Best Glamping near Land o Lakes, WI

We visited with our dog the first week of October to catch the fall colors. After driving up from Chicago, checking in, and then driving to Little Carp River Road, finally ready to hike at 4pm. Parking lot isn't huge and all sites were booked that weekend but we were able to snag a spot. We took the Little Carp River trail all the way to the site, which was easy to follow, a good bit of up and down but nothing too difficult. Reservation site says 2.3 miles, we did closer to 3.5 by the time we arrived. LC-7 and LC-6 are close to each other but far enough away that you have some privacy, couldn't hear the other party chatting. Fire wood in the area was sparse, everything was damp. Bear pole was tough to find, follow the trail past the site, then a stump, at the second huge tree on your left, turn to your right and climb the hill.

Site has a fire pit, logs to sit on and plenty of level space to pitch tents. It is right on the trail, so you may see some traffic. Good coverage from old growth trees, enough hills in the area to find privacy for squatting, and the river is easy to access. If I had to choose between LC-6 and LC-7, would pick 6, it's up higher and further from the trail.

We hiked back the next morning, went to Lake in the Clouds and then Ontonagon for lunch. Visited Squeeze on Main for food and beer, place is brand new, looks nice, price reasonable, food was ok. Then the bar a few doors down for more beer, they had a good selection.

Then we drove to the Pinkerton Trail head, limited parking on the side of the road, but room enough on the end for a few cars when we arrived. Pinkerton was a pleasant stroll through the woods, lots of boards, dead falls, and mud, and it's a gradual descent. Met up with the Superior Trail 3 miles in, then went left to LS-3.

LS-3 is everything we came for - right on the lake, plenty of firewood, ultimate in privacy since no other sites are within at least a half mile, perfectly level spot for the tent and a built-out fire pit area. Highly recommend.

Overall a decent Campground. Lots are spacious. Layout of fire pit on sites are poor. For example lot 76, fire is offset to the left of the electrical post. This is a problem since majority of RVs have awnings on the right side and electrical hook up on the back left side. Our fire pit ended up behind the camper. Poor layout by campsite personnel. “DNR Officer” that oversees the grounds is a zealot on dog leashes! “Your dog must be on a six foot leash even while swimming,” he yelled at me. Being an owner of a finely trained Labrador Retriever that I was exercising in the water, I doubt I will be back!!!!!!!!

This is a beautiful campground right next to the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park in the U P of Michigan. After reading the reviews of the Union Bay Campground in the park, I'm glad I could get a reservation here!

 This is a well established campground. There's 50 sites with water & electricity, but no sewer. There is a dump station.

 Some sites have more room than others. We had site 16, which was roomy. Site 20 is also roomy & shady.

 The best sites over look the Union River. Sites 27/28 are nice & site 29 is outstanding. There are a few pull throughs. 

Any of the perimeter sites would be good. These have a woods view in the back.

Avoid sites 24A/45&46. these sites are very near the dump station, with 45 right by it. There's a tall fence separating you from it. 

The bathrooms are beautiful! Clean with hot showers. Decorated nicely, with music also. There's a community fire pit on the front lawn with swings & chairs. A nice view of Lake Superior. The sunsets are outstanding. There's a free beach across the street. You need to take the stairs down to it. Don't try climbing down the rocks! 

I didn't have much luck looking for Yooper Stones.

The gift shop is small, but has some nice things. 

Out of the 3 campgrounds we stayed at this trip, this was our favorite!

Stayed here for 3 nights over the July 4th weekend 2020. Had a great site right on the lake, fire pit was 10 feet from the water, most sites are large with trees but not many are very level. Bugs were not a problem during the day but the second that sun goes down have the bug spray ready. The park was clean and very well maintained, bathrooms were very clean. It was still early in the season so the camp store wasn’t well stocked yet but they were working on it. The beach area was nice with a nice big sandy beach for the kids. The Porcupine Mtns were a 30 minute drive north and we had a great time there. I plan to go back here again as soon as I can.

I did a 3 day/2 night hike during peak color, starting at the Lake Superior Trailhead. I was warned the Lake Superior trail was muddy when I checked in, and the ranger was not joking - I was grateful to have trekking poles to help balance on logs, branches, roots and rocks to try to keep my boots as dry as possible in the parts of the trail that were submerged. 

Campsite LS-14 had a lovely location on the lake, but was very muddy/previously submerged with water. It immediately abuts site LS-13. There was a wooden platform to put my tent on, but I had to bolster the corners so that it was big enough for my tent poles to have something to rest on. If I had gotten in before dark, I might have seen the small area near the trail side of the site that had higher, dryer ground. There is supposed to be a bear pole for these sites, but the group at the other site said there wasn't one. In hindsight, I think there probably was, away from the campsites, but since I had a canister, I didn't go looking for it after dark. The Lake Superior trail continued to be muddy until you got close to the Big Carp River mouth.

Campsite BC-8 was a big upgrade - very large site, a little patch of open sky over the fire pit, easy access to the river for water. The big trees provided good shelter from a minor storm and high winds overnight. This site is right alongside the trail, but separated from the cabin and next site by a good distance. The hike out from here up the Big Carp River trail to Lake of the Clouds is a somewhat longer trek with a bit of elevation gain, but nothing too intense in my opinion.