Strongs, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula: Three Lakes Campground

September - October 2024, 3 nights

Sunset over Walker Lake behind campsite 5 in Three Lakes Campground

Arrival and campsite choice

We had hoped to camp in Soldier Lake Campground for this stay; however, that campground had already closed for the season. The information for Three Lakes Campground says it has sites for up to a 20' trailer, and ours is 25'. People we had met when camping in Brevoort Lake National Forest Campground told us the sites are large, so we decided to check it out. This campground is easy to access from M-28, and all of the roads are paved. Our 25' trailer could have easily fit on most of the sites in this campground. The facility map for this campground is not correct at the time of this post, and some of the website photos are incorrect, as well. I have shared information about that farther down in this post.

Campsite 4 is the site with the best water view; however, there was a camper on that site when we arrived. There was no tag on the post, and that camper ended up leaving late that day, after we had already chosen site 5. 😳  We chose site 5 because it had the best kayak launch spot of the remaining waterfront sites available.

Campsite 5 in Three Lakes Campground
Photo above is lake view from inside our trailer

Campsite 5

We liked all of the campsites in this park. The sites are spacious, and there is quite a bit of privacy around every site. The area where we parked our trailer on site 5 is hard packed, as is the ground on the road side of the tree. There is not a designated gravel or tar parking area on any of the sites, like is often common in National Parks. We chose to back in on the other side of the tree in order to have a better lake view, and so the tree would not be in the way of our awning.

Campsite 5 in Three Lakes Campground

Au Train, Michigan: Au Train Lake USDA Forest Service Campground in the Upper Peninsula

September 2024, 1 night, weeknight, campsite 22

Sign posted at the entrance to Au Train Lake Campground September 2024

Arrival experience

As we were driving to this campground, we were hoping it was still open, because the information online was unclear. Information on the recreation.gov site sounded like it might be closing the day we were arriving, although it did not state this for sure. Later, we learned that the information on the USDA Forest site would have been more helpful, since that site clearly stated the closing date. When we arrived, a sign on the post stated that the campground was closing October 1st. The host campsite was already vacated for the season. Although we have seen the host campsite available at other campgrounds after the host departs, it was roped off at this campground, so no one could rent it.

Campsite 22 in Au Train Lake Campground

Campsite 22

At the time of our stay, all of the sites were first come, first serve, except campsites that had been reserved far in advance. There were reserved tags on those sites. We were only staying one night, and chose campsite 22, which was spacious enough and level enough that we did not need to unhook our trailer. 

Campsite 22 in Au Train Lake Campground
View from the road and from the lake behind the site

This is a great campsite on the lake, and it has trees around the perimeter. This site is always FCFS, even during peak season. We thought most of the campsites in this campground were great. Most of them are spacious, private, and level. 

Songbird Trail in Au Train Lake Campground

Upper Peninsula Michigan: Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

September 2024, 4 nights, campsite 27

You can find more details about this campground in my previous post from our stay in  September 2022. I am sharing a few recent photos and info from our stay this year. 

Sunset over Colwell Lake from campsite 27 

Arrival

There was only one non-reservable campsite with electricity available when we arrived on a Wednesday; campsite 5, which is a non-waterfront site. We had hoped to get a campsite with electricity; however, we opted for a waterfront site instead. There were several great waterfront sites available for three nights or less. We wanted to stay four nights, so we chose campsite 27, which is one of the sites we had circled after our previous stay. 

Beach area of campsite 27 in Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

Campsite 27

We thought the water access from this campsite is one of the better ones. The beach area is sandy, and there was plenty of room for our chairs and kayaks. 

Campsite 27 in Colwell Lake Campground

Manistique, Michigan: Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

 September 2022, weekdays, 3-nights

Sunset from campsite 3 in Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

Arrival and reservations

There are about 10 to 12 campsites in this campground that are first-come-first serve. We arrived on a Wednesday, and had great luck--the camper on a waterfront non-reservable site with electricity had just left that day. Checkout time is 11:00 AM. About a third of the other campsites were occupied, and almost all of the waterfront sites had reserved tags on them for the upcoming weekend.

Above: view of campsite 3 from lake in Colwell Lake National Forest
Below: campsite 32 in Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

Campsites

We thought all of the campsites in this campground were great; even the ones across the road from the lake. We had campsite 3, which is the first waterfront site. It is next to the host campsite. The host was already gone in mid-September, so our campsite was quite secluded during our stay. After walking through this park, this was our favorite site at this time of year, when the host site is empty. The first photo below is looking out our back window toward the host campsite.