Ada R.
Traveler
TravelerBrasswire Campground
Simple county campground
Nice grassy areas around spacious sites, though no trees or shrubbery between sites. Clean toilets and access to multiple trails in the adjacent forest.
Camping near Trenary, MI
148 campgrounds · Check availability for any dates.
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Campgrounds surrounding Trenary, Michigan range from established, reservation-based sites to more primitive forest camping areas throughout the Upper Peninsula. The Hiawatha National Forest encompasses many of these camping areas, with Au Train Lake Campground and Hovey Lake Campsites offering waterfront locations approximately 15-20 miles from Trenary. Most sites accommodate both tent and RV camping, though hookup availability varies significantly. Forest Lake State Forest Campground near Chatham provides electric hookups with access for boats, while Munising Tourist Park Campground offers more developed amenities including showers, water hookups, and sewer connections for visitors seeking modern conveniences.
Road conditions and seasonal availability strongly impact camping experiences in the region. Many campgrounds operate from May through September or early October, closing during harsh winter months. "We reserved our site online. Having never been before we didn't really know what to expect. It was nothing less than perfect. Tucked away in a silent wooded area. Paved roads all the way in. 15 minutes from Munising," noted one visitor about Au Train Lake Campground. Cell service can be limited at more remote sites, with areas closer to Munising and Marquette offering better connectivity. Forest Service roads accessing some campgrounds may require higher clearance vehicles, especially during spring runoff periods or after heavy rainfall. Campers should come prepared with adequate supplies as convenience stores and markets are limited outside of the larger towns.
Waterfront camping receives consistently positive reviews throughout the area, with Lake Superior and inland lake access being major draws. Sites at Superior Times and Otter Lake Campground offer water views paired with amenities like electric hookups, showers, and trash collection. Several visitors mentioned appreciating the spacious, private sites separated by wooded areas that provide shade and natural screening between campers. Wildlife sightings are common, with one camper reporting seeing "a porcupine hanging out in a tree and eating leaves, deer and a turkey." Proximity to natural attractions represents another significant advantage, as most campgrounds provide convenient access to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, hiking trails, and fishing opportunities. For visitors seeking more solitude, the state forest campgrounds typically offer quieter experiences with fewer amenities but more natural surroundings.
Best Campgrounds near Trenary (148)
1. Munising Tourist Park Campground
"AMAZING views of Lake Superior just steps away from the camp site. Spots don't stay empty for long. The RV park stays full"
"If you can’t get into the campgrounds in Pictured Rocks this site is a good alternative due to its proximity (three miles) the downtown and the entrance to the park. "
from $29 - $45 / night
Check Availability2. Au Train Lake Campground
"Tucked away in a silent wooded area. Paved roads all the way in. 15 minutes from Munising. Was a perfect hideaway for us driving from SW michigan over memorial day weekend."
"Small, remote campground, located on a nice size inland lake in Hiawatha National Forest. Close to Au Train, Munising and Pictured Rock National Lakeshore."
from $26 / night
Check Availability3. Otter Lake Campground & Lodge
"Otter Lake Campground is nestled within the Hiawatha National Forest and a close driving distance to Munising, Michigan."
"Was about 5 minutes outside Munising. Great place to stay if your planning on visiting pictured rocks. It’s right on the lake too with boat rentals if you just want to hang around your campsite."
from $20 - $38 / night
Check Availability4. Bay Furnace Campground
"It's a small campground, but very near the lake, and the coolest part is the old blast furnace (hence the name of the camp on the bay) on display."
"Convenient to Pictured Rocks, which is why we made this trip to Michigan."
from $26 / night
Check Availability5. Forest Lake State Forest Campground
"Near Au Train Falls. On 8 mile Forest Lake, with access. $15/night. Walk-in and lake sites. Beautiful, quiet spot with many regulars. Great for respectful campers. Great Dark Sky View!"
"Clean campground with access to the reservoir."
6. Superior Times
"We opted for the rustic campground which still allowed access to the bathroom and showers, but was secluded from the cabin and RV area. The lake access was great! Warm water and good fishing."
"Outhouse and showers were clean Electric hook up
Filled water at dump station We stayed in site 10 it was quiet and away from the core of the noise
Friendly staff Seasonals were a little wild and"
from $20 - $200 / night
Check Availability7. Hovey Lake Campsites
"There is a small store/restaurant nearby too. We didn’t see hiking trails but we found a lot of atv trails. Some people were walking along the road."
"There was a little trail right to the waters edge at our site, nice and sandy (dont need water shoes) We spent most of our time there soaking up the sun in our tubes. Very quiet secluded site."
8. Haymeadow Creek NF Campground
"Even though this campground is a decent distance from the main road, the way out is paved. This was unexpected but there are plenty of unpacked side roads to explore."
"The loop is also directly connected to a cheeky little waterfall trail. Nice and out of the way"
9. Pete's Lake Campground
"Petes Lake is a great campground tucked in the Hiawatha National Forest. The campground is located about 15 minutes south of Munising. "
"One interesting thing is that there are information plaques around camp giving you something to learn as you walk through camp. We’ve never seen this before- it’s a nice touch."
from $24 - $50 / night
Check Availability10. Widewaters Campground
"This is a small (35 sites) heavily wooded campground in the Hiawatha National Forest and makes for a great place to camp where you can get away and be surrounded by nature, yet you are only a dozen miles"
"It is a peaceful and quite campground with a lake and a river, and beach it is away from everything the stars at night really shine here. The caretakers and really cool and nice people. "
from $26 / night
Check Availability
Drive Time
- 2 hrs 19 min from Green Bay, WI
- 2 hrs 39 min from Appleton, WI
- 3 hrs 30 min from Wausau, WI
- 4 hrs 18 min from Traverse City, MI
Recent Camping Photos near Trenary, MI
261 Photos of 148 Trenary Campgrounds • uploaded by The Dyrt campers
Recent Reviews near Trenary, MI
713 Reviews of 148 Trenary Campgrounds
- MMathew S.
GuideNorth Gemini Lake State Forest Campground
Quiet Lakefront Campground
Nice well kept campground. Plenty of sites along the water. Seems a bit more unknown compared to other sites in the area as I was struggling to find somewhere with open spots until I came here. Also, despite being a small lake it was great for fishing, I caught plenty of northerns and my personal best smallmouth.
- AAlex R.Traveler
Lake Superior Beachfront (US Forest Land)
Beautiful Site, got stuck BAD, “no camp” signs. Idk what that means.
This spot is beautiful for someone with a 4x4. Unfortunately my rear wheel drive tundra did not make it very far. That said, I walked the remaining 100 feet to the site, right on Lake Superior. There are local walkers, I encountered about 5 - 8 teams walking the beaches.
- Charlie Y.Guide
Kewadin Casino Manistique
Overnight RV stop
Decent RV Site...lot adjacent to casino...economically priced..30/50 amp hook up. We stopped late in the evening needing a secure, safe site for a night....cross country RV travelers. Highly recommend...couldn't be easier or more convenient considering our routing and needs(mosquitos enjoyed our visit...so we didn't spend much time outside....but did venture in the casino for a visit)
Emily A.GuideHaymeadow Creek NF Campground
Forest vibes, mosquitos present
There were no open sites when we got here on a Thursday afternoon so we had to stay in an overgrown site. It was very shaded from the trees so it was not great for our solar capabilities. Loved that there was a cute trail nearby though. No cell service for us with Verizon, only way to get it was to go 10 miles by the main turn in road. There’s no big towns nearby so you had to travel quite a ways for groceries etc. Campsites a bit close to one another for my taste but everyone was respectful so it was peaceful and lovely otherwise! Mosquitos were around definitely.
- bbrittany G.
ScoutKewadin Casino, Christmas MI
I wouldn’t come here for gambling or to park
I saw on a different app that they had overnight parking with free electric hookup, no fee was mentioned. I called at 7:45pm and spoke with a guy in security and asked “Is it enough space to set up a tent there?” and he said “Yeah, you can put it on the pavement in a parking spot, we had a group of bikers here that did that not too long ago.” Verbatim. I asked if he happened to know if there were spaces available and he said yeah theres..1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 empty spaces right now. I said alright, great, thank you, have a good night. He said youre welcome, you too. I arrived at 8pm, set up my tent, which is a small 2 person tent, just me and my dog. I moved my jeep to a regular parking spot in the middle of the lot. Then i went inside to use the restroom and asked about buying some used playing cards, spent $20 in slots and came back out to sit in my jeep until about midnight when I went to my tent and got settled into bed. Then a guy comes out at 12:35am and says “Hey, we don’t allow tents here.” I explained that I had explicitly asked someone in security if it was ok to set up a tent and he said yes. The guy went back in and asked the manager about it, came back out with a second security employee and said we dont allow tents. I asked who was working security around 7:45 and they said theres 3 security employees and neither of them two took a phone call from someone asking about a tent. I asked ok then who is the 3rd person? They said we can’t give that information but you’re welcome to come in and talk to the manager. Did you pay for this spot? I said the guy I spoke with on the phone never told me I needed to pay but I can do that. He said well we don’t allow tents, this is RV only and they come in at all times of the night so if you want to come talk to the manager, you can. I said ok I’ll be packed up in ten minutes. So I went in at 12:50, they close at 1AM. As i walked in i heard the announcement saying the casino closes in 10 minutes, please print your tickets and make your way to the cashier to cash out. I asked the security guy “can you get your manager, please?”he said we close in 10 minutes but I’ll get her for you. I said “I know.” I simply wanted to tell her that she should make sure all her employees are on the same page and to avoid this problem in the future, she should inform the employee that gave me incorrect information of what the rules are. The security gaurd went over to the door where the managers office is, whispered back and forth for a few seconds, closes the door and says she busy, we’re locking the doors now, you need to leave. I said you just told me less than 10 minutes ago that i could speak with her. He said yeah that was when we were open, now we’re closed and you need to leave. I said you just told me you guys close in 10 minutes..? And what did that announcement just say? He hesitated because he knew it said they were closing in 10 minutes but he said its to let ppl know that they need to bring their tickets to the cashier. And i said so they have 10 minutes to do that… he said per the manager, we are locking the doors now and you need to leave. I said i just don’t understand why you said i could speak with her, you said you’re open for another 10 minutes but now 30 seconds later you’re closed? The manager then gets on the walkie talkie and asked if he’s good and he responded shes not leaving, can you get tribal on the phone? She gave a really enthusiastic “I’M ON IT!” And the guy tells me theyve got tribal on the way so i need to leave. His voice was shaky and he seemed like a ball of nerves. Im a single female in my late 20s. There was no reason for him to be so worked up. I never raised my voice, I didn’t cuss, I didnt even give the impression that I was upset. When he told me I couldn’t be there I politely explained that I specifically called and asked security about it and then when he came back outside i said ok ill be packed up in 10 minutes, I didn’t argue or give them any trouble about it. So i just kind of laughed and shook my head and left. The fact that they waited until 25 minutes until closing, well past midnight, to come tell me to leave, the fact that my tent had been there for 4 hours at that point, the fact that there were 5 other open spaces, the fact that I was told I could speak to the manager and then she was unwilling to do so, and the fact that I’m still in the parking lot because Im not about to find another place to camp at 1am and its now past 3am and not a single other RV has pulled in, all has left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I just think they handled the situation very poorly, in my opinion. I understand that the spaces are meant for RVs, though the information on the other app did not mention that but I called ahead to confirm it was ok. They could have made an exception, made 20 more dollars than i already put in their machines, explain that it was a one time thing because of the miscommunication, or at the very least the manager could have spoken to me face to face. I’m also wondering, if RVs come in at all hours of the night as the secuirty gaurd says, how are they paying the 20$ to be there for the night if the casino is closed? I guess if you need a place for an RV that bad and all the campgrounds around are full like they are tonight, Its a last resort but I think you should give your money to anywhere else than to such an unprofessional business. If you’re in an RV, just go to any other parking lot to sleep. The management here is not good people.
- MMarc V.Traveler
Gitche Gumee RV Park & Campground
Don’t do it
Turned us away after calling ahead and telling us to come, said he didn’t need the money and I politely said ok even though I was miffed about being told to come. He started taking photos of our vehicles even though we told him calmly we were leaving and had no visible aggression towards him. Turned into a weird altercation.
- CChristopher S.Traveler
Bay Furnace Campground
Good experience
Of the 50 available sites all looked private and all are dry sites. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and had no problem finding an available site.
Colleen P.TravelerHerman Lake Dispersed
Isolated and beautiful
Super easy to get to. 1.7 miles of a well maintained gravel road and the last .5 is more dirt but still well maintained.
Guide to Trenary
Campgrounds throughout the Upper Peninsula near Trenary, Michigan cater to diverse camping styles with established facilities like Forest Lake State Forest Campground and Otter Lake Campground & Lodge providing tent and RV accommodations. The Hiawatha National Forest region contains numerous camping options ranging from developed sites with electrical hookups to more rustic experiences. Most campgrounds in this area offer direct access to lakes, rivers, and forest land, with several sites situated along shorelines for water activities.
Camping season generally runs from May through October, with most facilities closed during winter months due to harsh weather conditions. Many campgrounds open around mid-May and close by late September or early October. "Super beautiful campground. Spent 10 days here to visit all the waterfalls, Pictured Rocks, Twelve Mile beach etc. Also just 20 min from beautiful beaches on Lake Superior," notes one camper about Forest Lake State Forest Campground. Road access varies considerably, with some sites requiring travel on unpaved forest roads. Cell service is limited throughout the region, particularly at remote locations like Otter Lake where multiple reviews mention no cell coverage. Campground amenities range from basic (vault toilets and hand pumps for water) to more developed facilities with showers and electrical hookups.
Waterfront sites represent a significant draw for campers visiting the Trenary area. Forest Lake State Forest Campground receives consistently high ratings for its lakefront sites and peaceful setting. As one visitor described it: "Some waterfront sites, the lake was beautiful but we didn't have much luck with fish. Plenty of wood around and water hand pump on grounds." Wildlife viewing opportunities abound with several reviews mentioning loons, sandhill cranes, and osprey. Campgrounds like Otter Lake provide family-friendly amenities including boat rentals, basketball courts, and swimming areas. Many visitors appreciate the secluded nature of camping in this region, with Haymeadow Creek described as having sites that are "spread out" creating a feeling of being "all on your own out here." Most campgrounds maintain clean facilities, with reviewers frequently noting well-maintained bathrooms and showers at the more developed sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
What camping is available near Trenary, MI?
What camping is available near Trenary, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, Trenary, MI offers a wide range of camping options, with 148 campgrounds and RV parks near Trenary, MI and 17 free dispersed camping spots.
Which is the most popular campground near Trenary, MI?
Which is the most popular campground near Trenary, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Trenary, MI is Munising Tourist Park Campground with a 4.2-star rating from 50 reviews.
Where can I find free dispersed camping near Trenary, MI?
Where can I find free dispersed camping near Trenary, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 17 free dispersed camping spots near Trenary, MI.
What parks are near Trenary, MI?
What parks are near Trenary, MI?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 9 parks near Trenary, MI that allow camping, notably Hiawatha National Forest and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
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