Best Dog-Friendly 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.

We stayed at this campground very last minute.  We decided the day before to go up to sleeping bear dunes for the weekend, and all the reservations across western Michigan were full, so we picked this one to try first come first served, and got lucky!  Only 45-60 min from Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Perfect for people coming from Southern Michigan wanting to beat traffic at the end of the weekend!

This is a great rustic state forest campground. It seems to be easier to get a site here when the neighboring sleeping bear dunes campgrounds are full.

It is first come first serve but we went on a beautiful summer weekend and could still get a site. We brought our kayaks and would recommend bringing two vehicles so you can put in higher up the river, if you try to kayak up the river from this campground to float back down you will feel like you are in an infinity pool, the flow is very strong in this part of the platte river.

If you stay it’s worth the drive 30 minutes north to visit Glen Arbor for the day!

pros

less crowded, sites have large spacing inbetween, great platte river viewing, feels like you are deep in the outdoors camping, $15 site fee is a great price, clean water pumps and vault toilets, 30 minutes from sleeping bear dunes and 15 minutes from the shores of Lake Michigan.

considerations

This campground is for tents and small trailers, it’s rustic so no electric hook up, no hand sanitizer in bathrooms,

Overall the campground has a very pleasant and rustic charm. The foliage helps create privacy but the campsites are close in proximity overall. The one warning that should be more clearly indicated is that there is poison ivy surrounding every single site so please be aware if you have pets and small children. The fact that there was so much poison ivy is the only reason I gave it four stars. Lake Michigan is a short walk away and you are able to walk to sleeping bear dunes along the beach. For those who would like convenience Glen Arbor is only five minutes down the main road and has a ton of restaurants, parks and a nice grocery store.

Had a great stay at Platte River Campground. Sites are spacious and wooded. 30 and 50 amp service, but no water. Hiking to Lake Michigan, bike trails, Sleeping Bear Dunes just a short drive away. For those with dogs, Esch Beach, at the end of Esch Road, is about 10 minutes by car and dog friendly. The beach where the Platte River met Lake Michigan was a favorite of our kids.

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.

Camped here in late October. Small rustic campground right on shores of Lake Michigan in Sleeping Bear Dunes. So beautiful-quick walk to the most beautiful beach. Expected to see sunsets but surprised with awesome sunrises! Fall colors the best. Pit toilets but does have water filling station and dumping station! Most sites suitable for tents and small campers but there are a couple of sites where larger RVs can fit. Nearby Glen Arbor so quaint. Can see why Sleeping Bear Dunes voted most beautiful beach in America. Loved that they had separate sites for those using generators (I personally find the noise of those sooooo irritating!). Even in fall campground was mostly filled on weekend but very quiet.

One of the best campgrounds in Sleeping Bear Dunes area.

We camped at the rustic sites, and they were absolutely wonderful. Sleeping Bear Dunes would be rivaling Wilderness State Park and/or Hiawatha NF on the Lake Michigan coast in the UP as my favorite, #1 spot I’ve ever camped/visited. Most of the state parks in Michigan along the Lake Michigan coast have cool sand dunes, and they’re all relatively similar in their spectacular beauty and overall area they cover. Sleeping Bear Dunes is on a completely different level. I’d say it’s area is about 10 times the square mileage as most other parks along the coast. It is massive, provides the ultimate dune hikers dream hike, and everyone loves the sand dune climb. We only spent 3 days there on our summer expedition, and I left feeling like I missed so much…this is a place where I’d want to go back and post up for a 1-2 week deal, and just be there. Sleeping Bear Dunes is truly a magical place, and it’s obvious now after visiting why it’s renowned in countless blogs, magazines, reviews, etc. as one of the most beautiful places on Earth, not just America. I absolutely cannot wait to go back. I think I might actually go up there this winter for an adventure and see what the winter life is all about up there. Also, the whole Leelanau area is rich in Native American history, which I would encourage anyone visiting the area to brush up on and research a little bit about for an optimal spiritual experience.

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.

This is hands down my absolute favorite spot in Michigan (so far). They have primitive campsites too, if you choose to go that route like we do. Right on Lake Michigan, and you can even see the sleeping bear dunes about 10 miles north of the beach. If you go at the right tone in the fall, you will even see salmon jumping out of Platte River which is really cool!

We arrived at this campground at about 5 pm on a Friday afternoon in August.  There were several of the 25 or so sites still available.  A quiet place to spend the weekend and great access to the middle stretch of Platte River.

This is NOT the NPS campground associated with Sleeping Bear Dunes NP, but rather a State Forest Campground operated by the Michigan DNR.

Loop 4 is no electric but modern bathrooms- keeps out most motor homes, mostly tents in this part. sleeping Bear Dunes lakeshore with tubing, kayaking on Olatte ending in lake MI

Very nice campground on southern end of Sleeping Bear Dunes. Sites very large and spaced so there is privacy. Wooded with trees so beautiful in fall. Very nice bathrooms and private showers with hot water year round! Great hiking trails. Near Lake Michigan-approx 1.2 mile walk to huge beach. Very quiet although could hear some road noise from loop 1. Fire pits have cooking rack. Highly recommend!!

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!

One of my Favorite places in Michigan to camp. Out of the way without being out of the way. The walk in sites are a very short walk and well away from the other sites. The drive in sites are the same. Very nice maintained sites throughout the park. Showers and running toilets when you need to feel civilized again. Nice hike Lake Michigan. Short distance and great paddle down platte river. Lot's of stuff to do in the area including Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glenn Arbor, and my favorite, the Cherry Bowl Drive In. Perfect for the Novice Camper to the most experienced bushcraft camper.

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

we first passed by this campground on a canoe trip along the manistee river, and flagged it to return to stay another time. we finally went last fall with our pup and had a really nice, peaceful weekend trip. our site was spacious and wooded, gorgeous colors in the fall. there aren't very many sites and they are spaced out well. only two other sites occupied all weekend.

it was cold and rainy so we passed on hiking. we decided instead to drive around and explore the traverse city area and some of the dog friendly parts of sleeping bear dunes national lakeshore. had a great time and would definitely recommend it

we were hoping to come back this spring and backpack the fife lake loop, with one night camping here. seems like a great spot for that kind of trip. coronavirus got in the way, but we might try again in the fall.

The campground was very shady and situated right on the lake. We stayed in Site #50 and could carry our kayaks across a small grassy field to put in at the edge of the lake. All the sites were full hookup. There was a laundry, playground and swimming area in the lake. The owners and people working in the office were really nice. We enjoyed exploring the area, especially Sleeping Bear Dunes, Sutton's Bay, Leland and Northport. The bike paths from Sutton's Bay to Traverse City and from Pyramid Point to Empire were fantastic!

This rustic campground is setteled on a ridge overlooking Lake Ann. Camp offers outhouses and water hand pumps. Previous times I've been here we could beach our boat right on the shoreline down from camp. Across the the road from the campground is the Lake Ann Pathway which offers hiking through forested hills, along the Platte river, and along the shore of a small scenic lake. Located only a couple miles from the village of Lake Ann, you're only about 20 minutes from traverse city, and 30 minutes from the world famous sleeping bear dunes.

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!