Escape into nature and disconnect from daily life with glamping near Tawas City. Glamping near Tawas City is especially popular among campers who enjoy beds and electricity. These scenic and easy to access Michigan glamping locations are perfect for any adventurer.
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79134_79210---,00.html
$20 - $50 / night
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply/rec-pp
Welcome to Old Orchard Park Campground located in beautiful Oscoda, Michigan! We have camping sites for all types and sizes of campers, tents and pop ups!We also have cabins, yurts and group camping areas. For your convenience, camping sites at Old Orchard Park are available by reservation. Campers are now able to make a reservation online by clicking the “reserve now” button below to check site availability and reserve a site. Join us for a outdoor experience to make memories that will last a lifetime!
We invite you to visit or stay in beautiful Old Orchard Campground, which is one of the largest campgrounds in Northeast Michigan. Located within the Huron-Manistee National Forest, along the River Road Scenic Byway, the park which is nearly four miles long, overlooks Foote Pond, which formed after the construction of Foote Dam in 1916, on the AuSable River. The park is open from March 15 thru November 30 each year, with plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities for all three seasons therein. This public recreation facility is part of a Consumers Energy Hydroelectric Dam Project licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and is operated under the authority of the Township of Oscoda.
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79134_79210---,00.html
Park Features
$40 - $50 / night
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply/rec-pp
Jewell Lake Campground Jewell Lake Campground is located on the east side of the 193-acre Jewell Lake. This lake offers a wide variety of fishing and boating opportunities. A snowmobile trail runs through the area during the winter months.
$15 / night
Scout
First off, old orchard is on property that is owned by Consumers Powers Energy. They allow certain numbers of reservable sites and are slowly opening up more land to create more camping sites and standing Yurts. I love old orchard. We had our camper on one site for three months but had to pay for 3 weeks at a time. Our site was very large and it was very quiet on the fill hookup did of the park. Most of the staff is helpful and some even will teach the RV newbies how to care for their camper.
The area around the park has several areas of interest including Lumbermans monument, iargo springs, and downtown Oscoda on lake Huron. It is on the banks of the Ausable river. Kayaking, boating, pontooning, fishing-all beautiful. There is just North of the park an off shoot road that goes to Champagne Hill where people have large homemade slip and slide mats to slide down the steep sand dunes into the water. People bring their pontoons, boats and watercraft and all meet up at different locations and have a great time. The campground has a small beach but it has not been allowed to be fully developed due to consumers energy wanting a natural rustic feel to the park. Yes it is hard to get in, on a first come first serve basis, but that is because it is a great place to stay.... I give this place 5 stars. I love it there
Scout
Great campground at the top of Michigan's thumb. Close to fishing, kayaking and a great beach.
Guide
This here is one of my favorite campgrounds in Michigan. The facilities are clean and kept up. All access to trails, lakes and the river are close and easy to get to. Great location to bring family and pets.
ScoutPort Crescent is a clean and comfortable campground with great lake views even from sites not on the water. It's also an extremely busy campground so not a place to find silence and solitude, nevertheless with Michigan's state park booking system it's a great option!
Scout
Nice small campground on the shore of Lake Huron in Port Hope Michigan. Back in Full hook up and water/electric sites. Also cabins to rent. Marina in the campground. Most sites are gravel.
Guide
East Tawas is a place I've visited most of my adult life. There's some walking trails here, the lighthouse is a close walk/bike from anywhere in the park. Getting to town is a few minute drive, or a very long bike ride on the road.
Like most Michigan State Parks, your site has electric (30/50) only. Water spigots are located in various spots throughout the park. I advise you fill your freshwater tank at home, or when you arrive, at the dump station.
There's a few ADA sites with concrete pads, all others are grass. Comfort stations are in good shape.
Beaches are, like most in Michigan, eroded due to high water levels, but still useable.
You can watch sunrise on the Lake Huron side, sunsets over Tawas Bay.
I've never really interacted with staff here, but never needed to. Park is clean. There can be lineups at the dump station.
A few sites are pull thru. Most back-in.
If you have a vehicle, there's many places to see in the area, like Lumberman's Monument. Tawas has a nice farmers market, worth a visit for fresh veg and other items.
Ranger
I have camped here for years and really like it. The park is huge and there are lots of places to ride your bike. It's a typical Michigan state campground, not much different. Nice bathrooms and big lots.
LegendProbably one of the most popular state parks in Michigan, and for good reason. Most of the park is located on the water and the views are pretty gorgeous. The sites are small, so we usually book two. The grounds offer bathrooms and showers, as well as electric and water for RVs. No rustic options available, so all sites are $35 per night. The campground is located only a few short minutes from the launch site for Turnip Rock, so it’s become very popular for weekend trips.
TravelerLocation is excellent. This is a well maintained park, fantastic beaches and nice trails. I arrived on a Thursday and left Sunday. The sites are on the small side without any barriers, which was fine midweek. On the weekend, overcrowding was the norm. This was my first experience at a Michigan state park, and I do not know if others have designated spaces based on the size of the RV or tent. This would make a more pleasant experience for campers. My guess is the park was designed long before people hauled around a 30 foot camper. No park rangers facilitated parking that I could see, and clearly you should book your spot as early as possible.
Midweek 5 stars, Weekend 1
GuideWe got lucky for a spur of the moment weekend get away and scored the perfect site at a campground we had never been to before. It's a busy campground.. but this site made us feel like we were in our own little world. The lake was only a few yards from our tent. There is also a dark sky preserve there which worked out perfectly for the meteor shower that was going on that weekend. One of my favorite camping trips ever... it was just gorgeous. I booked online through the michigan parks website. There must have been a cancelation that I got lucky and grabbed. It really was the perfect camp site.
Traveler
This is one of the worst campgrounds I have ever been to. The bathrooms and showers close at 10pm, and the restrooms themselves are nasty, the showers cost $2 (in quarters) for 6 minutes of lukewarm water, the locals are hostile to unfamiliar faces, and to top it off, the rental ATVs and dirt track to ride them on is o ly separated from the campsites by a board fence, so expect to hear all kinds of small engines zipping by at all hours. The RV trailers for rental are all used trailers circa 1995 and "refurbished", which entails a quick coat of interior paint and laminate flooring screwed to the floors with drywall screws. Guests who have rented the RV trailers are instructed to not use the showers in their trailers. Absolutely not worth the money, would rate 0 stars if I could. If you are looking for a camping experience that puts you in the heart of upper Michigan redneck territory, this is the place for you. If you want a good experience, look elsewhere.
LegendGeneral: One of six Huron County parks in Michigan’s “thumb”. This park is open from May 1– October 15. Three different types of campsites (Lake view, FHU, and two rustic areas) plus six cabins. Like other county parks, day use and camping areas are next to each other. The sunrises are beautiful!
Site Quality: All sites are level with gravel pads. There is zero privacy between sites. Sites 1-4 in the Lakeview section are pull-through. All other sites are back in. Both rustic sites are truly tent-only; it was not clear where cars would park, and only one of these sites (in the back of the campground) was occupied when we were there.
Bath/Shower house: Located directly across the road from the Lakeview sites and at the end of the FHU sites. They were reasonably clean. For some unknown reason, the bugs tend to congregate in the women’s bathhouse but not in the men's. This was confirmed by the park host and my husband, who could not understand why I mentioned how many bugs there were! Did not use the shower.
Activities: Small beach– not clear if it allowed swimming but it appeared to. Older plus a newer playground. Saw some boys with fishing poles. Horseshoe courts, tennis courts plus ball field. The tennis courts looked a bit sad, however.
We were lucky to snag Site 1 on the day before the Labor Day weekend started; this site has no neighbors on one side. This is hands down the best site for RVs or campers but if you are tent camping, I’d recommend the waterfront rustic sites (1-10) would be the best sites. Besides the rustic sites, the campground was completely full on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. It was just a pass-through for us on our way to Canada, but I am glad I made reservations a few months in advance!
LegendGeneral: A real hodgepodge of options: paved sites, sandy sites, some with electric, hammock sites, several different types of cabins, and domes. Our stay was in 2023, and this review is based on that, but the campground was closed for the 2024 season for upgrades.
Site Quality: Varies greatly. We were able to secure two different sites for our two-night stay. Upon arrival, however, we doubted we would be able to navigate our 18-foot camper van into Site 58– it was sandy, narrow with trees, and cars were parked alongside the narrow access road, making backing in very difficult to impossible. We were able to switch to Site 69 for the first night. The second night we were in site 56 and enjoyed listening to the waves lapping up against the shore. Not all sites are level. Little privacy/separation between sites but if you can score a waterfront site, then it’s all good. Sites 93, 95, 95A, 98, 99A, 101, 103, 105, and 107 back up to the old river channel and the water was very stagnant and green. The beachfront sites mostly have nice views of Saginaw Bay/Lake Huron but be cautious when selecting: some are sand and not level. You will hear road noise from M25 on the 19 sites that back up to the road (and also some of the sites opposite these).
Bath/Shower: Two bathhouses (east and west) plus a couple of vault toilets. The East Bathhouse was very modern and clean. The West Bathhouse looked to be a bit older but still seemed fine.
Activities/Amenities: Beach access, fishing, swimming, and an observation platform for bird watching or night sky viewing (the weather did not cooperate to check these out). There are nearby hiking trails, a playground, a basketball hoop, and a horseshoe pit. There is a dump station. Kudos to Michigan for extensive recycling!
We arrived late at night, and I was able to get in a nice walk around the campground before the rain started, dampening our options for the rest of the day. Obviously, our stay here would have been better with better weather, but I caution you to be careful when reserving your sites based on your type of camping. Despite the abundance of mayflies (gross but not biting) and the muddy sand-covered road from all the rain, we’d stay here again if we could get a beachfront site. We enjoyed our time here and would love to see what improvements were made when the campground was closed (although I thought it was very nice before).
TravelerIt is very nice and extremely clean. However it is kind of cramped. Sites feel close and everyone was very nosey. Pet beach is nice. Water is beautiful. Convenient location. People didn't listen to rules such as quiet hour and let their badly behaved dogs run loose. Bath house is extremely nice! All in all, I would camp here on an off day/season.
TravelerThis is a nice big campground within a short walk of lake huron and a beautiful light house. Camp sites are all very close together providing very little privacy. Bathrooms were clean with private individual shower stalls and hot water. Lots of big RVs and family campers here. Overall nice place.
TravelerYou can climb a lighthouse and look out 30+ miles. Two swimming beaches. Dog beach. A few trails to walk on, not many to ride bikes.
TravelerThe campsites themselves are sadly devoid of much shade, and only a few even have a water view. But the dog beach, a bit of a walk down the trail towards the lighthouse, surely exceeded our expectations. Most places designate barely usable waterfront areas to dog beach. At first glance, the dog beach doesn't appear to be inviting, as the beach itself is narrow and rooty. But once you start to go in the water, it becomes clear that this beach is quite simply lovely, even for human use. The shallows go out quite far, and is pleasantly sandy. The water is warmer than on the Huron side of the point, too. While campground itself is a bit blah, the dog beach gives it an extra star for me. My only suggestion would be to add dispensers for poop bags, like other state parks have, in case of an unfortunate moment of being unprepared, and more trash barrels. (turned out we were near the end of our roll of bags, so our trip was cut short.
TravelerA lot of fun things for kids, lots of adventures. Close to town.
ScoutThe site is clean, staff are great and the facilities are top notch. I’m going to stay here again. My only con to this property is the beach is small and kayak access is very primitive.
RangerTawas Bay is an awesome area to visit in the summer, and this state park is about the best camping you can get in the area. We stayed on site 70, and while it was crowded, we didn’t mind. We were close by to the boat launch, and just a short walk to the bathroom; not too far and not too close either. The bathrooms were clean, stocked, and had hot water for the showers whenever we needed it. On the opposite side of the bathroom, there’s even a full dishwashing sink, something I have yet to see at another campground. The ranger station has firewood and ice for sale, as well as maps and activity lists. As far as things to do at the campground, there are plenty of trails, including one leading to the lighthouse at the end of the point, as well as kayaks for rent at the boat launch. One thing I have to recommend it waking up early to catch the sunrise over Lake Huron. It is amazing! If you’re more of a night owl, sunsets are equally as great looking over the bay.
Locally there are tons of places to eat and things to do. Catch a sailboat race through the bay, head to any of the many beaches, or even walk through the small downtown. If you have a sweet tooth like me, there’s a super good chocolate shop called the Village Chocolatier, and an amazing place for ice cream called Marion’s. Totally recommend visiting Tawas, and staying at Tawas Point State Park!
GuideWe enjoy the water and the lighthouse. Lots of room to ride your bike. We also like to hit up the public beach. Sites are meh.
GuideWe got at this site late, and it was completely crowded! Campers were almost touching! Way too close!
TravelerThe park is very clean. Some sites are small, some are larger. Have visited many times. Fun interpretive programs for adults and kids. Beautiful beach to spend the day on. Located close to town. Lots of areas to walk as well. Not pet friendly though, they are allowed at the sites, but not on the beach.
TravelerThis campground is as about crowded as Yosemite floor campgrounds. you are right up on top of every one and their mammoth 5th wheels. everyone is super friendly. Dog beach is NOT a beach but a wood walk way out to an area where your swimming dogs can swim. birding trails are great. Bring a repellent for biting flies. watch for many kids bombing around on their bikes & bike trails.
GuideAlways packed, very little cover, but surrounded by memorable beaches, walking trails, and not far from town (if you feel the need to be a tourist).
TravelerOur family loves this campground- it has a nice playground, and beach volleyball court near the entrance. There’s a nice sandy beach that faces Tawas Bay in the campground, the public beach on Lake Huron has rougher water and more rocks. there’s even a separate dog friendly beach. They have been replacing some of the old fire pits.
RangerWe had a family reunion here and it was amazing. The campground itself was a bit packed but still worth every minute. The Lighthouse was awesome and the trail from it was beautiful. Saw plenty of wildlife and had great views. There is great access to the beach and the lil snack shack on the pier had excellent burgers. There is a beach right off the bay side of the campground, and another on the Lake Huron side. They even have a dog-friendly beach, which is unusual for state parks I've been to. Looking forward to going back again.
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