Manistique, Michigan: Downtown, Recreation, Indian Lake State Park

May 2021, 3-days

Following is information about some of the places we visited during our stay at Manistique Lakeshore Campground.

Looking toward Manistique Lakeshore Campground from boardwalk

Recreation and landmarks

Manistique Boardwalk starts/ends on the opposite side of the channel (Manistique River) from the campground, near the municipal marina. There is room to walk alongside the road over the river, so we were able to walk to the boardwalk from the campground. The boardwalk was an easy walk of about 4 miles roundtrip from our campsite. Bikes are prohibited on the boardwalk. 

Damage on the trail along Manistique Boardwalk

Part of the boardwalk trail was damaged from the high water in 2019 - 2020; however, the trail was still navigable. There are several parking lots along the boardwalk, and there is a porta-potty in the east end parking lot on Manistique Avenue.

View from picnic table at Indian Lake State Park

We visited Indian Lake State Park one day, as it was extremely windy at our campsite. This park has a nice picnic area with several benches, picnic tables, and pavilions for rent. There is a small beach for swimming behind one of the pavilions, and there is a boat ramp at the west end of the picnic area. We observed people fishing from small motorboats, and we saw a few kayaks out on the lake. The campground is quite large, and most of the campers seemed pretty close together except for a few along the lakefront.

Hiking trail at Indian Lake State Park

We hiked the trail, which was less than 2 miles. The portion along the lake, from the campground to the boat ramp, is tar. The rest of the trail is dirt through the woods, which was quite wet in spots. There were several areas where logs had been placed to walk on. The trail was mostly flat and easy to navigate, other than the areas with water.

Manistique, Michigan: Manistique Lakeshore Campground

 May 2021, Weekend - holiday, 3-nights

Manistique Lakeshore Campground looking inland from site 49

We had initially planned to stay in this campground May 2020, and our trip was canceled due to COVID-19 when many things were shut down. By the time we decided to replan our trip for 2021, our first choice campsite (#41) was not available, so we made an online reservation for site 49. The price had increased $5 a night since the year before. Another sad point for us was that a nearby business we had planned to visit in 2020 had closed after the pandemic hit: Mackinaw Trail Winery & Brewery.

Arrival

We arrived a bit before check-in time, and our site and paperwork were both ready. This was the most efficient check-in we have experienced so far this year.

Campsite 49 at Manistique Lakeshore Campground

Campsite 49

This campsite has full hookup with 50 amp power. It is the end/last water site. We had chosen site 41 the year before, because the online photos show that site 41 has a better view of Lake Michigan with better beach and water access. The online photos on the reservation site are great; however, they are a few years old, and the view behind every site is more open than shown. After arriving, we decided we like site 49 better than 41! 😊

Campsite 49 at Manistique Lakeshore Campground

I cannot fit all of the photos that I took in this post. You can see more in the Manistique Lakeshore Campground photo album on Facebook. 

Campsite 49 at Manistique Lakeshore Campground

All of the campsites along the water offer some privacy with trees in between. Site 49 has more side privacy than most, although this site is also visible from the entrance and campground office. This did not present any problems, since it was mostly quiet in the campground during our stay.

View from inside camper on site 49 at Manistique Lakeshore Campground

South Haven, Michigan: VanBuren State Park, Bicycle Trail, Breweries

 May 2021, weekend, 2-nights

Sunset at VanBuren State Park

You can find information about this campground and the area by following this link to my previous post from our visit in August 2020. This post is mostly just to provide information about our campsite this trip; site 220. And, new info since our last visit.

Arrival and check-in

The office was staffed when we arrived Friday afternoon, and we waited behind one person. The check-in process went pretty quick when it became our turn.

Campsite 220 at VanBuren State Park
Our trailer was parked on the right; just outside this view

Campsite 220

Unfortunately, I have only one photo of this campsite. I can, however, provide a bit more information than what is listed on the reservation site. This site is spacious, level, and private. We had plenty of room for our trailer, truck, a small tent, and second vehicle.

Moon shot from campsite 220 at VanBuren State Park