River Country Campground and Livery

So if you're looking for a place to relax and enjoy a nice atmosphere, and have friendly people that run the campground, don't camp here!! I've camped in this campground for 15 years. Until this past season trying to give the new owner the opportunity to make this campground awesome again but the owners are RUDE. They don't care how the campground is maintained from grass cutting(or lack of) to fire pits full to trash/litter on sites and moldy bathrooms, minimal operating toilets, power issues when hooking up to the outdated power system and to getting assigned a site that was not booked for due to over booking sites. Then there is the blatantly disrespect to the customer's who usually are supposed to be always right but the owner is straight out of New York which is loud and has rude comments about campers that they do not care for and they are not afraid of who hears it. I can go on and on about what the campground is and how campers who are there to relax and enjoy the atmosphere shouldn't have to worry about catching something from a bathroom visit. So just saying that this place is a campers beware!!

We made a reservation one year in advance only to have it changed without any notice by the camp. The responsibility was left to a family member to inform us. If I owned a business that dealt with reservations, I would be sure to contact the customer whether or not a family member said they would take care of it, but hey, that’s just me. In this case, said family member didn’t give us notice. Also, said change was made because another camper“always has that site” so it seems like a bit of preferential treatment despite a year in advance reservation with a deposit being made. 

After numerous calls and messages, our phone calls were not returned. Instead we were told we were bombarding their staff with phone calls. After not receiving any calls back, we drove over an hour to the camp to get this situation fixed only to be met by rude employees who acted like we were wasting their time and like we were being ridiculous. Even after showing the employee our phones with proof of phone calls, she said she didn’t know who we were and that she never talked to us. We asked to speak to the owner, but were told she was home asleep and the employee said she couldn’t just call and wake her up. 

Eventually, the owner did show up. As she pulled up in her golf cart, she made it clear that she was in a bad mood by telling us exactly that. She stormed into the office with us behind her saying she was going to get this straightened out right now. In the end, we were still met with hositility and rude, unprofessional treatment. We had had enough and canceled the reservation. We asked for the deposit back, which we had paid in cash. We were told they couldn’t give us the money right then because she didn’t have any cash to give. Instead, they would mail the deposit. I’m sure we won’t see the deposit or it will conveniently be lost in the mail. 

We will not be returning to this park. If you plan to visit, good luck confirming your stay. You might get lucky and get a call back. You might even get lucky and get the site you want, unless a more important guest wants it, then you’re really out of luck.

A friend and I stayed two nights in a tent. The campground is on the smaller side. You mostly see campers and RVs, many who stay seasonally. It felt like a community where everyone knows each other well. The couple on the neighboring campsite were incredibly friendly, offering help with fire starters and a hammer to pound down the stakes on our tent.

Our site had a fire pit, picnic table and electric hookup we used to charge cell phones. There wasn’t much shade but there are other shady sites in the campground.

While the river site was scenic, mosquitoes were of course having a feast! There was a play area for the kids, volleyball net and horseshoe pit. The camp store had the basics with hard pack ice cream for sale. There’s also a game room off the camp store with pool, ping pong and laundry room for longer visits.

You’re able to rent a tube, kayak or canoe to cruise down the Muskegon River. They were kind enough to shuttle us to the drop off point a couple of miles away.

There is a restroom/shower building that’s kept quite clean. The ladies room had three separate showers and I never had to wait for a turn during my stay.

It’s definitely a family campground so if you’re looking for a quiet camping trip, this place is perfect. It’s a bit far from the Detroit area for a weekend but I’d definitely return for a longer stay.