Clare, Michigan: Herrick Recreation Area

June 2024, weekend - weekday, 2-nights

Herrick Recreation Area

Reservations and arrival

We decided to camp at this park last minute, as it was on the way to our next destination in Bay City State Park Campground. We did not make an advance reservation for a couple of reasons: we had never been to this park before and did not know what the campsites actually look like, there were many available campsites, and there is a $5 online reservation fee. 

The entrance booth on the south side of the road was empty when we arrived at the campground area. A sign on the window instructed campers to check-in at the picnic area on the north side of the road (about 500' east of the campground entrance). Since we needed to continue into the campground area to turn around with our trailer, we decided to drive through the campground first to see some of the campsites. We found several empty sites, wrote down the numbers of a few we liked, and then headed to the the picnic area to check-in. We were able to get one of the sites we had chosen; however, we still had to pay the $5 reservation fee. 😳 The nightly rate is $25, and this park also has the following daily fees: vehicle entrance fee $6, and boat/kayak fee $6. We had two kayaks with us; however, we did not use them, nor had we planned to. It sounded like we had to pay the boat fee anyway, so with these additional fees, the nightly rate would have been $43 (+ the $5 reservation fee). After I questioned this, we were told that since it was free fishing weekend in Michigan, the park was waiving the boat and entrance fees, so our final cost was $55 for two nights. There is no information about the boat fees on the park website, and I doubt we would have stayed in this campground if the cost had been $43 a night.

Campsite 54 in Herrick Recreation Area

Campsite 54

This campsite is a spacious and somewhat private site in one of the last campground loops. It is level and grassy with 30 amp power. The fire rings in this campground are very small, and set in flush with the ground, which we thought was quite dangerous. That are not highly visible. You can enlarge the labeled photo above by clicking on it.

Sterling, Alger, and Clare, Michigan: Rifle River, Campground, Dining...

 May 2021, Weekday-weekend, 3-nights

Campsite 104 at Rifle River Outdoor Adventures

Outdoor Adventures Rifle River campsite 104

Our visit to this campground with our free night certificate was not as impressive as our first Outdoor Adventures stay. When we arrived, we were told we had to pay a $5 daily entrance fee for each day we would be staying. I questioned this, as we had not been charged this last time. The clerk told me it was something new that had started in May, and that we had to pay it to camp. She said I would have to take it up with the corporate office, if I wanted a refund later. When I called the reservation line the following Monday, I was told the same thing. So, this company told us we were receiving inclusive free night stays (entrance to the campground and a campsite), and then later they decided to charge everyone a daily entrance fee, which was never disclosed?!? Wow. The pool area, river service, and other parts of this campground were not even open yet. We basically used only the campsite at this "resort," and that was it.

View from campsite 104 at Rifle River Outdoor Adventures

Our campsite was a decent site. It was spacious and mostly flat, with water and 30 amp power hookup. Only seven sites in this park have full hookup. The rest have water and electric; most sites have 20 or 30 amp, and there are four 50 amp sites. There were less than 15 campsites rented during our stay, so it was peaceful. There are a few campsites on the river; however, they are narrower than the sites in the area we chose. Some of the river sites are only 20 amp sites.

Bridge on Melita Road across Rifle River from landing at Outdoor Adventures

This entire campground has gravel roads with speed bumps every 5 to 10 feet. We are always cautious drivers, especially in areas with children and pedestrians. We would have only been driving 5 MPH without the annoying speed bumps. The number of speed bumps was a bit extreme and unpleasant to jostle our camper over so often.

Pool area at Rifle River Outdoor Adventures

When I inquired when the pool and hot tub would be open, I was told Memorial weekend. This campground also provides river shuttle service when it is operating, which is after Memorial weekend, as well. If we had been able to use this service for our kayak trip, I may not have been as annoyed about the last minute daily fee we were charged. The campground map shows a nature trail along the back of the upper campsites; however, it is not marked or used (we tried to hike it). WiFi in the campground is only available by the camp store. Cell reception (Verizon) at our campsite was okay for voice calls. Texts and data reception was poor. 

Beautiful Rifle River 

Area recreation: Rifle River kayak trip from Moffatt Bridge to Outdoor Adventures/Whites Landing, hiking, Turtle Park

We loved the kayak trip from Moffat Bridge back to camp on a Friday. This is about a 3-hour casual paddle. The river has a gentle current most of the way with few obstructions. We found a couple of places to stop, although a lot of this trip is along private property.

Moffat Bridge landing

Mount Pleasant & Clare Michigan: Camping, Biking, Hiking, and Breweries (of course!)

 April - May 2021, 3-Nights, Weekdays - Weekend

View of Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant
through our front window on campsite 158

Mount Pleasant Outdoor Adventures campsite 158

We used a free night certificate for this stay, which we received for attending an Outdoor Adventures sales presentation last year. We did not join the program, because we felt the resorts are geared more toward families, and we are almost retired with no little ones. You can only make reservations to use the free nights less than a month out, and the certificates cannot be used on holiday weekends. We were somewhat worried we would have trouble using them; however, we have not had any trouble. The only date we could not use our certificate was May 26th (for just 1 night), because that Wednesday before Memorial weekend was also considered part of the holiday weekend. I was surprised to learn we could pick our site when calling to make reservations. If you care about location, there are pretty good site maps of each resort online. We attended the sales presentation in Kalamazoo, and at that location, we did not pick a site beforehand. They told us that when we arrived, we would go in and set up on any open site, and then return to the office to register.

Fire ring on campsite 158 at Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant 

We did not see anyone at the guard shack when we arrived at the Mt. Pleasant resort Thursday evening, so we drove to our site and set up. When we checked in later, we learned there is no bathroom code or Internet access code. This location is off the beaten path on a dirt road, so I suppose there is no need for either of those things. The WiFi service is lousy; higher speed packages were available for purchase. 

Bat house in the trees behind campsite 158
at Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant 

Our campsite was full hookup. The site was level and long with no obstructions. The parking pad was crushed gravel, and there was a cement pad next to it with a picnic table. The cement pad was smaller than our 9' x 18' outdoor mat. We observed a bat house in the woods behind our campsite. There were no insects of any kind during our stay.

Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant resort map

The resort map for this location is somewhat incorrect for the site we had chosen. The map shows a green space between sites 157 and 158. We chose 158 because we thought there was going to be some unusable space between the two sites with more room between them. There was nothing between us and the back of the camper next door. Our site was still spacious, although there was actually more room behind us on site 159.

Swimming beach at Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant

Northern Michigan Road Trip ~ Breweries, Wineries, Dining, Casino

January - February 2019, Weekday and weekend visits

Winter in Michigan!
Location: Charlevoix county.

We had a Michigan Brewvine Passport with several unused discounts, which had some bearing on the places we chose to visit this trip.

Four Leaf Brewing Sampler

Clare, Michigan: Four Leaf Brewing

This was our first visit to Four Leaf Brewing, and we only learned about the brewery because of their participation in Michigan Brewvine Passport. We liked all their discounts, and chose to use the coupon for 50% off a flight with our order. My personal favorite was Tiramisu Stout. The service was excellent, and we hope to visit again soon. Pere Marquette Rail Trail runs very close behind this brewery, on the west side of Pine Street.

View behind bar at Dead Bear; photo taken during 2016 visit

Grayling, Michigan: Dead Bear Brewing Co.   

We have previously enjoyed good food and brews at Dead Bear Brewing Co., although our experience was a tad disappointing this time. We split the Rueben appetizer, which we had had before, and really liked. The appetizer had been more like an egg roll last time, and this time it was greasier. You can see a photo of this appetizer in my 2015 Grayling post. Initially, we had planned to just split a pint at Dead Bear with their $2 off coupon, and then dine at Paddle Hard Brewing; however, the morning of our departure, we learned Paddle Hard Brewing would be closed.

Mackinaw Trail Winery & Brewery

Petoskey, Michigan: Mackinaw Trail Winery & Brewery, Odawa Casino 

Mackinaw Trail is one of our favorite places to visit in Petoskey! We enjoy visiting their locations in Mackinaw City and Manistique, as well. We love their brews and wines, along with the service and atmosphere. We used their discounted tasting coupon from the Michigan Brewvine Passport, and could not leave without making at least one purchase. My husband and I both liked Hop-toskey IPA and the Imperial Stout best--both delicious!