Best Cabin Camping near Sleeping Bear Dunes

This campground is huge! 300+ sites, pet friendly, sites for all shapes and sizes. Open year round, with heated cabins. It's a great location, just across from Traverse Bay with just across the road. With that being said, one downside is that road, a VERY busy main drag through Traverse City. Very loud. There is s bridge walk over said busy road to beach access. The campground was very busy and bustling with families. Only 30 minutes from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

This campground feels like campgrounds should! It is a small, family-run place. The sites are a little small and close together, and with fewer trees than I prefer. But everything else about it makes it on my list to return annually! Location is close to so many great towns and attractions: Glen Arbor/Sleeping Bear Dunes, many Lake Michigan beaches, kayaking/canoeing/tubing river trips, great fishing if that's your thing. The camp store and little outdoor cafe are great and serve a delicious breakfast. Bathrooms were clean and had great ventilation (important when camping during a pandemic like this summer). They have several cute cabins and vintage campers sprinkled among the campsites that are available for rent, and a nice bike path runs right in front of the campground. The campground is very family-friendly.

This is a quiet campground near Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes with amazing views of Lake Michigan. We stayed at site 42 right across the dirt camp road from the lake. Not many RVs so the nights were quiet. Vault toilets needed to be pumped empty when we visited near the end of the season in August but they were cleaned everyday. Great location for our family to visit Suttons Bay and Sleeping Bear Dunes with plenty of bike trails and beaches in the area. Closest town is Northport with a full grocery store. Campground has firewood and ice on site plus some basic supplies at the gift shop.

The first time I camped here was in the 1970's. It is beautiful, peaceful campground on Lake Leelanau which is located on the Leelanau peninsula in between West Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan in close proximity to the little town of Lake Leelanau, Suttons Bay, Leland and many Michigan wineries. Also not far from Glen Arbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes.

This is one of my favorite campgrounds in Michigan.

My goal is always to find campgrounds that are in state park or national forest settings, but with all the conveniences of a private campground. It’s a bonus if there are lots of things to do in the area. Indigo Bluffs delivers on all fronts. We had a lovely, shaded, level, spacious site which most of them seemed to be.

The campground was large - it’s actually two parts - an RV resort for large fifth wheels and Class As and another campground for everyone else. I really liked the regular campground as it had a lot more shade than the RV resort area.

Indigo Bluffs is close to Empire which has a beach and Joe’s Friendly Tavern. Joe’s has excellent hamburgers and plenty of beer variety. It is also close to a trailhead for the Sleeping Bear Dunes Heritage Bike Trail. The Sleeping Bear Dunes trail is wonderful, a bit hilly, but oh so scenic! It is also close to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park and the infamous Dune Climb. We took a short drive to Sutton’s Bay and rode on the Leelanau Bike Trail to Traverse City. If you do this, be sure to stop at Farm Club on the way back. Excellent brewery and farm-to-table restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and a farm market.

We will definitely return to Indigo Bluffs!

The park is beginning to look its age. Stayed 4 nights while visiting the Traverse City area. Crowded with families making use of the last couple weeks before schools return. Rained well one night and our grass less site turned nasty. Good Verizon signal and has water available at several stations around each camping loop. Great location, however, to visit Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes.

A very busy and crowded park with lots of road noise. That said, the beach is great and it’s close to all the area has to offer. Bathrooms were clean and well maintained, even on a busy July weekend. Not the place to go if you want peace and quiet, but it worked well as our basecamp for visiting TC, Leelanau, and Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Driving in you have a gated section and a regular section.

Class C is not ALLOWED in the gated section. I found that amusing since we have a 2020 Tiffin Wayfarer

Nice office Customer service was fair Laundry room good

Got to our assigned site Really terrible

Went to office Girls didn't know their campground, gave us 2 to pick from

CLEAN BATHROOMS

Very close together

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Shoreline very close

Biking trails very close

All in all a pleasant experience

Campground Review: Leelanau State Park is a gorgeous campground on the very tip of the Leelanau Peninsula which is surrounded on 3 sides by the crystal clear waters and sandy beaches of Lake Michigan. Though only 15 minutes outside of the village of Northport, it feels very remote. The wooded campsites are relatively spacious, some with a great amount of privacy, others very open and right on the water. All have firepits and picnic tables, but we were not able to find water spigots near the sites on the lower level, those closest to the lake. They can accommodate everything from small tents to large campers and even have a couple of small camping cabins for rent. There are pit toilets scattered throughout the campground (which are rather stinky compared to other campgrounds we’ve stayed in, but this seems to be how all Michigan State Park pit toilets smell), and no showers. Showers are available for $2 at Traverse City State Park, which is about an hour south of this campground. TC is the major city on the peninsula and the one you must drive through to leave the peninsula. In addition to opportunities to swim, kayak, sail, paddle board, etc., this park has gorgeous hiking trails located a few miles south on the peninsula, a playground for the kids, a fully restored 19th century lighthouse, and a cool museum dedicated to the use of Lake Michigan during WWII. As the fog rolled off the water and in and out of the campground during our visit, we realized the importance of this historic lighthouse for the area surrounding the peninsula.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J0AgpsbEU

Product Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I was able to test the new Roanline market place at roanline.com. They carry a number of different brands and I selected the United by Blue 25L Rift Backpack to test out while camping at the Leelanau State Park campground in Michigan. We used this pack while hiking on the beautiful trails within this state park. This pack fits in as well on the trail as it will in the boardroom, or commuter train. It has a sleek profile and clean, tight lines which give it all the class of a briefcase while offering the versatility of a backpack. I expect it to last many years of regular use.

What I like most about this pack:

1. Quality construction with a compact, efficient use of space.

2. The specialty pockets hold everything for which they are intended: laptop, smartphone, water bottle / travel mug, etc, while still allowing space for plenty of extra layers, lunch/snacks, etc. It has more volume than it looks like from the outside.

3. It is super comfortable and stays in place even on the bike.

4. The single carrying handle is well-placed, strong, and very comfortable – nice one!

Some things I wish this pack had:

1. A hydration hose “slit. This seems like an oversight, because the main pouch easily holds a large water bladder.

2. A waist-belt, making it more comfortable with the pack weighed down.

3. An integrated rain fly. I am afraid to get this pack dirty – it looks too nice!

Product Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNbzM_-q2EU&t=2s

Product Link: https://journal.roanline.com/2017/01/06/3-pieces-of-gear-to-help-you-weather-winter-in-the-east/

We stayed here with friends for four days in July. The grounds are very well cared for. All the utilities were well placed. We stayed in sites 82 and 83 overlooking the pond. Our sides were gravel pull in with a small concrete patio and walkway on the passenger side. As a few others noted, there is no bath house or restrooms. We don’t mind as we never use the facilities at campgrounds. Wineries abound in the area but we chose to visit 4 lighthouses and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Buy some cherries when in season!

This state park has a lot of sites.  It is very wooded and some of the sites can be difficult to get into. There is beach access with a pedestrian bridge going across US31 to get between the campground and the beach. There is also a paved bike path that gets you to a lot of local restaurants and other activities. It is a short drive to downtown Traverse City and Old Mission Peninsula. Leelanau Peninsula and Sleeping Bear Dunes are about a 30-40 minute drive. This is a noisy campground due to the traffic on US 31 and its proximity to the airport.

Campground Review: This very popular campground is a few miles from downtown Traverse City, on the edge of Grand Traverse East Bay, Lake Michigan and fills up very quickly during the summer months. It is open year-round though and the fall is gorgeous in Michigan. As a city-based campground, it has many amenities and makes for a great alternative to paying much higher prices for the hotels, motels, and B&B’s in the area. This is a nicely wooded campground, and though the sites are spacious, they are rather close to each other, so not much privacy. But, given that this campground provides direct access to the TART Bike Trail (which can use to get to Traverse City, the Leelanau Wine Trail, or many other points north) and there is a safe, over-the-road walking bridge that takes you to the beach on the bay, we didn’t spend much time IN the campground itself. The various sites accommodate everything from small tents to large RV’s and all come with electricity. There are even two small camping cabins available for rent. The immaculately clean bathrooms and showers are free to campers. Firewood and ice are available onsite by the office. The only major drawbacks are that you can hear the road (which is pretty busy most days) and there are railroad tracks next to the campground (though we never heard a train and were told that it was infrequent).

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loWrZLOItQc

Product Review: As a Ranger for the Dyrt, I get gear to review from time to time. On this excursion, we took the Saris Freedom SuperClamp 2-Bike Rack for a test spin while camping and wine tasting via the Leelanau Bike Path, which is accessible from Traverse City State Park in Traverse City, MI. We were in the market for another bike rack and had researched various racks just before this one arrived. We think this is a pretty good option for the price point.

What I like about this rack:

1. It secures to the vehicle trailer hitch via a threaded bolt rather than a pin; this holds the rack securely and minimizes swaying of the bikes as we go down the road. A locking attachment to this bolt discourages theft of the entire rack.

1. The bikes are held securely by clamping to the wheels and don’t contact the frame. Our previous bike rack was a hanging rack which did some damage to the paint job on our frames --NOT an issue with this rack.
2. The rack is very easy to use, simple to set up, and holds the bikes securely.
3. It comes with a lifetime warranty. When our first rack arrived, one of the plastic wheel cups was cracked, but one quick call to the company and we had a whole new rack within a few days. Nice!

Room for improvement:

1. The integrated locking cables stow away within the frame of the rack, which is cool; but they aren’t long enough to thread through the high-clearance frame of my husband’s mountain bike – so we can only lock down his back wheel not the frame. The cable will accommodate most traditional bike frames, but they aren’t thick enough to really secure the bikes for anything longer than a run into the grocery store anyway, so we’re adding another lock when necessary.
2. The straps which secure the wheels are a little awkward to use, both securing and releasing. You have to use two hands to do this, and reaching the straps for the bike closest to the vehicle is a bit tricky.
3. When the bikes are off the rack and it is folded into its storage configuration, we have no problem opening the tailgate of our truck; but, with both bikes on the rack, getting into the back of the truck is difficult. If you have a hatchback, make sure the bikes are the last thing you load up!

Product Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpgajt1V1Yc

Product Link: https://www.saris.com/product/superclamp-2

We have stayed here several times. Wooded sites and a decent amount of space. The staff is friendly and they are very helpful in finding a good site based on what you are looking for. The campground is convenient to Sleep Bear Dunes, Traverse City and all the nearby activities. I would give it 5 stars but it is a bit pricey. We always stay at the RV Park and not the Resort. The Resort is for big rigs only.

If you are looking for a camping getaway, this may not be the place for you. It is always bustling with action, but can be lots of fun! I would definitely say this is geared more towards children and families than an escape into nature. There is a camp store, turbo bikes, a variety of family activities, a pool, playground, bike park, equipment and rentals, laundry facility, cabins, cottages, and yurts for rent. This is also a pet friendly campground, so there are many dogs. Probably one of my favorite parts was dodgeball... and the multiple bike trails that connect to the VASA trail system.

Came up here for my anniversary getaway with my fiancé, booked for two nights and the second day had an emergency come up and had to leave! I let Jamie know and without asking or expecting, she refunded me and wished me luck with our situation. The cabin was cute and cozy, I slept like a baby, definitely going to come here again. Thank you so much Jamie!

We were here over July 4 in mini cabin. We had been back country camping before that so were happy to have a cabin for a couple nights. Mini cabin is at tip of park with nice view of lake Michigan sunsets. Cabin had mini fridge, coffee pot, ceiling fan, and I think a heater for winter. 2 sets of sturdy bunk beds. Camp sites were packed with RVs and tents. I don't think I've ever seen a more crowded camp ground. Many campers brought their own bikes, kayaks, boats so there must be lake access nearby but definitely not from this park. Beach inaccessible due to high lake waters. Outhouse was clean and well maintained. Showers a short walk away.

older campground high above beach, couple camper cabins. beautiful views of lake michigan. can get to beach by stairs or short drive to beach without climbing stairs

Great site for first time campers or when you want to just get away quickly without having to take lots of equipment and supplies. Nice little camp store and pizza restaurant on site. Great playground, evening activities. Nice mix of electric hook up, R.V. and tent sites. Boat rentals, etc. Great place for a group of families to come camp together. Staff at the campground are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.