Beach

Alpen Bluffs Outdoor Resort

80 RV Sites, 25 Cabins

Alpen Bluffs Outdoor Resort in Gaylord, Michigan, offers 80 full-hookup RV sites and 25 cabins at the peak of the Lower Peninsula, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service behind a gated entrance. Northern Bluffs and Yurt Village neighborhood categories organize back-in and pull-through sites, with a water park, pool, hot tub, mini-golf, and food trucks. Eighty sites run in back-in full hookup and pull-through full hookup categories across the Northern Bluffs and Yurt Village neighborhoods, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, with fire pits and picnic tables. Organizing sites into named neighborhoods rather than numbered tiers is unusual and makes it easier to picture where you will be. Twenty-five cabins round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, restrooms, showers, firewood, and RV storage handle the practical side. A water park and outdoor pool anchor the summer, with a hot tub and sauna alongside. Mini-golf, a recreation center, jumping pillow, gaga ball, sports courts, pickleball, volleyball, bocce ball, shuffleboard, ping pong, horseshoes, corn hole, gem mining, inflatable water toys, bike rentals, golf cart rentals, a beach, playground, community fire pit, dog park, on-site dining, a bar, and food trucks fill the rest. Skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, golf, and elk viewing are all nearby. Gaylord is the Golf Mecca of Michigan, with Otsego Lake, the Pigeon River Country State Forest's wild trout streams, and genuine four-season recreation. Summer and ski season both draw. Reserve well ahead.

from $105/night

Tawas River RV Park

100 RV Sites

Tawas River RV Park in Tawas City, Michigan, offers 100 RV sites along the Tawas River near Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 42 feet. Full-hookup back-in, water-and-electric back-in, and water-and-electric pull-through categories join a boat ramp, beach, library, and game room. One hundred sites run in back-in full hookup, water-and-electric back-in, and water-and-electric pull-through categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 42 feet. Check which category you are booking — not every site carries sewer. A laundry, restrooms, showers, and RV storage handle the practical side. A boat ramp gives direct river access for boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing, with a beach on the property and a pond and lake nearby. A library, game room, walking trails, pavilion, and horseshoes fill the grounds, with planned activities through the season. Pets are welcome. The setting is what distinguishes it. Tawas City sits in Iosco County on the western shore of Saginaw Bay, and the park occupies the Tawas River's final miles before it reaches the bay — the riparian and estuarine transition that makes this one of Michigan's most productive areas for fishing and birding. Tawas Point State Park's lighthouse and the migratory bird traffic through the point are both close. Summer is decisively the season in northeast lower Michigan, with fall color and the fishing runs extending demand. Reserve well ahead for July and August.

from $55/night

Whitewater Township Park

40 RV Sites

Whitewater Township Park in Williamsburg, MI, offers 40 RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 67 feet. Sites are electric-only and take either an RV or a tent, in back-in and pull-thru layouts with a fire pit and picnic table. Be clear on this before booking: there is no water or sewer at the site, so arrive with your tanks filled and plan on the on-site dump station. At 67 feet, though, the sites take a longer rig than most township parks anywhere. A bathhouse with showers and firewood are available, and pets are welcome. The lakeshore is the reason to come. A beach, boat docks, walking trails, a pavilion, and a playground sit on the water, with swimming, hiking, picnicking, and birding along a stretch of undeveloped inland shoreline. Williamsburg sits on Elk Lake in Grand Traverse County, in a quiet township between Traverse City and Charlevoix. Rates and availability are on the booking page. Northern Michigan's season is short and this shoreline is well known locally — reserve early for July and August.

from $45/night

Camp Deer Trails

29 RV Sites, 8 Cabins, 7 Tent Sites

Camp Deer Trails in Harrison, Michigan, offers 29 RV sites, eight cabins, and seven tent sites across 140 wooded acres on Long Lake, with 30 and 50-amp electric service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 40 feet. Rustic waterfront and rustic back-in categories join a 30/50-amp tier, with three beaches, boat docks, a hot tub, and nature trails. Twenty-nine back-in sites span 30/50-amp, rustic back-in, and rustic waterfront back-in categories, carrying electric service, sized to 40 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Plan around the hookups — these are electric sites rather than full hookup, so arrive with full water and empty tanks and confirm dump arrangements when you book. The rustic waterfront category is the one to request. Eight cabins and seven tent sites round out the lodging. Restrooms, showers, and a general store handle the practical side. Three distinct beach areas and boat docks open the lake for boating, paddle boats, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and fishing, with a hot tub and sauna, nature trails, and picnicking filling the rest. The property operates as a wedding venue, and the surrounding forest gives the grounds their character. Pets are welcome. One hundred forty acres for 29 RV sites is a remarkable ratio — this is genuine woodland with a campground in it rather than the reverse, and the space is what guests remember. Clare County sits in the quiet inland lake country of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, with Harrison's small-town center close and the Au Sable and Manistee corridors within reach. Summer is the short, intense Michigan season. Reserve well ahead for July and August.

from $25/night

Northern Sites Campground

1 RV Site

Northern Sites Campground in Beaverton, Michigan, offers 1 primitive RV site on the Cedar River, with rigs accepted to 30 feet. A sandy beach, general store, dump station, showers, and pavilion serve a river camping property in Gladwin County's inland lake country. The site is primitive, sized to 30 feet, with a fire pit and picnic table. Plan accordingly — no hookups at the site, so arrive fully self-contained with water and power, and use the dump station and bathhouse. The 30-foot cap rules out most modern coaches; this suits vans, small trailers, and truck campers. Contact the campground about additional site availability and any serviced options. A general store, dump station, restrooms, showers, firewood, and a pavilion handle the practical side. The river and a sandy beach carry the recreation, with swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, water sports, and biking. Pets are welcome. A primitive site on a river with a real bathhouse and store is a specific and increasingly rare combination — you get the quiet of unserviced camping without giving up hot water or coffee. Gladwin County sits in the heart of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, a region of wooded uplands, small lakes, and an extensive snowmobile and ORV trail network that has served outdoor travelers for generations. The Cedar and Tittabawassee Rivers, Wixom Lake, and the Gladwin Field Trial Area are all close, with Houghton and Higgins Lakes an easy drive north. Summer is the season in central Michigan, with fall color and snowmobile season drawing distinct off-peak waves. Reserve ahead for July and August, and arrive self-contained.

Timber Ridge Resort

Timber Ridge Resort in Traverse City, Michigan, offers RV sites, cabins, cottages, and yurts in Grand Traverse County's cherry orchard and vineyard countryside along the Lake Michigan shore — a four-accommodation-format resort in the heart of one of the Midwest's most desirable travel destinations, where the cold-water bay scenery, the nationally recognized wine and culinary industry, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and Traverse City's genuinely excellent arts and dining culture combine to make this stretch of northwestern Lower Michigan one of the most broadly appealing regional destinations in the Great Lakes. The resort's accommodation range from full-hookup RV sites to basic and deluxe cabin configurations to yurts gives it the flexibility to serve the full spectrum of Traverse City-area visitors. Full hookups for RV travelers and a range of cabin, cottage, and yurt options give Timber Ridge Resort the accommodation diversity to serve groups of different sizes, equipment situations, and comfort preferences across the cherry blossom, summer, fall color, and ice wine seasons that define Traverse City's four-season appeal. The resort's Traverse City location gives guests the immediate access to the town's downtown breweries, restaurants, galleries, and farmers markets that makes TC one of the few small Michigan cities consistently drawing visitors from Chicago, Detroit, and Columbus specifically for its locally produced food and drink culture. Pets are welcome. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 22 miles west of Traverse City, is a National Park Service unit protecting 71,000 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline, perched dunes up to 400 feet above the lake surface, hardwood forest, and the offshore Manitou Islands — one of the most scenically varied National Lakeshore units on the Great Lakes and the site of the Dune Climb, where visitors ascend 130 feet of loose sand for a Lake Michigan viewshed that ABC's Good Morning America viewers voted "the Most Beautiful Place in America" in 2011. The North and South Manitou Islands, accessible by ferry from Leland, provide backcountry island hiking and camping in a Great Lakes wilderness setting. The Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau Peninsula wine regions surrounding Traverse City have emerged as nationally significant producers of Riesling, Pinot Grigio, and cool-climate white varieties in a viticultural region whose 45th parallel latitude and Lake Michigan microclimate create growing conditions directly analogous to Alsace and the Mosel — a comparison that serious wine consumers have validated through consistent critical recognition since the 1990s. The peninsula tasting room circuit, accessible by bicycle from downtown Traverse City, gives guests the wine tourism experience integrated into the cherry orchard and Bay scenery landscape rather than separated into a discrete industrial wine district. Timber Ridge Resort operates from spring through fall in northern Michigan's Great Lakes climate, with the National Cherry Festival in early July representing Traverse City's highest-demand tourism week and the August color transition beginning the fall foliage season that peaks through October in the maple and beech hardwood forests of the Sleeping Bear and Leelanau country. Ice wine production from frozen Riesling grapes in January and February gives wine enthusiasts a winter-season reason to visit that the summer tourism economy obscures. Reserve accommodations months ahead for the Cherry Festival and peak August weekends, when Traverse City accommodation across all categories fills from the Midwest's established Traverse City visitor market.

Sunrise Lake Family Campground

9 RV Sites, 1 Tent Site

Sunrise Lake Family Campground in Le Roy, MI, offers 9 RV sites and 1 tent site, with 30-amp service and back-in sites for rigs up to 50 feet. Sites come in two categories, 30-amp standard and 30-amp premium lake, each carrying water and electric with a fire pit and picnic table. There's no sewer at the site, so plan on the on-site dump station. Note the electrical: this is a 30-amp campground throughout, so a rig wired for heavier service will need an adapter and some load management. The grounds are gated, with laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a snack bar, a pavilion, and cabins. Monthly guests are required to file an emergency contact form, which the campground keeps private and uses only if a situation arises. Pets are welcome. A boat ramp, beach, pond, and lake access drive the recreation — fishing, swimming, boating, paddle boats, and picnicking. The property also hosts weddings. Le Roy sits in Osceola County in the northern Lower Peninsula, on all-sports Sunrise Lake, with 12,000 acres of state land across the road and the Evart Motorcycle Loop's forest roads nearby. Rates for sites and cabins are on the booking page. Premium lake sites book first.

from $35/night

Mountain Valley Lodge and Campground

60 RV Sites, 16 Tent Sites

Mountain Valley Lodge and Campground in Thompsonville, MI, offers 60 full-hookup RV sites and 16 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 60 feet. Sites come as back-ins and pull-throughs, each carrying water, sewer, and electric with a fire pit and picnic table. A bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, a recreation center, and cabins for guests without a rig cover the essentials. Pets are welcome. An outdoor pool, sport courts, basketball, ping pong, billiards, a playground, and dark northern-Michigan sky for stargazing fill the grounds, with swimming and picnicking on site. Skiing, snowboarding, off-roading, golf, a lake, a beach, and a river are all nearby. Thompsonville sits three miles from Crystal Mountain Resort in Benzie County, in the northwestern Lower Peninsula where the Betsie and Crystal Rivers and a chain of spring-fed lakes define the region. Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Huron-Manistee National Forests are close. Rates for sites and tent spots are on the booking page. Ski season and summer both run busy here — reserve ahead either way.

from $50/night

Jellystone Park™ North Port Huron

67 Cabins

Jellystone Park at North Port Huron sits directly on the shoreline of Lake Huron in Carsonville, Michigan, delivering a Great Lakes lakefront camping experience anchored by the full Yogi Bear's Jellystone entertainment franchise. The park's position on M-25—the scenic lakeshore highway that traces the Michigan Thumb—puts guests within sight and sound of one of the Great Lakes, with a sandy swimming beach opening directly onto jellystone port huron's wide blue horizon. The Water Zone drives the daytime action: a multi-level splashpad, giant water slides, a floating water obstacle course, and jumping pillows keep kids occupied through the hottest Michigan summer days. The resort pool, an 18-hole miniature golf course, outdoor laser tag arena, and game room extend the activity options into the evening, and the Campfire Café serves pizza, burgers, and chicken tenders alongside homemade ice cream from the Camp Store. Paddle boat rentals offer a quieter way to explore the lake's edge, and golf cart rentals let guests move between the resort's sections with ease. Full hookup RV sites, tent sites, and rustic cabins with full kitchens and private bathrooms provide accommodation options at multiple price points. Lake Huron's shoreline at this stretch of the Michigan Thumb is characterized by clean sandy beaches, relatively calm water, and the wide open horizon that makes the Great Lakes feel genuinely oceanic. Carsonville is one of the quieter communities along the Lake Huron coast, which means the lakeshore around Jellystone Park North Port Huron retains a relaxed, uncrowded character that's harder to find at some of Michigan's more commercialized beach towns. The Thumb's agricultural interior—cherry orchards, bean fields, and small Victorian-era towns—provides a distinctly Midwestern backdrop just a few miles inland from the resort's beach. Port Huron, at the southern tip of the Thumb where Lake Huron drains into the St. Clair River, is about an hour south and anchors the region's commercial activity with waterfront dining, the Blue Water Bridge crossing to Sarnia, Ontario, and the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse—the oldest lighthouse in Michigan. Sanilac County's shoreline is dotted with small harbors, lighthouses, and public beach access points. The Sanilac Petroglyphs State Historic Site preserves ancient Native American carvings on exposed limestone, one of Michigan's most unusual and overlooked archaeological sites that provides a genuinely educational detour from a beach camping trip. Jellystone Park North Port Huron runs a full summer season from Memorial Day through Labor Day, with character events, foam parties, candy bar bingo, and dance parties structured around peak summer family camping weeks. Lake Huron's beach season aligns well with the resort calendar, and fishing and water recreation extend the appeal into the shoulder seasons for adult campers. Cabin reservations fill quickly for summer weekends, and the combination of Great Lakes beachfront access with the Jellystone entertainment package makes this one of the stronger all-in-one family camping experiences available on Michigan's eastern shoreline.

from $50/night

Cape Croker Park

276 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 1 Tent Site

Cape Croker Park in Neyaashiinigmiing, Ontario, offers 276 RV sites, a cabin, and a tent site on Georgian Bay, with 20, 30, and 50-amp water-and-electric service and rigs accepted to 40 feet. Premium waterfront, premium, back-in, and pull-through 20-amp categories join Powwow Grounds sites, with a beach, boat ramp, and walking trails. Two hundred seventy-six sites span 20-amp back-in, 20-amp premium, 20-amp premium waterfront, 20-amp pull-through, 30/50-amp, and Powwow Grounds categories, carrying water and electric, sized to 40 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Two things to plan around: the sites carry water and electric but not sewer, and most categories are 20-amp, so check the 30/50-amp tier if your rig needs more. The premium waterfront category is the one to request. A cabin and a tent site round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills and exchange, restrooms, showers, portable toilets, and firewood handle the practical side. A site holder must be at least 18, and alcohol rules apply — check with the park. A beach and boat ramp open the bay for boating, canoeing, kayaking, and swimming, with walking trails, hiking, biking, volleyball, a pond, playground, pavilion, bar, and productive birding filling the rest. The park is owned and operated by the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation on their traditional territory, between limestone bluffs on Colpoys Bay. Summer is the season on the Bruce Peninsula. Reserve well ahead.

from $45/night

Indian Lake RV Resort & Campground

57 RV Sites

Indian Lake RV Resort and Campground in Manistique, Michigan, offers 57 RV sites on the shores of Indian Lake in the Upper Peninsula, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. Full-hookup back-in, water-and-electric back-in, and pull-through categories join a beach, cabins, and dump station in Schoolcraft County. Fifty-seven sites run in back-in, back-in water-and-electric, and pull-thru categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Confirm your tier before booking, as the water-and-electric category does not carry sewer at the site. Cabins round out the lodging. A laundry, dump station, and restrooms handle the practical side. A beach on the property supports swimming, boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. Hiking runs through the surrounding forest, and the birding along the lakeshore and the nearby river is genuinely productive. A golf course and a state park are nearby. Pets are welcome. Indian Lake is the fourth-largest inland lake in Michigan, and this stretch of the Upper Peninsula's Big Lakes country sits between Lake Michigan's north shore and the waterfalls and birch forest of the central UP. Manistique's boardwalk and lighthouse are close, with Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Kitch-iti-kipi Big Spring, and the Seney National Wildlife Refuge all within reach — an unusual concentration of natural attractions for a quiet corner of the state. The UP season is short and concentrated. Summer is peak, with fall color drawing a strong second wave. Reserve well ahead for July and August, and check operating dates for the shoulder months.

from $42/night

Walnut Hills Family Campground

81 RV Sites, 2 Cabins, 18 Tent Sites

Walnut Hills Family Campground in Durand, Michigan, offers 81 RV sites, two cabins, and 18 tent sites across 45 acres on the Shiawassee River, with 30 and 50-amp service. Beachfront and riverfront water-and-electric categories join a 50-amp full-hookup tier, alongside a water park, swimming lake, beach, and inflatable water toys. Eighty-one sites span full hookup 50-amp, water-and-electric 30-amp, water-and-electric 50-amp, water-and-electric beachfront 30-amp, and water-and-electric riverfront categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, with fire pits and picnic tables. Read the category carefully — most tiers carry water and electric but not sewer, and the dump station covers the rest. The beachfront and riverfront categories are the ones to request. Two cabins and 18 tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, dump station, showers, firewood, and bike rentals handle the practical side. Two billing details: power is billed monthly based on usage, and the seasonal site season runs May 1 through October 20. A water park and swimming lake anchor the summer, with a beach, boat ramp, and kayak rentals opening the river for boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. An arcade, game room, ball field, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, gaga ball, horseshoes, inflatable water toys, golf cart rentals, walking trails, hiking, biking, a playground, pavilion, and dog park fill the rest, with live music and planned activities. The scenic river frontage in central Michigan is what brings families back year after year. Summer is the season. Reserve well ahead.

from $23/night