Northland Outfitters

Well maintained campground with lots of water craft for rent

July of 2020, my wife, bulldog (Winston Churchill), and myself set up our base camp at Northern Outfitters. We chose this campground because it was a central location in the UP and we wanted to see everything. We are healthcare workers and truly needed a break, this was exactly what we needed. Although we had been to UP, it’s hard to get around to everything, so we camped in the middle. Owners were beyond helpful and friendly. We even had to change dates due to pandemic, but they were extremely accommodating. We put our large tent on site #6 which is on the river. We had plenty of shade and enough privacy for what we wanted. The camp store is well stocked and there is another close store nearby. We rented a canoe trip right there in the campground. We took a small tent to camp on Lake Superior one night at Sunset campground. We felt very safe leaving all of our things there at N. O. when running all week. Had a complete blast for 10 days. Only problem we had at all was the black flies. We were using the wrong repellent which was not effective at all. Camp owners gave us pointers which were very effective towards end of trip. Was a great week and I will be posting a video and a few pictures. Owners even let us take our Bulldog on canoe trip, but we did use a local kennel to give him a small break from riding in truck. We will do this again!

Stayed here for 4 nights early July 2020. Social distancing had some sinks and urinals turned off. Seemed super clean. 4-6 tent only spots are in pretty good shade. All sites had at least water and electricity. Swingset and covered sandbox for kids. Volleyball net. I saw dogs and cats; we brought 1 dog. 

Cell coverage (AT&T for my family, Verizon for my friends) was pretty hit or miss at 0-2 bars at any given time. I could sometimes stream audio for an hour or two. Other times, it wouldn't do anything. Wifi was available, but it wasn't any more reliable than cell service down in the tent area. Service wasn't normal until hitting either of the east-west roads at the north and south sides of the UP that run along Superior and Michigan, ~8-10 miles north or south of the campground. We like limited to no signal, but realize some count on it, so try to always include it in reviews. 

Campground was pretty busy and the internal noise levels were fine, but you could hear vehicles (possibly cars as well as ATVs) racing off grounds in the night. I'm a very deep sleeper, so this didn't bother me, but I did hear it when I was awake for my nightly jaunt to the potty. My buddy mentioned it kept him awake for a while.

Went tubing with a launch from the grounds and got picked up by staff about half to 3/4s of a mile down river. My guests paid, so not sure how much, but perfectly nice little break from the heat for an hour. 

~20-5 minutes to closest spots to hit the beach, both of which were about 10 degrees cooler than the campground.

Despite being close to the road, Northland Outfitters is a quiet, peaceful little campground. With aonly 14 camping sites and 4 cabins, it is small. 

Our site (#6) was located right on the Manistique River. 

There is a horseshoe pit, volleyball court, canoe, and kayak rentals available. Inside the office, a game table for cards or board games is also available to those staying at the campground. 

The bathhouse and shower were clean. Additional outhouses were available near sites farther away from the bathhouse. 

There is a small camp store with basic supplies. 

The downside to this campground is many of the sites didn't have much privacy between them.

River site#8. Beautiful river view. Saw ducks, hawks, fish getting caught from 2 sites away. Fun to watch the excitement! Clean bath house. Great shower. Could use a little more playground area for little ones. But, the tire swing was nice. Sandy area for the volleyball net was a nice sand area for our granddaughter to play in. Nice store. Cute clothing items for sale. Nice selection of frozen ice cream treats. We canoed and our son kayaked the Manistique River. Shuttled up and paddled back to campground. About 3 1/2 hour trip. It was serene on the river. One of our best camping experiences!

Northland Outfitters I stayed here overnight in mid-June to take a kayak trip down the beautiful Manistique River. We decided to come here last minute after seeing it pop up on a Google search. When I called the owner was very nice and told me he had availability for kayaking and camping. Since we have our own kayaks, he suggested we go upstream in our own vehicle and then kayak down to the outfitters, then they would take us back to get our car. It worked out great. The river was up and it was a beautiful ten mile trip which took about 2 hours. 

The campground is wooded and spacious. Maybe 14 or 15 sites. There is electric, but no water at individual campsites, which is typical of the U.P. There is a convenient spigot to fill the fresh water tank on our travel trailer on the way in. No dump on site. Our campsite#10 was only a few feet from the river and had a perfect view. There are fire rings, picnic tables, a BBQ grill and WiFi. There is a camp store with everything you need. There is also a cute restaurant that serves great comfort food just down the street. This was a fun place to stop and camp. I would definitely recommend if you need a spot for the night and/or want to kayak or canoe the river.