Fennville, Michigan: Ely Lake Campground

October 2022, 3-nights, weekdays-weekend

Ely Lake in Allegan county

Ely Lake County Campground campsite 30

This is a primitive campground with vault toilets, fresh water hand pumps, and trash dumpsters. Since this was our first visit, so we decided to wait until we arrived to actually view the campsites before choosing a site. There are two sections, and the campsites on the north side of the lake (the higher numbered sites, 49-73, to the right) are set up for horses. We did not drive through that section before choosing campsite 30.

Campsite 30 in Ely Lake County Campground

Someone was camping on site 2 when we arrived, and there were a couple of reserved tags on some of the other sites. Campsites 2 and 9 have great views of the lake. We considered site 9, but did not choose it because we thought it would be busier, as it is directly across from the beach and picnic area. There was a lot of local traffic during our stay. Many vehicles drove through the campground without stopping, and many vehicles drove down the boat ramp road, located just before campsite 30; apparently to view the lake for a short time before departing.

View from our front window on campsite 30 in Ely Lake County Campground

Campsite 30 is across the road from the lake, and we had a decent view of the lake. The picnic tables in this campground are chained down, so we were not able to move the table beside our camper. We set up our screened room over the table, which partially obstructed our view. I guess this also helped obstruct the view of our campsite from passing vehicles. This is a spacious and somewhat private site, as it is the only campsite in this triangular section of ground. A fresh water hand pump is also located in this area, across from campsite 41. I marked the water pump location in the first camper photo above. The pump was not right next to our camper, and no one used the pump while we were on our site. 

Campsite 30 in Ely Lake County Campground

None of the campsites in this section of the campground are located directly on the lake. Some of the campsites in the Equestrian section are directly on the lake.

Partial view of the beach and picnic area in Ely Lake County Campground

Recreation: boating, swimming, hiking, hunting, horse-back riding

The weather was great when we arrived, and it quickly got cold after our first night, so we did not end up going out on the water. There is a small swimming beach next to the picnic area.

Boat ramp in Ely Lake County Campground

The boat ramp I mentioned earlier is just a road that provides water access for non-motorized boating.

Hiking trail in Ely Lake County Campground

There is a short hiking trail around the lake, and there are a trails that go to Swan Creek and farther. We had planned to hike that far; however, the trails are apparently not used much for hiking. In addition to walking the trail around Ely Lake, we also walked to Little Tom Lake, and east a ways beyond 48th Street. Trees were across the trail in many areas, and it was often thinner than the trail in the photo above. Portions of the hiking trails were impassable, and we had to walk part way on the Equestrian trails. We observed a few people riding horses, and we observed vehicles parked where people were apparently hunting. We did not see anyone else hiking.  

Misc. and overall

All of the roads we traveled on to get to this campground were paved, except the roads near the campground (51st Street, 54th Street, and 116th Avenue are dirt roads). We really liked this campground, and hope to visit again next fall. It was definitely quieter during the week when we arrived. Although we observed people riding on the horse trails when we hiked, there did not appear to be anyone with horses camped in the north section of the campground. Next time, I think we will try to get a site on the water in that section of the campground--especially, if we visit during the week, when it is less busy. You can make reservations online, and the rate is $17 a night. The senior rate is $8.50 a night. The senior rate is not posted at the self-service registration kiosk, so I was glad I had read this information online before our stay.

Let me know if you have any questions!