concrete pads leading up to the old airfield. But there are big rocks blocking the way from Rd 3536 to the airfield, so I don’t know if that’s a recent addition or what. There’s a large concrete pad on the west side of the rocks, and when we got there there was a nice looking (not sketchy) travel trailer set up for long term camping. Lots of trucks parked everywhere with trailers; they had hauled their ATVs in and were out riding for the day. They came back on their ATVs in the late afternoon, hung out for a few hours, then left (except for the trailer). All surprisingly quiet and respectful. 

Zero cell service with Verizon but ATT had good service, mostly. It would randomly drop now and then but it would come back. We found a good spot to tuck into for the night, while staying out of the way of all the trucks parked everywhere. Very quiet and serene.

This is dispersed camping so of course no amenities whatsoever. Please handle your waste appropriately and let's keep this area clean.

This is a really nice state park in an urban area with lots of things to do in the surrounding area. But you still get the feel of being in a pleasant park atmosphere surrounded by tall trees. Staying here is really convenient as you are just a half mile from the ferry docks taking you to Mackinaw Island and downtown St. Ignace with restaurants and shops. Or, you can make the five-mile journey across the Mackinac Bridge (toll bridge) to visit Mackinaw City. The park sits on a hill in the town of St. Ignace so you get a great view of the Mackinac Bridge to the south and the surrounding islands.

The most sought after sites are the fifteen that are on the water and perfect for boating activities and great views. The campground is divided into three loops. The upper loop seemed to be quieter and more big-rig friendly than the loops by the water which were more crowded and smaller sites suited for shorter RVs and tents. The upper loop is just a short walk down the road from the waterfront lower loops or you can walk the one-mile trail that has a great overlook of the bridge (the view of the Mackinac Bridge on a clear night is awesome, especially when one of the Great Lakes freighters is passing underneath).

All sites have a picnic table and fire pit (which don’t even thing about moving because they are concrete). No sites have sewer or water but some have electric site (either 50 amp or 20/30 amp) and others have no electric hook-ups. Water spigots are scattered throughout the loops. There are two dump stations which are free to campers (or $10 to dump and fill up with water for non-campers). The roads are paved and easy to navigate and sites are gravel/grass. Each loop had a modern bathroom with hot showers and flush toilets and was kept very clean by staff and was always well stocked.

The town of St. Ignace is cute with shops and eateries. We went to Betsy’s Pasty shop to try the iconic Upper Peninsula pasty which were delicious. The town of Mackinaw City is really touristy full of t-shirt and fudge shops which really is not our thing. We did take the ferry to Mackinac Island for the day and enjoyed exploring the carless island.

Tips:

The parks webpage has a useful campground map showing the hookups at each site and length RV that will fit to consult before you book online.

This park requires a “Recreation Passport” which is an additional cost.

Verizon hotspot and phone worked great and able to get a dozen antennae television stations.

This park pretty much lacks any character as it is an open area with a bunch of scattered campsites but it makes up for that with its location. Most people come to the town of Sault Ste. Marie (called the “Soo”) to check out the famous Soo Locks and watch massive Great Lakes freighters pass through them on their way from Lake Superior to Lake Michigan.

This is a city run park that is 20 acres right on the St. Mary’s River so you get a great view of the ships passing by. When we arrived it had been rainy during the day and there was lots of water in the roads and at people’s campsites. Luckily our site was dry but there were some pretty big puddles and lots of standing water. Some of the sites are right on the river which and have unobstructed views of the ships. Reservations are by phone only. I had to leave a message but got a call back within a few hours and it was pretty easy from there

There are 100 sites with water and electric and all are pretty easy to get into with an RV. Tent camping is allowed but there is no separate section so you are mixed in with RVs.  Some of the hook-ups at sites are crazy. Our water was nearly 50 feet away and some are on the wrong side. Bathroom and shower facilities very nice and well maintained, with private lockable shower rooms. There is a laundry with book exchange but no camp store. The park has showers and restrooms that were very clean and modern. The showers are separate rooms that have privacy so you are not in the bathroom. They also have a laundry facility. The park wifi worked well at our site (#72) as did our Verizon phone and hotspot. Adjacent to the campground is a boat launch, playground (which looked like it was from the 1960’s), fish cleaning station, and an RV dump station.

The campground is not very large so for walking our dog we went to the adjacent park and were able to throw a ball for her. Within walking distance of the campground is a convenient store and there is a casual restaurant with burgers/fried fish/hotdogs/etc. 

A visit to the Soo Locks is definitely a must. The Visitor Center (operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) is free and well worth a visit. There are some short films, interpretive exhibits, and a board letting you know what time the ships are expected into the locks. Outside is a viewing platform where you get a great view of the ships in the locks watching them rise 20+feet as they make their transition.

I wouldn't consider this an amazing park, but if you come to Sault Ste. Marie there are not a lot of choices and its fine. You are just a few miles from downtown and the Locks and get to watch freighters navigate the narrow stretch of the river. The downsides are there are not lots of trees or privacy and the drainage is really poor. 

Tip 1: Site #9 is probably the best in the park as it is on the end, has a great view and more privacy.

Tip 2: For a delicious hamburger head under the International Bridge to West Pier Drive-In. It is the kind of place where you sit in your car and eat the most delicious juicy hamburger that fills your belly all day.

We arrived at about 1:00 PM and wondered whether we go to the Casino parking lot or the campground(CG) on the other side of the road. We opted for going to the building at the CG entrance. Good choice as the check-in office is located there along with restrooms, showers, and laundry. Check in wasn’t exactly quick but we were offered a couple of sites(without any recommendations based on the size of our rig) and made the mistake of taking site 12 because it seemed to be the furthest from the road. The only good thing about the site for us was that it was along the dog run. This FHU pull-through was tight with trees preventing us from putting out awnings and we were VERY close to the neighboring sites. We had to reposition our rig just to get the slides out. Our picnic table was in good shape but our fire pit had garbage and grass growing up about a foot. The site was just long enough for our 5th wheel and truck so we had to park diagonally in front of the site. There’s a nice dog area(not fenced) across from this site but the poop bag garbage can had not been emptied in some time as it was overflowing. The first thing the next morning we went over to the casino hotel office to ask about moving to the 78-120 section where the sites are longer and better spaced. We had scoped out empty sites and asked for pull-through site 117 with FHUs, which was then assigned to us. The ladies at the casino were definitely more helpful than the gentleman who checked us in. We moved that morning to this better site. We got 2 bars on Verizon. The Wifi was below average for a CG this size, and even very early in the morning, it was mediocre. The water pressure was average at about 40 psi. However, the cable worked well with lots of channels. There was a laundry room with reasonable prices, which was convenient but not all the machines were working. We do not gamble and the food at the resort was nothing to write home about so not much of a draw for us. While the adjacent golf course was great, we’d need a more compelling reason to come back.