Weather Station Campground — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

A relatively short hike and simple hike, Weather Station offers some great scenic views of Lake Michigan.

In my opinion, site 16 is the site to stay at, with relatively easy access to the lake for water. We used a carabiner to secure a line to a tree in the camp and tossed the other end down to give us a hand in climbing back up to the site as well as dragging our bag of containers back up.

Proximity to the edge of the dune and the lake also helped with a breeze that kept mosquitoes to a minimum. Be warned, it does seem like Weather Station is buggy during summer.

All in all, should I return to South Manitou as opposed to North, site 16 at Weather Station is where my party will be posting.

Weather Station Campground is located on South Manitou Island and offers 20 individual sites and 3 group sites nearby.  The campground is located on a sandy bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and the mainland with picturesque places to enjoy your morning coffee.  Access to the island is by boat only (obviously, because it's an island) and from there, you'll have to hike to the campground through the woods or along the beach.  All sites are located in the woods, however they are close to the shore.  You must camp at one of the designated sites. 

The campground offers a shared fire pit, log benches to sit on, and access to a pit toilet (which was pretty smelly, but usable).  There is no access to clean drinking water at the campground, so plan on filtering water from Lake Michigan, or walking approximately 1.5 miles to the dock area to collect water there.  There are no food storage lockers, so food must be properly hung from a tree or stored in a bear canister to avoid being stolen by the microbears (aka chipmunks)! 

Keep in mind that this is a backcountry camping experience, so you'll need to be adequately prepared and carry in all your supplies.  In addition to a water filter and a first aid kit, bringing extra food with you is also a must.  The ferry is unable to reach the island in dangerous weather conditions.

bring what you need. filter your water, beautiful hikes, beautiful views ...bloodthirsty mosquitos.. but worth it...bring deet.