Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

 September 2024

I am sharing info about a few of the areas we hiked/visited along the Pictures Rocks shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais. We split our campground time between Bay Furnace National Park Campground (primitive campsites with a sanitation station and fresh water available), and Seney Township Campground (town park on Fox River with electric sites and artesian well on property). 

Mosquito Falls and trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Hiking to Mosquito Falls, Mosquito Beach, and Chapel Falls

We started our hike at Chapel Falls trailhead. This trailhead is about a 40-minute drive from Bay Furnace Campground. We put the destination in Google maps and our GPS before we left Munising, so it stayed connected even when our phone lost reception en route. There is a trail map and vault toilets at the trailhead parking lot.

Above: Mosquito Beach
Below: cave along Mosquito Falls Trail

We hiked the Mosquito loop trail first, which was almost 5 miles. We did not think this was a difficult hike, although many people turned around before Mosquito Falls, as the trail gets a bit wet and hilly in areas. Since there were not many hikers, we got to enjoy the scenery and saw several deer. Mosquito Beach is beautiful!

Above: Chapel Falls
Below: creek above Chapel Falls

Munising, Michigan: Bay Furnace National Park Campground in the Upper Peninsula

September 2024, 4 nights, weeknights

Sunset from inside our camper in Bay Furnace Campground

Reservations and arrival

The entrance into Bay Furnace is quite rough with many potholes. Fortunately, the distance down this rough dirt road is less than half a mile from M-28. 

Bay Furnace Campground self registration September 2024

We had made a reservation online several months ahead of time, and were able to proceed directly to our campsite. At the time of our stay the last full week of September, campsites that had not been reserved, had all been converted to first come, first serve. A sign on the self-registration post listed the park close date as 10/9/2024. The online system had said the park was going to close on 10/4 when we made our reservation. The host had already departed from full hookup site #8, and a local person had taken that campsite for the maximum 14-days allowed. According to the information on his post, he had rented it for the same price the rest of us paid for our primitive campsites.

Campsite 9 in Bay Furnace Campground
Photo above is view through screen door.

Campsite 9, and more

Campsite 9 is a great campsite on Lake Superior with a fabulous view. It was an easy few steps down the hill to the water. 

Campsite 9 in Bay Furnace Campground

This campsite is spacious, level, and somewhat secluded. There is a trail to the picnic area between this campsite and host site 8, which did not pass too close to our trailer. I marked the trail with an arrow in one of the photos above.

Most of the campsites in this park are great. They are spacious, and offer some privacy. Host campsite 8 and campsite 6 also have good views of the water, even though they are not directly on the water. Campsite 10 would be a good site for a tent, pickup camper, or motorhome pulled in. We did not like that site, because the fire ring and sitting area is behind the trailer when backing in with a travel trailer.

Above: picnic area in Bay Furnace Campground
Below: Campsite 9 in distance from edge of picnic area

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.