September 2022, Weekdays, 3 nights
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| Beach and sunset at Marquette Tourist Park Campground |
Marquette Tourist Park Campground, Campsite 77
I attempted to make an advance reservation online; however, the website for this campground is not user friendly, and it did not work properly. Apparently, I am not the only one who has had trouble with the reservation system, as I read complaints about the process from others when I researched this campground. Fortunately, I was able to reach someone in the office who was helpful with adjusting our reservation after it did not process as expected.
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| Marquette Tourist Park Campground View from inside our camper on campsite 77, looking toward campsite 75 |
Campsite 79 is a secluded site along the back tree line with electrical hookup. Most of the waterfront sites were already reserved when we made our reservation. During our stay, we were glad we had not chosen a non-secluded waterfront site, as it was quite windy and cool, and the wind was stronger at the sites closer to the water. Campsite 13 on the water had looked like a good site online; however, when we looked at it during our stay, it did not look like it would have been a good site for our trailer. It is not very level, and the camper sitting side would not have been facing the water. This is probably a great site for people with a truck camper or tent.
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Beach area in Marquette Tourist Park Campground |
This campground is located on the Dead River basin. It has a sandy beach with swimming area, and there are kayaks for rent inside the park. The paved bicycle trail alongside the park (Marquette City Multi Use Path) is well maintained and connects to Iron Ore Heritage Trail.
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Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Michigan |
It was an easy bike ride of about 2 miles one-way to Presque Isle Park. There are a couple of stopping points along the way, and the Presque Isle Bog walk is located just before the park entrance. Inside the park, there are hiking trails along the water and rocks, and there are hilly trails through the woods in the center of the park. Most visitors just stopped along the loop drive to explore the areas along the water and close to the road. We passed only one other hiker on the hilly inside loop trail. It was easy to hike all of the trails, other than a few steps or mild hills for the interior portion.
We rode Iron Ore Heritage Trail from the campground to Harvey, which was a great ride. The trail runs along the water, and it is mostly flat. It passes through downtown Marquette, and it goes by several breweries and parks, providing many places to stop for a picnic or restaurant dining.
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Above: Vierling Restaurant & Marquette Harbor Brewery in downtown Marquette Below: Beer and nachos at Lake Superior Smokehouse in Harvey, Michigan |
The Vierling Restaurant & Marquette Harbor Brewery downtown had great service, great beer, and great prices. This was our favorite stop this trip. Lake Superior Smokehouse and Drifa Brewery both have excellent outside sitting areas. Drifa was our second favorite stop this trip. The beers were good, and the outside seating area overlooks the bicycle trail and Lake Superior. Ore Dock Brewing Company was not as impressive as last time we visited (this was mostly due to the service; they do have good beer). Barrel + Beam was kind of a disappointment for us. We usually like meads, ciders, wines, and beers, so we had been looking forward to our first visit to this location. This location has unique sitting areas; however, we thought everything we tasted was kind of odd. You can get to all of these locations from the paved bike trails.
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| Daylight view of the beach area in Marquette Tourist Park Campground |
Misc. and overall
The last time we camped in the Marquette area, we stayed at Rippling River Resort. Although Rippling River Resort offers more amenities and hiking, Marquette Tourist Campground offers reasonable rates near town with a secluded feel.
Let me know if you have any questions or info to share!
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