Lower Falls Campground — Tahquamenon Falls State Park

It’s a great place. Nice showers and bathrooms. Store nearby. Good hikes every directions. Walking distance from the falls. A little flooded in October!! 

Super awsome

Just a short drive from Mackinac lies a beautiful campground to sink into the quietness of a river setting. I stayed in the rustic portion with campsites right along the river. River access is available for small boats along with a fishing deck. Vault toilets and water merge with large campsites to create a quiet ambiance. Showers and a modern toilet are available in the modern portion of the campground which is a short walk through a playground and separating trees. 

My site meant waking up to fog drifting down the river, birds chirping and quiet forest behind me. Walking my dog through the forest was nice as the fallen pine needles created a soft path. My site had plenty of room for the tent as well as tress to hang my hammock on. My dog couldn't wait to jump into the hammock and relax in the cool Michigan air. The campground hosts came through and we had a nice chat (which added to the homey feeling).

This campground is not by the Tahquamenon Falls area so I would make sure to get the correct location. It sits south of Paradise, MI. It was a 20 or so mile drive to get to the falls area with beautiful hiking trails. The remote location of the campground adds to the perfect Northwoods feel. The North Country Trail goes past the campground on the other side of the river. You can hike all the way to the falls area if you are up to it.

Tahquamenon Rivermouth Pines/Semi-Modern/Rustic Campground

Make it a priority to visit this stunning waterfall! If you are ever in the UP, please put this on your list of places to visit! Great photo ops, stunning views and well maintained trails, it is a MUST see!

Seriously the BEST trails in the UP!

Well maintained. Has electrice hookups but no water. Nice bathroom shower area and cleaned daily. Playgrouns for the kids and nice hiking a s trails. Lots of mosquetoes! 

Lower falls campground

What a beautiful campground. Located on the river. Spectacular sunrises and quiet. Non-electric and very clean pit toliets.  The misquitos were crazy but a little misquito repellent and my pup and I were good to go.  The hiking trails are awesome and the river is perfect for kayaking and fishing

Perfect!

We brought our two kids and dog camping and had a great experience. Camp sites were decent sizes, and we had great access to the water. Restrooms were clean and well-maintained, and our kids loved riding bikes all around the campground. We stayed in the Hemlock part, but they could easily travel between the two. Just a note, the mosquitoes were bad in September, so take bug spray!

Great Family Camping! 

Nice listening to the waterfalls at night. Nice clean bathrooms and showers. Huge campsites.

Quite and clean. 

This campground was cute and had very nice facilities. Our campsite was near the mouth of the river. It had ample room at the campsite, a fire ring, clean bathrooms, and a close water source.

Very nice

Rustic with modern bathroom 1/4 mike away in next campground; on the river with access for kayaking and fishing; no motor homes, quiet and well spaced sites

Rivermouth is serene, scenic and for those who love the peace of nature

We stayed at the Lower Falls campground and LOVED every second of it. The park and facilities were clean and the staff was helpful. The hike from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls was great and works out with being able to grab some food at the brewery and hike back down. It took us and our boys 4 hours for the round trip. 

Stay at the Lower Falls..

Super nice RV park with nice facilities and a nice playground for the kids. I recommend portage vs hemlock. We stayed in site one next to the playground (not super close like I expected) but I also recommend site 5 and 13 for the views. The park was super clean and we didn't have any issues with bugs (mid Sept). The colors were just starting to change (probably will peak in the first week of October). The lower falls are in walking distance with a little icecream shop.

Highly recommend this park in the fall.

We stayed in the Rivermouth Modern Campground. Each of the campsites are very close together and you can see everyone around you. The bathroom facilities were very clean. 

  

We enjoyed renting a rowboat and rowing a short distance to and island to view the lower falls! The lower falls are much more enjoyable to see than the upper falls. The upper falls area is very crowded and you can only view the falls from a few areas. 

  

In the Rivermouth campground, there is a small beach area along the river. It is very peaceful and a great place to layout at night and watch the stars.

  

We also traveled outside the state park up to Whitefish Point. We went there because there is a beautiful long beach on Lake Superior that goes on forever. There is also the Whitefish Point Lighthouse that you can tour!

Upper Peninsula Waterfalls

We love wintering camping here, I wanted to share some of the amazing sites to see during the winter. 

We snow shoe the upper and lower falls, it’s absolute breath taking to see the falls freezing. 

Not a lot is open in paradise so bring what you need. We pay at the booth every year. Fill out a slip and leave money. 
No bathroom or showers are open
They do have a few out houses unlocked. 

The hike to the falls is maybe a mile, it’s so beautiful. 


Summer camping: has a lot more open and near by lighthouse.  

Winter camping 

A thick forest of Hemlocks and pines fill the interior of the Hemlock campground giving it a shady, woodsy feel. Tahquamenon (rhymes with “phenomenon”) has tightly compact sites at the Henlock campground with many roving kids on bikes yet somehow maintains a peaceful atmosphere. Alas, if you’re hoping for a dark campsite, try to avoid anywhere near the bath house - it provides a LOT of light. But with all the trees, Hemlock isn’t an ideal area for stargazing anyway. 

The main draw is the beautiful old growth forest hikes to the upper and lower falls. While you’re at the upper falls, stop by the Tahquamenon Brewery for a pint, check out the food truck options, or swing by the gift shop! A fun, beautiful place. 

Shady, woodsy, quiet

We arrived at this park late Friday night and couldn’t set up because it was pouring and ended up staying the the first night in our car. I was nervous because it looked like our site was primarily dirt and I thought for sure it would all be mud the next day. However to my pleasant surprise although it was wet, it wasn’t mud so we were able to set up the next morning!!! We were at site 158 which is across from the bathrooms. It wasn’t too busy and most people kept to themselves, and no one cut across our site which was nice! The bathrooms were cleaned at night which made them much better, the shower was subpar but it had hot water and that’s all we need!

The trails were the best part! We hiked to the lower falls (only a mile) and it was a nice hike with some mud but like I said it rained the night before! It was my first time seeing the falls and they were beautiful. I would highly recommend!
We would have hiked to the upper falls as well but we had a 10 and 11 year old with us who are not as excited about “walking”. Hopefully we will break them in someday. That hike would be another 4 miles to the falls, then all the way back, so 10 miles total.

My only complaint is the entrance into the park. The campers and the visitors of the trail all share the same entrance. We went up to Whitefish Point in the morning one day and when we came back we had to wait in this long line to even get into the park, just to be passed through. It would be nice if they could make a separate entrance for us so we wouldn’t have to sit there and wait. 

Other than that, great park, wonderful trip!! 

Nice Park, Beautiful Trails

MUST see before you DIE!!

A must if you live in Michigan.  Portage camp is a walk from the lower falls.  Brand new and clean bathrooms.  Sewage dump is a mile at hemlock camp.  Get water there before you go to your site.

Rite of Passage

This is a family friendly campground. Even though harvest fest was canceled this year, there were still plenty of Halloween decorated campsites and kids dressed up in their best costumes to get some candy around the campsites. The showers are warm and the bathrooms are clean. 30 amp service was great. Water was in walking distance. 

Peak Fall Color Camping

Snowmobiled, snowshoed, hiked, cross countries, oh and nice waterfalls.

Winters Best

Tight camping at the campground. Good restroom and showers. The lower falls are great place to swim. The upper falls and brewery are magic.

Tahquamenon Falls Lower

Awesome base camp to explore the UP of Michigan.  Clean facilities, level sites, well spaced out, and beautiful scenery 

Beautiful and level sites

Stayed here two nights in mid-July. The hot showers were such a bonus! Short walk to lower falls and trails, which is exactly what we wanted. Camp hosts were awesome.

Great camping

This is a very popular campground. With the crowd comes noisy kids running and screaming through the campground. Sites are mostly flat, with a few pull throughs. Takes some skill to get larger campers onto the sites. 

Popular Campground

Great getaway place for a no-service weekend! Clean showers, bathrooms, and access to plenty of convenience stores and gas stations nearby. We stayed at the Rivermouth campground which was not too far from the Lower Falls area. Good hiking spots close by (Clark Lake and the falls). Clean area that was not too cold at night with a blanket and sleeping bag. Had an incredible time. Beware of woodpeckers and chipmunks!

Beautiful, quiet area

I have gone here with my family over the years and I promise it gets better every time I go! The falls are insanely beautiful and the hike was well worth the view at the end:) 100% recommend

Beautiful ! 

Stayed at the group site

Quiet clean campground. Walked to lower falls from campsite. Great waterfalls. Upper falls is only a few miles up the road. Electric at site. Nice showers. Dump station with water.  

Nice waterfalls quiet camping

We stayed on site 65, which was situated between to sites where we had to share with one neighbor on the electric, no big deal. All sites with electric were split that way, 2 sites per electric box. If you don't have a really long cord for the electric, buy one! Or cadycorner your trailer to fit like we did. The bathrooms were clean and I found it intriguing that each shower was its own closet not a stall, A+ for privacy!! The campground is off the main road to the lower falls so at night you can walk down to the parking lot and enjoy the dark sky, great for viewing all the stars! It was amazing for star gazing. 

Beautiful area with quiet camping

I was camping with my disabled husband and small dog. Checkin was a pain and the DNR was aggressive and rude. My husband who has ALS and therefore no use of his hands or legs, was walking our dog while I set up camp. He can’t hold a leash but our support dog obeys his verbal commands. Not good enough for the DNR and they harassed him even though we complied with leashing her to his wheelchair as soon as we were told to do so. They could have approached things with less aggression and gotten the same result. It ruined my time. I packed us up early and headed for friendlier grounds. 

Bad checkin and rude DNR

As a lifelong Michigander it’s always been on my bucket list to travel up to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and visit Tahquamenon Falls. This campsite was taken care of, had great facilities, electricity, quiet by 10pm and was a 6 mile hike to the Upper Falls from camp. 

Only reason why I’m giving it a 4 instead of 5 was because the toilets were backing up semi-frequently. 

Quiet campsite with a hike from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls

We stayed here towards the end of July. Our GPS wanted us to turn about 1/3 mile sooner on a closed gate rather than the actual Lower Tahquamenon Falls campground(CG) entrance. We got in line at the park checkpoint and paid the$36 for the annual MI State Park Pass as that was more economical for us than paying$10 per night. The ranger then told us to park in the area behind the gate and come in to register for our campsite. We were told that if we needed to fill with water there was potable water at the dump station. We then proceeded to Hemlock Loop, back-in site 182 that’s electric-only(50/30/20 AMP). As we entered our loop, we were a little worried as the sites coming in were either small or had some trees that would prevent an easy back-in. In addition, with our 39’ fifth wheel and F450 truck, we could not avoid brushing against trees on the side and top of our rig as we drove through. We went slow and there was no damage. When we got to site 182, we were relieved to see that the site was open and long enough for our rig and truck. We were also able to swing into the 90-degree back-in with no issues. If the campers in the site in front of us had parked on the front side, we probably would have asked them to move their truck while we got into the site. We got a bar, maybe two on Verizon and were able to get a usable signal very early in the morning. We didn’t get any OTA channels and with all the trees, a satellite would have been iffy, so we didn’t try. We took our showers at the shower house that had really good water pressure and hot water. This state park is a premier tourist attraction so the campground was full every day during our 6-day stay. There were hiking trails leading out of the CG at different locations, and we enjoyed walking our dogs both to the lower falls and other areas. If you go to the falls after 10:00 AM, expect crowds.

Nice but Very Busy

Love this campground to go fishing and paddle boarding. Quiet and relaxing with a hike that boarders the water. Down the street you will find whitefish bay with more fishing opportunities and it’s also great place to take photos if you are into photography! We stayed at site 126 and it was right next to the water and pretty private! Definitely recommend and hope to go back soon! 

Favorite UP MI camping!

I camped in the area around the falls as a kid, and have fond memories of it. Nothing prepared me for camping near the river mouth. You want the old part of the campground, right on the river, with no electricity. The sunsets are magical, and are happening right in front of you. Simply the best experience short of backpacking. It is a short walk to the newer part of the campground where there are flush toilets. That just keeps everything in the old part very quiet.

The campground near the river mouth is amazing.

This was a really nice spot with clean bathrooms and showers, quiet, and close to some nice hiking and scenery.  The sites are fairly small and close together, but overall the campground was pretty quiet.  If traveling with a group you could get some sites together and it would work out really nice.