Best Campgrounds near Scotts, MI

Campgrounds near Scotts, Michigan provide diverse accommodations in a rural midwestern setting within easy reach of Kalamazoo. Fort Custer Recreation Area and Cold Brook County Park offer established campgrounds with both tent and RV sites. The region includes developed cabin options at several locations, including Cold Brook County Park, while Fort Custer additionally features more rustic camping experiences with varying levels of amenities. Most established campgrounds in the area provide electric hookups, with many offering full water hookups and shower facilities.

The camping season throughout the region typically runs from April through October, though Fort Custer Recreation Area remains open year-round for winter camping opportunities. Reservations are recommended, especially during summer weekends when sites fill quickly. "Nice county park. Lots of lake for small boating, kayaking. Fishing pier to fish off. Playground for the kids. Swimming beach with sand. Nice country setting yet close enough to towns if you need anything," noted one visitor to Cold Brook County Park. Weather conditions vary significantly by season, with hot, humid summers and cold winters. Most campgrounds in the area maintain well-maintained roads suitable for standard vehicles, though some sites may have limited access during spring rain events.

Several campgrounds in the Scotts area feature water access as a primary attraction, with fishing, swimming and boating opportunities at locations like Cold Brook County Park and Fort Custer Recreation Area. Campsites generally provide good spacing between neighbors, with many offering natural screening from trees. A camper at Fort Custer noted, "Large quiet sites and lots of seclusion," highlighting the privacy available at some locations. Nearby amenities include hiking trails, mountain biking paths, and disc golf courses. Bug activity can be significant during summer months, with multiple reviews mentioning mosquitoes and black flies, particularly at Fort Custer. Family-friendly facilities are common throughout the region, with most established campgrounds offering picnic tables, fire rings, and playground equipment.

Best Camping Sites Near Scotts, Michigan (167)

    1. Fort Custer Recreation Area

    44 Reviews
    Augusta, MI
    10 miles
    Website
    +1 (269) 731-4200

    "Fort Custer is a hidden gem in Michigan. Nobody thinks to go camping near Battle Creek, but they really should reconsider!"

    "Another great camping experience, site 210 has an amazing trail that leads directly to the showers at one end and at the other path went directly to running water, plus only a couple of yards from a great"

    2. Cold Brook County Park

    4 Reviews
    Galesburg, MI
    5 miles
    Website
    +1 (269) 746-4270

    "29 campsites pretty close together with old growth trees interspersed around the campground. Fishing pier and boating, playground area, and beach. No longer has primitive camping."

    "Lots of neat free and inexpensive things for kids and families nearby. Check out Kzookids.com to see what’s available if you want to. A nice disk golf course, lots of fishing."

    3. Markin Glen County Park

    7 Reviews
    Nazareth, MI
    13 miles
    Website
    +1 (269) 381-7570

    $35 - $40 / night

    "Despite having lived near Kalamazoo for seven years, we had never visited this park previously. The site are large level concrete pads with grass dividing the sites. All full hookups."

    "There are three roads in the campground and the two roads on the outside have no one behind them which adds privacy. "

    4. Oak Shores Resort Campground

    2 Reviews
    Vicksburg, MI
    6 miles
    +1 (269) 649-4689

    5. Kalamazoo County Expo Center

    1 Review
    Kalamazoo, MI
    9 miles
    Website
    +1 (269) 383-8778

    "It’s not as big as some of the expo centers in Michigan, but it does the job. If you plan to camp here they offer 220 campsites over 5 small campgrounds."

    6. Buikema Farm

    1 Review
    Vicksburg, MI
    9 miles

    $40 / night

    7. En Gedi River Resort & Canoe Livery

    1 Review
    Vicksburg, MI
    14 miles
    Website
    +1 (269) 432-4374

    "Great find, off the beaten path.  En Gedi Campground and Canoe Livery is family owned and operated. In all they have about 30 campsites and a few cabins available. "

    8. Deep Lake Rustic Campground — Yankee Springs Recreation Area

    25 Reviews
    Cloverdale, MI
    29 miles
    Website
    +1 (269) 795-9081

    "First time in central Michigan and it was absolutely beautiful. The campground has a great location and lots of mountain bike and hiking trails."

    "This is a campground in Yankee Spring Recreational Area in Mid-Michigan. This is a nice rustic campground near the NCT(North Country Trail)."

    9. Pokagon State Park Campground

    52 Reviews
    Angola, IN
    39 miles
    Website
    +1 (260) 833-2012

    $20 - $480 / night

    "There's 2 dump stations located in loops 3 & 4. IN THE CAMPGROUND! NEXT TO CAMPSITES!!!!"

    "This site was fairly level but very close to other sites…wouldn’t recommend it."

    10. Stickley Family Farms

    1 Review
    Sturgis, MI
    17 miles
    +1 (269) 386-1998
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Recent Reviews near Scotts, MI

608 Reviews of 167 Scotts Campgrounds


  • Gary G.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 28, 2026

    Outdoor Adventures Kalamazoo Resort

    Membership? No thanks

    Roads are seem to be dirt/gravel here (but most is really just crumbling asphalt), so even though most vehicles respect the 5mph speed limit (which is nice), you can still expect some dust everywhere. Oh, and some golf carts often seem to think 5mph doesn't apply to them.

    Kalamazoo Speedway is only 2.5 miles away, so if there's racing at night, you're going to hear it. It's not terrible, but...

    Many golf carts here, some with thumping music or ooh-gah horns going by in the evening. While before official "quiet time", it's still really annoying at 9 or 10pm. Be nice if they adopted a "your noise/music should stay on your site" idea like other places. ESPECIALLY the loud, music-blasting golf carts.

    Calling this a "resort" is kind of a stretch. The "lakes" (more like ponds) are in need of weed control. Sites along the main lake are often muddy, sinking campers into it. There's one playground there. A small beach, pool (was freezing on the Mem Day weekend), a mini-golf that needs some TLC and a somewhat pricey camp store. Not much different than your average, most basic KOA, except KOA doesn't require a $17K lifetime membership.

    They say there's trails you can walk, but I didn't see a single sign or map indicating where these were. Pointless without that.

    Stayed Memorial Day weekend. Roads could really, really use a grading or repaving. Lots of bumps, holes and dips. Makes it somewhat dangerous for evening bike rides. The idiots staying in site 158 with their kids singing (bad) karaoke was super annoying. Staffsecurity should have told them to turn it down no matter the time. (two nights, from about 8:30pm until 10:45pm.). I thought they had a rule about this? Their security car went by at least twice during this unwanted show, so why didn't they say something? I tried to call about it, but got no answer.

    The mini golf is a nice touch... it'd just be nice to see it maintained a lot better. It's pretty rough.

    This is a membership-only place. We had a promotional stay, but I have to say, I really didn't see enough value to want to buy in. Even if it was just a regular campground, we weren't all that impressed enough that we'd make a special trip just to stay here. I'd rate it as "ok", but there was no real "wow factor" here for us.

    I have to say the woman they assigned to us for the tour and sales meeting was very nice, pleasant, and no annoying hard sell. But then they send in the closer, and there's where the flurries of offers and discounts start, but once you get the discounts, you lose other options that you'd probably want. Is Outdoor Adventures worth it? Not to us, sorry to say. We like to camp all over, not just at a handful of specific campgrounds under the Outdoor Adventures umbrella.

    To Outdoor Adventures... you should really arrange it so campers can try out two or three of your campgrounds FIRST before trying to sell them. No way we'd join after only seeing/staying in one. Especially just Kalamazoo.

    BTW, their rental cabins (especially the largest ones) were really nice. I'll give them that.

    That's my honest review of the place as we found it.

  • Kaley A.
    May. 20, 2026

    Pokagon State Park Campground

    Nice park from what I could see

    This is the second time I’ve been to this park. Neither time was I able to really see the park (kids), so that is the only reason I have it a 4.

    I really liked our campsite. We were in the middle of a circle drive and had the whole inner circle to ourselves, which was nice for the kids to play. It was a HUGE campsite with a fairly long back in driveway. The site was slopped, especially close to the power source. It was a bit annoying for us as tent campers but not so much that I wouldn’t rent this site again.

    We weren’t all that far from water, the bathhouse, and trash services as well as a natural water spring and a trail to hike.

  • Sheila S.
    May. 17, 2026

    Angola/Hogback Lake KOA Holiday

    Horrible staff

    We couldn't set up a tent on our lot. Price is outrageous for visitors!! Staff is very rude. You rent a gold cart and they started yelling at my grandson who they had just sold an ice cream cone to that he had better not get that ice cream all over the cart.

  • Gerard E.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 5, 2026

    Pokagon State Park Campground

    Camp 26

    May 1-5, 2026 site 322, 48 degrees and light drizzle at setup. 

    Site is level, but drops down in the mud and grass, pad is barely wide enough to set up table without being on an angle. Site barely fits 21’ trailer and RAM 1500 

    Cellular T-Mobile 5g, 3bars Electric, 20, 30 and 50 amp. 

    Bathroom is separate from showers, older but decent. A nice grassy area close to site 322 and 324. Shade and sun Fire pit sits in low area, do expect puddles if raining. 

    Firewood was$8, dry, burned well. Close to bike/walking trail and a few hundred feet from store. Easy check in, Pokagon is a favorite park of ours as it offers miles of hiking trails.

  • Gerard E.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 5, 2026

    Pokagon State Park Campground

    Camp 26

    May 1-5, 2026 

    site 322, 48 degrees and light drizzle at setup. Site is level, but drops down in the mud and grass, pad is barely wide enough to set up table without being on an angle. 

    Site barely fits 21’ trailer and RAM 1500 

    Cellular T-Mobile 5g, 3bars Electric, 20, 30 and 50 amp. 

    Bathroom is separate from showers, older but decent. A nice grassy area close to site 322 and 324. Shade and sun Fire pit sits in low area, do expect puddles if raining. Firewood was$8, dry, burned well. 

    Close to bike/walking trail and a few hundred feet from store. Easy check in, Pokagon is a favorite park of ours as it offers miles of hiking trails.

  • Jeremy
    Apr. 27, 2026

    Spaulding Lake Campground

    Peaceful Camping

    I've stayed here before and the owners are really chill and keep the place nice and clean. It's very peaceful and good fishing. I even saw the salmon swimming upstream when I was there. The pond was crystalline clear and maintained. There are walking trails as well and overall a really good place to camp. Highly recommend!!

  • MickandKarla W.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jan. 31, 2026

    Elkhart County Fairgrounds

    Better Stay than the Last

    We followed our RV Trip Wizard GPS directions straight to the fairgrounds, and since we had stayed here before, we knew to use the second entrance. Because it was a Sunday, our welcome packet was waiting outside the 4-H office where check-in normally takes place. After entering through the gate, we took a right and then another right at the end of the road to reach the Northwest campground (CG), where we backed into recommended site 450 with full hookups. The campground can also be accessed by turning right on the gravel road just before the 4-H office. We tested the fairgrounds’ Wi-Fi, which is unsecured with no password, and at 11.9 Mbps download the connection was usable for basic email and web browsing. We instead used our T-Mobile Home Internet and saw download speeds around 180 Mbps. The Northwest campground area is wide open, so satellite internet would not be an issue. In front of the restroom and shower building there is a fenced horseshoe area along with a basketball court. Train tracks run near the fairgrounds, and trains operate day and night, though the noise level was tolerable for us. Take a short drive to Shipshewana and stop at Yoder’s Meat& Cheese Co., then wander next door to Yoder’s Red Barn Shoppes. Head upstairs to the Red Bud Gift Shop& Coffee Tea Cafe, home of the Super Pretzel Sandwich. The sandwich is pressed inside a warm, soft pretzel and loaded with ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. One sandwich is easily enough for two people and worth the stop. Customer service with reservations and cleanliness were big improvements. We’ve stayed in Elkhart and Goshen many times, and this campground is one of the better options in the area.

  • Gerard E.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jan. 24, 2026

    Pokagon State Park Campground

    One of the Best

    10-2-24 thru 10-7-24 Site 370 C

    Cellular, TMOBILE 5G, 3 bars. 21’ Apex Nano w truck. Gravel pad, fire pit and grass is about 12” lower than pad. Keep in mind if expecting rain. 

    Showers are old, warm with 2 hooks, 2 toilets and 2 urnials. 

    Fire pit needs to be reset in the ground, it sit too high. Awesome trails to hike. Maintenance was awesome changing out a breaker on the box.

    8-27-22, update on site 348 and 350. These are pull through sites on the edge of the road. 350 is longer and had a 5th Wheel on it. We put our 19’ Nano on 348. Full sun during the day, 348 is uneven once you walk off of the pad. This site could use some TLC and more gravel for parking. 

    10-1-16, nice state park with hiking trails. Lot 322 was partially sun and shade. Restroom and shower(open stall, no privacy) was outdated but functional. 2-5-22 hiked 4 miles on the snow packed trails. Cold and awesome powder conditions.

  • MThe Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 14, 2025

    Happy Acres Campground

    Friendly, clean, and easy to get to

    This was the first park we went to as new trailer owners. It did not disappoint. Staff are so friendly and helpful. It is right off I69 so easy access but you will have road noise. We did not find it intrusive but understand not everyone may think the same. Sites are gravel and where we were, pretty level. There are other sites you may need leveling pads on but nothing looked crazy. Our site had full hookups. Some had only water and electric. No issues with cell service or Starlink. We had a fire ring and picnic table. Not a lot of trees though. The seasonal parts of the park do. The bathrooms are modern and clean. Our site was a pull through, others are back in. It seemed to me that 3/4 of the sites are occupied by semi permanent seasonal tenants though. Almost looked like a mobile home park in a way with sheds and decks. They have the best sites along the water. The transient sites are separated from them. Because of the permanent residents there is golf cart traffic. It was not noisy or party atmosphere though. Angola is close for dining or shopping. All and all, enjoyed the visit and would not hesitate to stay there again.


Guide to Scotts

Camping spots near Scotts, Michigan range from open electric-only sites to secluded, wooded tent camping areas with varying levels of amenities. Located in southwest Michigan at approximately 889 feet elevation, the area experiences seasonal extremes, with humid summer conditions often reaching 85°F and significant rainfall in spring. Winter temperatures frequently drop below freezing, particularly in January when overnight lows average 15°F.

What to do

Water recreation: access: Fort Custer Recreation Area offers multiple lakes for fishing, swimming and non-motorized boating. "Endless hiking trails and two lakes where you can fish, swim, and boat," notes a regular visitor who considers this their childhood camping destination.

Mountain biking: miles of trails: The trail system at Fort Custer Recreation Area provides extensive mountain biking opportunities with varying difficulty levels. "We camped and rode (again) at Fort Custer. We've been here 2x before (once in a cabin and once in tents) and this has now officially become a favorite," shares one mountain biking enthusiast.

Wildlife observation: dawn and dusk: Markin Glen County Park connects to miles of paved and unpaved trails ideal for spotting local wildlife. "There are miles of hiking/biking trails (some of which are paved and others are dirt), group picnic areas, tennis courts, volleyball, swim beach, fishing piers, softball field, and two playgrounds," according to one visitor.

Disc golf: free course: Cold Brook County Park maintains a disc golf course accessible to all campers. A visitor mentioned, "Family friendly, quiet, disc golf, fishing, playground for kids," highlighting the range of activities available in one location.

What campers like

Site privacy: natural screening: Many sites at Deep Lake Rustic Campground provide excellent seclusion. A camper notes, "If you want seclusion away from the parking lot atmosphere down the road at Yankee Springs this is your place. There is much more space at each campsite and lots of old growth trees."

Full hookup availability: level sites: Markin Glen County Park offers premium full-hookup sites on paved pads. "The sites are pretty close on the sides and behind your site (if you are on the inner roads that back up against other sites). There are three roads in the campground and the two roads on the outside have no one behind them which adds privacy," explains one detailed review.

Lake views: fishing opportunities: Several campsites at Deep Lake Rustic Campground overlook the water. "The sites over looking Deep Lake are wonderful if you can snag one," mentions a camper who appreciates the scenic locations.

Trail connectivity: direct access: Multiple campgrounds connect directly to regional trail networks. A visitor to Markin Glen highlights, "The campground has direct access to the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail which is a paved trail extending for many miles."

What you should know

Train noise: proximity issues: En Gedi River Resort provides a quieter alternative to some sites at Markin Glen. "Overall, the campground is a great value. We camped on site #22 which is water/electric and we paid $35/night. We camped here over Memorial Day weekend and even with a full campground, it was still very quiet and peaceful," reports a holiday weekend camper.

Bug activity: seasonal intensity: Insect repellent is necessary, particularly in less maintained areas. One camper at Fort Custer Recreation Area mentioned, "lots need mowing so lots of bugs, bring insect repellent."

Reservation timing: summer weekends: Campgrounds fill quickly during summer months, particularly on weekends. "We camped in our teardrop on the primitive tent loop. Sites were nice and secluded where we were, but you could hear a few late night partiers nearby," noted a visitor to Pokagon State Park, indicating the importance of site selection and timing.

Road conditions: spring challenges: Access can be limited during wet spring conditions at several campgrounds. As one visitor observed, "Sites have electrical service only. Must use the dump station," highlighting limited amenities at Fort Custer Recreation Area that could impact longer stays.

Tips for camping with families

Playground access: close to sites: Cold Brook County Park offers family-friendly facilities near camping areas. "Small county park. Lots of lake for small boating, kayaking. Fishing pier to fish off. Playground for the kids. Swimming beach with sand," notes a recent visitor.

Swimming beaches: sandy shorelines: Many local campgrounds maintain dedicated swimming areas with beach access. "29 campsites pretty close together with old growth trees interspersed around the campground. Fishing pier and boating, playground area, and beach," explains a visitor to Cold Brook County Park.

Educational opportunities: nature programs: Pokagon State Park provides structured activities for children. "Tons of things to do (playgrounds, lake, beach, hiking, horseback and pony rides etc). The lodge is a nice structure but the food we sampled was mediocre," reports a family who visited the park.

Accessibility considerations: mobility needs: Markin Glen County Park includes accessible facilities. "Have handicapped accessible sites, and ramp into the lake," points out a visitor who appreciated these accommodations.

Tips from RVers

Hookup limitations: power only: Pokagon State Park offers electric-only sites with a central dump station. "Only electric hookups, but good for a short weekend. Best bike orbs, horseback riding, and quiet," notes an RVer who stayed at the park.

Site length considerations: size restrictions: Markin Glen accommodates larger RVs with 50-foot sites. "Campsites are 50 feet long which will fit any size RV (ours was nearly 90')," shares a visitor with a large rig.

Leveling requirements: uneven terrain: Some sites require additional leveling equipment. A visitor to Pokagon State Park observed, "Sites are shorter and sometimes uneven. Bike trail, hiking trails, store, beach, inn, nature center."

Dump station access: timing issues: At Fort Custer Recreation Area, preparing for busy times at the dump station is important. "Since there are no water or sewer hook ups, lines at the dump/fill station can get long," warns a repeat visitor to Fort Custer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What camping is available near Scotts, MI?

According to TheDyrt.com, Scotts, MI offers a wide range of camping options, with 167 campgrounds and RV parks near Scotts, MI and 1 free dispersed camping spot.

Which is the most popular campground near Scotts, MI?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Scotts, MI is Fort Custer Recreation Area with a 4.3-star rating from 44 reviews.

Where can I find free dispersed camping near Scotts, MI?

According to TheDyrt.com, there is 1 free dispersed camping spot near Scotts, MI.