RV Camping near Bear Lake, Michigan

Kampvilla RV Park

On 40 wooded acres in the northwestern corner of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, just five miles from 25 continuous miles of Lake Michigan sandy shoreline, Kampvilla RV Park provides a well-appointed campground in the natural setting of Manistee County—a landscape of hardwood forest, small inland lakes, and the dramatic dune country that characterizes Michigan's western coast. The combination of a well-stocked fishing pond, a heated pool, a robust activity lineup, and the proximity to Lake Michigan's beaches creates a campground experience that serves both families who want structured activities and outdoor enthusiasts who want a quiet base for exploring the surrounding Manistee National Forest and shoreline. Forty scenic wooded acres provide the breathing room that separates Kampvilla from the crowded resorts farther north. Full-hookup pull-through sites with 30/50-amp electrical service, water, and sewer serve the RV camping community alongside rustic sites large enough for tents and smaller trailers in the shaded grassy terrain. A heated swimming pool and covered poolside pavilion anchor the warm-weather recreation, and the catch-and-release fishing pond provides immediate angling access without requiring a drive to one of the surrounding lakes. Basketball, sand volleyball, shuffleboard, ping pong, foosball, and horseshoes round out the structured recreational menu, and a well-stocked general store handles supplies, ice, firewood, propane, and Kampvilla apparel for guests who arrive underprepared. A large playground and planned weekend events give families with children the structured programming that makes multi-day stays genuinely enjoyable. Lake Michigan's shoreline, five miles west, stretches 25 uninterrupted miles of sandy beach through the Ludington State Park system and the surrounding Manistee County dune country—one of the most expansive and beautiful freshwater beach environments in the world. Manistee, the county seat 12 miles north, anchors a charming Victorian downtown district on the Manistee Lake and River system, with charter fishing for salmon and lake trout, river tubing, and a vibrant local arts community that has established Manistee as one of northwest Michigan's most livable small cities. The Manistee National Forest, which surrounds the campground's county on three sides, provides hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, and ORV trails through northern Michigan's mixed hardwood and pine terrain. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, about 45 miles north, represents one of the National Park System's most dramatic landscapes—a 35-mile stretch of Lake Michigan shore dominated by towering dunes, ancient forests, offshore Manitou Islands, and the Sleeping Bear legend of Ojibwe tradition. The Platte and Betsie Rivers, both within day-trip range of the campground, offer nationally recognized canoe and kayak trips through northern Michigan river country that draw paddlers from across the Midwest. A fish-cleaning station on the property ensures that the morning's lake trout catch arrives at the campfire properly prepared. The campground operates seasonally and aligns its peak activity with the summer Lake Michigan beach season—the highest-demand period when the surrounding dune country and shoreline parks fill from late June through Labor Day. Fall brings the spectacular foliage season for which northern Michigan is celebrated, and the Manistee County hardwoods turn in full color from mid-September through mid-October in one of the Midwest's finest autumn displays. Reserve early for summer weekends in July and August, and give the fall shoulder season serious consideration for a northwest Michigan camping experience with fewer crowds and the dramatic seasonal color that rewards guests who return after the beach season ends.

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

Timberline Campground

98 RV Sites

Timberline Campground in Benzonia, Michigan, offers 98 RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 40 feet, in Benzie County's forested lake country. Full-hookup and water-and-electric categories in both back-in and pull-through serve anglers targeting the Betsie River and Lake Michigan's tributary streams, with two-story cabin rentals on site. Ninety-eight sites span full-hookup back-in, water-and-electric back-in, 30-amp pull-through, 50-amp pull-through, and water-and-electric pull-through categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 40 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and site WiFi. Note the 40-foot cap before booking a larger rig. Two-story cabin rentals round out the accommodations. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, RV storage, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a clubhouse, pavilion, playground, and dog park across the grounds and basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, and corn hole besides. Canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and swimming run from the area, with a golf course nearby. Pets are welcome. The campground's reputation is built on fishing — it is the premier base camp for trout and salmon anglers working the Betsie River system, and that loyal repeat community drives much of its business. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Crystal Mountain's year-round resort are both close. Salmon and steelhead runs drive the sharpest demand spikes alongside summer family season. Reserve well ahead for both.

from $40/night

Twisted Trails Offroad Park

11 RV Sites

Twisted Trails Offroad Park in Copemish, Michigan, offers 11 rustic camping sites across 400 acres of forest, mud holes, and rocky ridgeline in Manistee County. A single rustic camping category serves ATV riders, 4x4 enthusiasts, and anyone who came to get their vehicle dirty. Eleven back-in sites are rustic camping throughout, with fire pits at every site. Plan accordingly — these are primitive sites without hookups, so arrive fully self-contained with water and power, and confirm current facilities when you book. The pricing and the setup reflect exactly what this is: a base camp at a riding park rather than a campground with trails attached. Sites sit among the trees rather than in an open lot, and pets are welcome. One booking note the park states plainly: if you are coming to stay and play, add both a camping reservation and an Off Road Park or special event ticket to your cart — the camping alone does not include trail access. Four hundred acres of purpose-built terrain is what draws people from across the Midwest. The park has developed raw forest into one of the region's most sought-after destinations for serious offroading, with mud holes, rock crawls, hill climbs, and ridgeline trails that range from beginner-friendly to genuinely technical. Weekend events and organized rides fill the calendar. Copemish sits in the wooded hills of northwestern Michigan, with the Manistee National Forest surrounding the area and Sleeping Bear Dunes within reach for a day off the trails. Riding season runs spring through fall, with event weekends filling first. Reserve well ahead, and remember the separate park ticket.

from $20/night

Tippy Dam Campground and Cabins

17 RV Sites, 3 Cabins, 11 Tent Sites

Tippy Dam Campground and Cabins in Wellston, Michigan, offers 17 RV sites, three cabins, and 11 tent sites on the Manistee River, with 20, 30, and 50-amp electric service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 50 feet, open all year. A single 20/30/50-amp category joins a general store, dump station, playground, and casino, inside the Manistee National Forest. Seventeen sites carry electric service on 20, 30, and 50-amp, sized to 50 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 use the dump station. Accessible sites are available. Three cabins and 11 tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, dump station, and showers handle the practical side. One firewood note: you may bring your own, but not oak with the bark still attached, because of oak wilt. The river is the recreation, with fishing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boats, and swimming from the property, plus biking, horseshoes, and planned activities. A casino sits on the property, with skiing, a golf course, and lakes nearby. Pets are welcome. The campground takes its name from Tippy Dam, the hydroelectric facility on the Manistee, and the tailwater below it is one of Michigan's most celebrated trout and salmon fisheries. The fall king salmon run draws anglers from across the Midwest, with steelhead following through winter and spring. Fall salmon season and summer both drive demand. Reserve well ahead for September and October.

from $32/night

Leelanau Pines Campground

52 RV Sites, 9 Cabins, 5 Glamping Sites

Leelanau Pines Campground in Cedar, Michigan, offers 52 full-hookup RV sites, nine cabins, and five glamping sites on the southern shore of Lake Leelanau, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet. Lakefront basic and lakefront standard categories join premium and standard back-in tiers, with a disc golf course, jumping pillow, beach, and bar. Fifty-two back-in sites run in lakefront basic, lakefront standard, premium back-in, and standard back-in categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. The lakefront tiers are the ones to request, and offering both a basic and a standard lakefront option keeps waterfront within reach at two price points. Nine cabins — including two luxury types sleeping up to eight — and five glamping sites round out the lodging. A laundry, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. A disc golf course, jumping pillow, sports courts, pickleball, basketball, gaga ball, corn hole, walking trails, a playground, on-site dining, and a bar fill the grounds, with the lake supporting boating, fishing, and swimming. Wine and beer tasting and a golf course are nearby. The Leelanau Peninsula is one of Michigan's most celebrated summer regions, where Lake Michigan's moderating climate produces cherry orchards and a serious wine country, with Sleeping Bear Dunes and Traverse City close. Summer is decisively the season in northern Michigan, with fall color drawing a strong second wave. Reserve well ahead for July and August.

from $53/night

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.

Fox Run Family Campground & RV Park

Fox Run Family Campground & RV Park in Fife Lake, Michigan, offers full-hookup RV sites on a forested property off US-131 in Grand Traverse County, with a lake, walking trails, and a big-rig-friendly layout. The campground sits at the Old Walton Junction trailhead, giving direct access to hiking and ORV trail connections. Full-hookup RV sites carry water, sewer, and electric on a layout sized for big coaches. A general store covers camp basics and firewood, laundry and a dump station handle longer stays, and restrooms, showers, and WiFi serve the sites. A lending library rounds out the practical amenities — a small touch, but one that says something about how the family runs the place. Pets are welcome. The trailhead position is the distinguishing feature. Old Walton Junction connects directly to hiking and ORV trails that extend into the surrounding national forest, which means riders and hikers leave from the campground rather than trailering out. A lake sits on the property for fishing, with walking trails, biking, horseshoes, corn hole, and picnicking across the grounds and a playground and dog park for families and pets. Fife Lake sits in the white pine and mixed hardwood landscape of northwest Lower Michigan, on the US-131 corridor connecting the Grand Rapids metro to Traverse City. That gives the family-owned campground two distinct markets — through-traffic on the highway and regional recreation demand generated by the Manistee National Forest, Fife Lake itself, and the northern Lower Michigan trail network. The campground serves the Michigan season. Summer lake and trail traffic drives the peak, with fall color and ORV riding weather extending demand into October. Reserve ahead for summer weekends and fall color.

from $34/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

Whispering Surf Campground at Bass Lake

37 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 6 Tent Sites, 2 Cottages

Whispering Surf Campground at Bass Lake in Pentwater, MI, offers 37 full-hookup RV sites, 3 cabin and cottage rentals, and 6 tent sites, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 44 feet. Sites come in three types — full-hookup back-ins, full-hookup pull-thrus, and water-and-electric back-ins — each with a fire pit, picnic table, and site-delivered WiFi. Full-hookup sites carry water, sewer, and electric. A bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, a dump station, and a community fire pit cover the essentials. Dogs are welcome — non-aggressive breeds, up to two per site — and there's a dog park and a pet washing station on the grounds. Bass Lake frontage drives the recreation: boat docks and boat and kayak rentals for fishing, paddling, boating, and swimming, plus a recreation center, playground, walking trails, and horseshoes. The dark sky over the lake makes for good stargazing. Pentwater sits in Oceana County, with Bass Lake at the campground's edge and Lake Michigan's beaches and a state park a short drive west. Rates for sites, cabins, and tent spots are on the booking page. Michigan's summer season is short and this stretch of shoreline books early.

from $45/night

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

Sun Retreats Silver Lake

16 RV Sites, 5 Cottages

Sun Retreats Silver Lake in Mears, MI, offers 16 full-hookup pull-through RV sites and 5 cottages, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 75 feet. Every site is a full-hookup pull-through carrying water, sewer, electric, and cable TV with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table — no unhitching, and at 75 feet the sites take long coaches. If you booked here before, note the name change: Silver Creek RV Resort is now Sun Retreats Silver Lake. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, propane fills and exchange, on-site dining, and a bar cover the rest. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. The recreation runs deep: an outdoor pool, a hot tub and sauna, a fitness center, a clubhouse, an arcade, a jumping pillow, gaga ball, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, corn hole, a playground, and a beach for swimming, boating, kayaking, and paddle boarding. Mears sits on the western shore of Silver Lake in Oceana County, minutes from Silver Lake State Park and the Silver Lake Sand Dunes — one of the few places in the country where you can drive a vehicle on open dunes. Rates for sites and cottages are on the booking page. Sixteen sites and dune season means summer books out fast.

from $57/night