I was looking for a nearby, bare bones campground with a shower and cell service that would do the trick while traveling to a weekend event. I reliably had 1 bar AT&T while at the campsite, but more as I got closer to the bathhouse. The campground also want too far from the grocery store and civilization. Our site and others had some difficulty with drainage, as it’s been a super wet summer. There is a community fire pit with s’mores, which was cute! Swimming area closed for bacteria levels, but lots of other nearby activists for the recreation seeker.
We were definitely the one little tent in a sea of RVs at this campground. People were actually coming over to look at our tent (lol). There was not a lot of privacy, but otherwise it was a cool campground. We were able to camp right on the edge of the lake. Bathrooms and showers were relatively clean. Firewood is available. Depending on where you are in the campground, some AT&T service is available.
Loved the proximity of this campground to Lake Michigan! The closest beach within the national park is Kimmel Beach which is beautiful. There are some biting horseflies at the beach, but not at the campground. The campground was fully booked, but not everyone showed, meaning that it didn’t really feel crowded there. We stayed in site #3, which had some good hammock trees. Restrooms and showers are nice, but not as clean as state park and other camping restrooms in the area. Would come back in the future!
Never a dull moment at Punderson! This state park has everything from hiking, to swimming, to archery, to evening talks. Some sites were definitely better suited for RV’s and tents were the minority at the campground. We stayed at one of the primitive sites up the hill, which was perfect for tenting and had excellent drainage (even after getting poured on all night). We were surprised to learned that we also had a little electric box for our site down near our parking spot. Shower houses were spacious, well lit, and clean. AT&T service worked well from the park. Be sure to keep all food in cars or bring your bear cans, as we were approached by a raccoon and I’m sure there is other curious wildlife in the area.
We cowboy camped here at site #11. Did not get wet during the night, and the bugs weren’t bad at all. The site had an incredibly level dirt tent pad, although most everything else (picnic table, fire ring, parking, etc) was on a slant. Beware of the pine sap!! Wildlife (particularly bison) aren’t an issue, as there is a fence with a cattle guard surrounding the entire campground. Bathrooms were close with flushable toilets and a camper sink. This campground provides ranger run evening programs at the amphitheater. While we were there, the talk was on prairie dogs. Would have stayed longer if we could have! Limited AT&T service available.
Not far from i90, but felt like we were in the middle of nowhere! Lots of cornfields surround the state park, so there wasn’t much traffic or the sound of cars. We stayed on a weeknight and there was barely anyone there…not actually sure if the campground host was even there. Showers and bathrooms were very clean. Campsites we’re shaded and private, but also spacious and ours had some grass. We did have AT&T service at our site.
Stopped overnight while traveling cross country. Our campsite (#64) was small and a bit wet/muddy, but was in close proximity to the shower house, which was spacious and mostly clean. It was wooded on one side and open on one side. As tenters, this campground seemed a little bit more geared towards RV camping, but we didn’t mind. There is no swimming allowed in the lake. AT&T did work for us at our site.