Kim E.
Traveler
TravelerL'Anse Township Park & Campground
Peaceful getaway for us and the dogs.
We come up every year for the meteor shower, and every stay is a great one. New shower rooms, and huge dog park are awesome!
Dog-Friendly Camping near Watton, MI
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Sturgeon River Campground offers peaceful camping in Ottawa National Forest with nine wooded sites close to the river. Sites are spacious and well-separated, providing privacy between campers while offering a rustic camping experience for pet owners. Each site features a fire ring, most with cooking grates, lantern hooks, and picnic tables. The campground allows pets throughout the property without restriction, making it ideal for camping with dogs. Vault toilets are available, but no drinking water is provided on site. The rippling sounds of the Sturgeon River drown out most noise, creating a peaceful environment for pets that might be sensitive to campground sounds.
Big Lake State Forest Campground and King Lake State Forest Campground allow pets throughout their facilities while providing access to water recreation. The sites at these campgrounds are large enough for pets to have room to explore while remaining on leash. Campers mention the trails near Sturgeon River Campground are perfect for dog walking, as the North Country Trail winds through this part of the UP. The drive to these campgrounds often leads through pine meadows and wetlands where wildlife is abundant, so dogs should be kept leashed. Vault toilets and hand pump water are available at most campgrounds, but facilities are rustic. Several sites at King Lake offer views directly on the water, providing excellent opportunities for pets that enjoy swimming. The remote locations of these campgrounds mean less crowding and traffic noise that might disturb sensitive animals.
Best Dog-Friendly Campgrounds near Watton (89)
1. Sturgeon River Campground
"You wont know what is happening at the sites around you unless you looking for something to find."
"I'm at site 3 easy access to the river not deep over here, you can post your chair in the river and not get your bum wet."
2. King Lake State Forest Campground
"They seem to fill up because it is fairly close to Canyon Falls. We had just come straight from the falls and talked to some campers who were going the next day. The lake was very quiet a peaceful."
"Arrived around 5 pm on a Tuesday and there were two sites left. We got site 6 which has a good view of the lake, with site 5 in between. We brought a camper trailer but everyone else was renting."
3. Sparrow Rapids Campground
"This was a beautiful small campground with only 6 campsites arranged around a loop and are spaced well. Access to the campground is off of a gravel road which is somewhat narrow."
"We were able to work and talk nice walks while we had free time. A few bars with Verizon and we can log on. Big plus."
4. Baraga State Park Campground
"Nice view of the lake can see at least part of it from almost anywhere in the camp. Picnic table and fire ring on every site. There are several full hook up sites (water sewer electric)."
"There’s a 3/4 mile trail at back of park that well short, is quite nice. The campground itself is quiet, the noise from hwy 41 on the other hand, is noticeable yet not a dealbreaker. "
5. Big Lake State Forest Campground
"The Michigan State Forest Campgrounds continue to delight us. For $15 a night you can experience camping like I did as a child – simple, unelectrified, and in beautiful outdoor locations."
"Way off the beaten path but the sites are HUGE! Quiet setting right on Big Lake. Probably my most beautiful site in the UP so far. Vault toilets and no shower. Very clean. Boat launch."
6. Norway Lake Campground
"This rustic campground although a little off the beaten path, what a great place to get the family together. Very quiet and super clean."
"Camped here as a kid growing up, beautiful place, lots of wildlife, couple hiking trails. A good rustic experience."
from $14 / night
Check Availability7. L'Anse Township Park & Campground
"New shower rooms, and huge dog park are awesome!"
"Great site overlooking Lake Superior. Need to walk over highway to get to water. Very orderly and great Park Manager. Family & pet friendly with awesome playground."
8. Bob Lake Campground
"This is a small simple campground with lovely lakeside tent sites among rather dense trees. If you walk east you’ll find a sandy beach to splash in."
"The forest roads gradually got smaller as we kept driving. Recent rain left muddy areas to be traversed. Trucks and equipment are working here too but on the weekend all was quiet."
9. Van Riper State Park Campground
"Dogs are not allowed on the beach but also cannot be left unattended in your site. The rules are heavily enforced in this park."
"We took a week long trip and toured Michigan. We spent 2 nights at Van Riper, the other campers were nice, the playset was large, and the beach was nice."
from $20 - $34 / night
Check Availability10. Bond Falls Campground
"The lakes are stocked with brook trout and the fishing is amazing. Picnic areas are located near the falls and hiking in the surrounding areas is limitless."
"In the morning, I walked the loop and found several others that we could fit(now that it was light out), and we moved over one site to W6."
Drive Time
- 2 hrs 35 min from Wausau, WI
- 2 hrs 40 min from Green Bay, WI
- 2 hrs 59 min from Appleton, WI
- 3 hrs 17 min from Duluth, MN
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Dog-Friendly Camping Reviews near Watton, MI
467 Reviews of 89 Watton Campgrounds
Debra R.
GuideL'Anse Township Park & Campground
Hidden Gem
Beautiful & clean. Great site overlooking Lake Superior. Need to walk over highway to get to water. Very orderly and great Park Manager. Family & pet friendly with awesome playground.
LE E.TravelerLake Gogebic State Park Campground
Awesome state park
Loved this camping trip. Great park. Super helpful and friendly staff/hosts. Clean bathrooms, pet friendly. Awesome location on Lake Gogebic shore. Close to Porcupine Mountains and Bond Falls and hiking trails. Would love to visit again.
- SSam ..Guide
Van Riper State Park Campground
Van Riper State Park
We stayed at Van Riper State Park three times during June and July. The park is always clean and well-maintained. The bathrooms and showers and generally always nicely maintained as well, and there are plenty of both. The bathrooms do tend to run out of soap and toilet paper at busy times. Dogs are not allowed on the beach but also cannot be left unattended in your site. The rules are heavily enforced in this park. Park staff will ask you to move vehicles if you have more than two, and you will be asked to turn music completely off upon quiet hours. This is not the place to go if you want to party.
Sites 15 and 17, as well as several other sites along that side of that loop, now have a wooden fence at the back of them, so they are not as large as they appear in the photos online.
We have stayed in sites 14, 90 and 93. We travel with a 34’ trailer.
Site 14 is narrow but manageable. It is well-shaded by large pine trees on the site. Site is entirely dirt. There are trees to hang hammocks or clotheslines in.
Site 90 is on a corner by the propane tanks. It is a large site. It does have some roots and low spots. It is partial grass. It has nice shade and is adjacent to the bathrooms. There are trees to hang hammocks or clotheslines.
Site 93 is a large site that backs up to a small grass/tree buffer. It is across the road from the bathrooms. It has nice shade. There is a place to hang a clothesline but not hammocks.
Pros: Clean, well-maintained park
Quiet
Lots of playground equipment
Bike/scooter pump track
Excellent beach area
Lots of green space
Hiking trails
Wood and ice available for purchase at the entrance
Laundry is available; one washer and two dryers
Very kid and pet friendly
Cons: Park website has out of date information, specifically that there is no longer a store on the beach, nor are there kayaks/SUPs to rent
The Water Warrior Island is no longer in the lake
There are very few sites with buffers between
It is sort of far to the beach and laundry from the modern campsites
No non-reservable sites available
Nancy W.
LegendCountry Village RV Park
Nice Place to Stay
This park is located about 15 minutes from the town of Marquette and is a great alternative if you can’t get a site in the Marquette Tourist Park (which is closer to town and very popular in the summer). It is located off US-41 which is a major Upper Peninsula thoroughfare but set back about ½ miles so you don’t get road noise but it is still convenient. The campground is located behind (and within walking distance of) a shopping area that has a meat market, grocery, gas station, movie theater, bowling alley, a few restaurants and a brewery (which has good, inexpensive beer and food). It is also located next to an RV dealer/service center/camp store which is convenient if you need anything. Nearby are some interesting museums including the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and the Michigan Iron Museum. You are only about 20 minutes from the town of Marquette which is worth a visit.
The park and facilities are well-maintained. The restrooms were super clean as was the pool and all the grounds. The people in the office were super nice in helping us pick a site and with information about the area. The park has over 105 RV sites with varying services and some being held by seasonal people. There are lots of amenities (which we did not use) including swimming pool, hot tub, playground, basketball courts, and more. The pool was super crowded and noisy so if you don’t want to hear kids screaming, stay away from sites close to the pool. The park does not take online reservations so you must call them directly.
We were assigned site #104 but could tell our motorhome was not going to get level in the site so we had to straddle the site and park partly in the adjacent grassy area. Luckily, the ground was dry to we didn’t make any deep ruts. Our site did have a nice shade tree on the patio which was welcomed because of the hot weather. The WiFi never worked at our site. We were able to get a clear view of the sky for our satellite television.
- Oona C.Traveler
Spectacle Lake Campground (wisconsin)
Clean rustic lake fun
Nice flat dirt sites, clean water pumps, well maintained toilets and a shared sandy swimming beach. Nice hiking trail runs from Spectacle Lake Campground to Kentuck Lake Campground. Quiet area, close to Phelps, Eagle River and border of Upper Michigan. Boat launch in campground.
MickandKarla W.LegendMcLain State Park Campground
Good Base to Explore the Area
When we got close to the park entrance on MI 123 our GPS wanted us to go another.5 mile to the campground(CG) but a trailer was turning into a state park road so we followed. Good choice as this was the correct road that led to the gate where you register and checked in. The road the GPS was taking us to is currently only used as an exit from the CG. After a not-so-informative check-in, we headed into the park to find water. From the online map, we believed there was a water spigot near our site so we drove to the site only to find it was not a water hose assessable spigot. Then we headed to the dump station where we did find two potable water spigots on each side of the dump station. There was a permanently fixed hose coming out of the spigots, but the first one’s threads were worn out and wouldn’t stay screwed in. We had to wait for another rig to get fresh water and dump before we could move forward to the second one that did screw in so we could fill our fresh water tank. After that, we headed to site 110 that’s an easy back-in but only electric(50 AMP/30/20). The 100s loop is newer and it's big rig friendly with sites nicely spaced apart. Site 110 is probably the most spacious and private site in the CG as it sits in a little berm. Site 112 is nicely spaced, but you will get highway noise. Concerning RV sites in the main CG area, there is a separate tent-only area on the lake, and RV sites closest to the lake tend to be smaller in site length but we saw a couple of 36 to 40-foot 5th wheels with the tow vehicle parked wherever. In the 20 to 40 numbered sites that are not on the lake, we noticed larger class As and a couple of toy haulers. In the mid-30s sites across from the lakeside, large rigs were parked willy-nilly to make their rig fit. All the original sites are pretty much crammed in together but if you want to be where all the action is i.e. partiers and kids, this would be your area. When you get past site 40 there are 90-degree back-in sites of various lengths with most having a lot of trees and vegetation between sites giving more privacy. The 35ish-foot 5th wheels we saw in there, didn’t seem to care about tree branches scraping the roof. One note about the 41- 60s area is that the power boxes are behind every two sites and shared. Depending on how you are positioned on the pad, and where the power cord connects to the rig, you may need about 60’ of power cord to reach the power box. We also noticed on our walks around the CG that due to the poor to nonexistent cell signal here(1 bar on Verizon), people especially teenagers were sitting around talking to each other versus staring at phones. There were plenty of nearby trails to explore with the dogs, including a dog beach. McLain makes a great staging point to explore the area and take in Eagle River and Copper Bay attractions.
Jessica P.GuideCountry Village RV Park
A nice in town campground
Our dd was excited that she could see the McDonald’s golden arches from our site! The campground is clean & well maintained. It was easy for us to park our 35 ft trailer because the sites are large & level, but also because there weren’t any trees along the campground roads. Our kids loved that there is a pool, hot tub & bouncy pillow! This is our 2nd time staying & both were because of its convenience to ‘civilization’ not to get away from it. This time we took the opportunity to enjoy the afternoon shopping in Marquette before heading to the eastern UP the next day for a week’s stay there. It is located in town, near a Camping World & just behind some restaurants, shops, a brewpub & a hotel, but the other sides of the campground are surrounded by trees/forest because it is the UP. A great campground if you want to explore the area’s history or natural beauty, shop in Marquette or if you are checking out Northern Michigan University’s campus (about 20 minutes away). Most sites are full hookup, they also have rustic cabins & a dog play area. I’m sure we will stay here again, as it’s a short trip for us, the kids love the amenities & I’d like to explore the area for more than our usual day trips.
Lee D.LegendOntonagon Township Park and Campground
Take a chance that you can get a spot
General: 76 site (including five tent sites) campground stretched out on both sides of Lakeshore Drive. 50 sites are on the lakeside of the road with the remainder on the other side. Some have 50-amp electric, and some have 30-amp. No reservations are taken, and the campground appeared full when we were there on a Tuesday in September. It is located adjacent to the town park/playground/picnic area. The office is open 8 am– 8 pm and if you arrive after hours and are lucky enough to find a site, you use the pay station.
Site Quality: Sites 65-70, located directly on Lake Superior are considered Premium. There are 12 other lakefront sites (not considered premium). Sites 39-44 are located directly on the road so road noise will be an issue if that bothers you. Sites are close together with no physical separation between them.
Bathhouse: Was clean and well-lighted. Two pay showers were available.
Activities/Amenities: Wilderness trail (approx. ¾ mile), basketball hoops, disk golf, the beach, playground at the adjacent park plus a playground in the campsites across the street.
We had stopped at the picnic area next to the campground, so I checked it out for a possible future stay. As long as we don’t get one of the roadside spots, it would be good for passing through. Probably would not stay here more than one night as we prefer campgrounds with more privacy. Also, not sure why ATVs would be welcome here – for us, the noise would be an issue.
Guide to Watton
Watton, Michigan sits in the western Upper Peninsula with elevations between 1,400-1,500 feet, nestled within Ottawa National Forest. Summer temperatures range from 70-85°F during the day, dropping to 50-60°F at night. Camping in this region combines forest and lake experiences with several rustic campgrounds providing waterfront access without electrical hookups.
What to do
Fishing opportunities: King Lake State Forest Campground features a lake stocked with fish. "Great place not far off US41 (6 miles). Six sites, two on the lake," notes visitor David T. The campground charges $20/night with no reservations required.
Waterfall exploration: Bond Falls Campground offers both camping and impressive waterfall viewing. "Bond Falls is beautiful! The campground is tidy but busy. The trail system is fabulous and some trails are handicap accessible," reports Carrie C. The accessible boardwalk provides multiple viewing platforms of the falls.
Hiking trails: At Sparrow Rapids Campground, the forest roads provide walking routes. "The dirt road provides a nice long walk for our dog too," mentions Art S. This free campground features 6 sites arranged around a loop with vault toilets but no drinking water.
What campers like
Riverside serenity: At Sturgeon River Campground, visitors appreciate the sound of flowing water. "I'm at site 3 easy access to the river not deep over here, you can post your chair in the river and not get your bum wet," shares Dexter V. The rippling river provides natural white noise for sleeping.
Private waterfront sites: Big Lake State Forest Campground earns praise for spacious, secluded sites. "Way off the beaten path but the sites are HUGE! Quiet setting right on Big Lake," reports Tracy W. The campground features vault toilets and no showers.
Quiet, remote settings: Sparrow Rapids Campground visitors value the seclusion. "This is a beautiful small campground with only 6 campsites arranged around a loop and are spaced well," notes Dave. The nearly 5-mile dirt road access ensures minimal traffic.
What you should know
Road conditions: Several campgrounds require navigation on unpaved roads. For Big Lake State Forest Campground, a visitor warns: "The entrance to this campground is not for low clearance vehicles...it is full of HUGE flooded potholes (small ponds really). Not recommended for 2 wheel drive, low clearance vehicles."
Cell service limitations: Coverage varies significantly between campgrounds. At Sparrow Rapids Campground, one camper found: "I was happy to have service in the woods. We were able to work and talk nice walks while we had free time. A few bars with Verizon and we can log on."
Recent logging activity: Some areas have undergone timber management. At Big Lake State Forest Campground, Art S. notes: "This area is being logged so many trees are gone. This makes it less pleasant now but that will change over time. Once we saw this we left and looked for another spot."
Tips for camping with families
Beach access: Van Riper State Park Campground offers family-friendly water activities. "My kids made some of their best memories ever camping here. Lots of families, positive environment. Swam and paddled on Lake Michigamme for hours. Huge beach with volleyball net," shares Jenny G.
Playground facilities: For families with children, L'Anse Township Park & Campground provides recreational options. "Beautiful & clean. Great site overlooking Lake Superior. Very orderly and great Park Manager. Family & pet friendly with awesome playground," reports Debra R.
Budget-friendly options: Bond Falls Campground offers free camping with basic amenities. "The sites are free for up to a total of 14 days which is really nice. We stayed at a site that was up the hill from the water. Each site has a fire pit and a picnic table and allowed for our 10 person tent," explains Cierra K.
Tips from RVers
Site access challenges: King Lake State Forest Campground has limitations for larger vehicles. "I wouldn't suggest this park for larger rigs though - it is a long drive in and maneuvering within the park may be difficult," advises Nikki P., who still managed to stay with Starlink internet running off a generator.
Limited amenities: Sturgeon River Campground provides basic facilities for smaller rigs. "Two sites can fit a camper, but they also happen to be the sites with the best view of the river. The remaining sites are tent-only due to a set of rocks blocking off the sites so vehicles do not drive in," explains Samantha W.
Waterfront access considerations: For pet friendly camping near Watton, Michigan, waterfront sites often fill quickly. At King Lake State Forest Campground, a visitor notes: "Arrived around 5 pm on a Tuesday and there were two sites left. We got site 6 which has a good view of the lake, with site 5 in between. We brought a camper trailer but everyone else was renting."
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