Muskegon, Michigan: Muskegon State Park Channel Campground

June - July 2021, 13 nights, campsite 116

This was our first time staying in the same spot with our camper for so long. We had a few rainy days, and an overall great stay.

View from campsite 116 at Muskegon State Park
Motorhome in the distance is on site 118

Channel campground, second loop, campsite info

We chose this site because it was one of the few sites available that had enough room for our camper and boat, and also is fairly close to the water. We prefer sites 108 and 109, as they are closer to Muskegon Lake; however, both of those sites were reserved when we made our reservation. It probably would have been worthwhile if I had checked the sites every now and then for cancellations, because site 109 was empty during most of our stay. Live and learn!

Campsite 116 at Muskegon State Park

Side view from inside camper
Campsite 115 in distance

Muskegon, Michigan / Shoreline Inn, Rad Dad's, 18th Amendment...

December 2018, Weekend-Sunday

Sunset from Shoreline Inn penthouse suite 1011

If you follow my blog, you have probably read plenty of info the last few years about the many wonderful places to visit in Muskegon, Michigan! This is a brief post to share a bit of new information, including a few new pictures from a new room [for us] at Shoreline Inn. Be sure and click the labels at the end of this post to find additional information about areas of interest.

View from bedroom Shoreline Inn penthouse suite 1011

Ascend hotel collection member ~ Shoreline Inn, penthouse suite 1011

We redeemed points for this stay on Sunday evening between Christmas and New Years. A friend of mine told me he has difficulty finding this room type available for a Saturday night. That may because I think there are only two penthouse suites like this: 1011 and 1003. We have also stayed in suite 1009, which is on the corner like 1003 and 1011, and that suite does not have a whirlpool tub. We have not stayed in suite 1005, so I am not certain if that suite is the same as 1009. The best guestroom diagram can be found at the bottom of my blog post for suite 1009 in December 2017.

Kitchen area in Shoreline Inn penthouse suite 1011

Muskegon, Michigan / Camping, Downtown, Events...

May and June 2018

Sunset at Fisherman's Landing

As some of you know, Muskegon is one of our favorite lakeshore towns to visit! I am sharing a few photos and some new info we discovered during our most recent visit to Muskegon. You can find additional information about items of interest by clicking on the labels at the end of this post.

Camping in Muskegon

Our two favorite campgrounds in the area are Fisherman's Landing and Muskegon State Park. We usually choose Fisherman's Landing because of its proximity to town and the bicycle trail. The state park is great when we want to do some hiking or stay closer to Lake Michigan. 

Seen from our campsite at Fisherman's Landing during D-Day weekend

Muskegon, Michigan / Shoreline Inn, Downtown

March 2018, weekend

We always enjoy visiting Muskegon, and this time was no exception. I was on crutches this weekend, and a couple of things happened that I really appreciated!

Shoreline Inn, penthouse suite 1003

Although this was our fourth stay at Shoreline Inn, this was the first time we enjoyed an amazing sunset from our room! It had been cloudy, or our view had not been facing west, during previous stays.

Sunset view from living room couch in suite 1003

Other locations where we have stayed in the Muskegon area include: Holiday Inn downtown, Hampton Inn by Lakes Mall, Fisherman's Landing campground, Muskegon State Park (channel and Lake Michigan campgrounds), Hartshorn Marina, and Great lakes Marina. 

Muskegon, Michigan / Shoreline Inn, Downtown, Boars Belly, Smash Wine Bar

December 2017, Weekday, 1-night

Shoreline Inn Penthouse Suite 1009

You can find more information about the Shoreline Inn and guestrooms in two of my previous blog posts: October 2017, and January 2016. We loved the Penthouse Suite that we had in October, so we booked a Penthouse Suite again. Last time we redeemed points, and this time we booked the AAA rate. When I made the reservation, I thought we had reserved a suite with a whirlpool tub and no balcony.

View from Shoreline Inn suite 1009

Penthouse suite 1009 has a balcony just like suite 1003. It does not, however, have a whirlpool tub. Other than not having a tub, the guestroom is very similar to 1003 with a fireplace, living and kitchen area, and separate bedroom.

Penthouse suite 1009

Muskegon, MI / Shoreline Inn, Pigeon Hill, Boars Belly, Lakeshore Trail

October 2017, Weekdays, 2-days

Shoreline Inn, penthouse suite 1003

We loved this guestroom! You can see more photos of this fabulous suite in my Facebook album, as I could not fit them all in this post. We booked a penthouse suite with points, and received an upgrade to a lake view penthouse suite. Or, the upgrade may have actually been an error, since the front desk agent did not tell us it was an upgrade, and I had some difficulty making the reservation.

View from penthouse suite balcony #1003

This room is a corner suite with floor to ceiling glass windows on all of the exterior walls. There was a balcony with two chairs and a small table from the kitchen area, and the other glass doors could also be opened.

Summer in Muskegon, Michigan

July 2016, 7 nights over 2 different weeks and weekends

I have provided information about the Muskegon area a few different times in other blog posts. I am sharing new information in this post. The easiest way to find more information about a topic you are interested in, is to click on the label(s) at the bottom of this post (e.g. trail, lake, campground, etc.).

Smash Wine Bar and Bistro

We stopped at Smash Wine Bar and Bistro located downtown Muskegon on a Saturday for their Bloody Mary special - $5 for this delicious beverage, which came with a beer chaser. We were impressed, and definitely plan to stop here again! The excellent service matched the good quality beverage.

Smash Bar Bloody Mary photo taken
before we received the beer chaser  

There was not anyone sitting outside when we arrived, so we went downstairs and had our beverages at a table in the bar area. We later learned the patio is monitored, and we could have taken a seat at a table on the patio/sidewalk, and someone would have been out to greet us.

We did not have anything to eat this visit (other than the snacks in our drinks), as we had just eaten lunch at Se4sons Gastropub. The Smash Nacho plate looked fabulous, and I imagine that is what we will try next visit.

Se4sons Gastropub via Lakeshore Trail

We rode our bicycles on Lakeshore Trail from Fisherman's Landing to Se4sons Gastropub. I noticed a couple of new signs on the trail, which provided great information for people not familiar with the trail or downtown. You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Muskegon, Michigan / Fisherman's Landing Campground, Lakeshore Trail, downtown, Pere Marquette Beach

June 2016, Weekday-weekend, 3-nights, Site 42 at Fisherman's Landing

Sunset from site 42

We have frequently visited the Muskegon area and we have been to Fisherman's Landing before this stay, although this was our first time camping at Fisherman's Landing.

Reservations and check-in

I had a difficult time finding campground information for this park before our stay. The City of Muskegon owns the land and operates the boat launch ramps in the park. Fisherman's Landing operates the campground area, and I could not find a campground webpage other than their Facebook page. Since the city of Muskegon is not involved in the campground operation, we were not able to make a campsite reservation until the campground opened in the spring. This was not a problem since the campground was not full during our stay, and site numbers were not assigned when reservations were made.

On the day of our arrival, the office was open until 5:00 p.m. We arrived before closing time and checked in, which took several minutes. There was a locked gate at the campground entrance, so we let our friends in, when they arrived after closing. They completed check-in the next day. A few campers arrived after hours on Saturday evening, so they must have also made arrangements with someone beforehand. Some of the people who work at the campground also stay there, so I imagine it is not difficult to make arrangements, if you will be arriving after hours.

View from site 42 when we first arrived
Bathhouse and playground in the distance

Sites 41 and 42

We stayed on site 42, and our friends camped on site 41. Both sites were spacious and grassy, although there were no trees on either site. Water and electricity hookup was available on all of the sites except in the tenting area.

Muskegon, Michigan / The Shoreline Inn & Conference Center, an Ascend Collection hotel

January 2016, Weekend, 1 night, King club floor guestroom #908 and Whirlpool guestroom #812

Sunrise from bed in guestroom 812

Prior to this stay, we had visited a couple of other businesses located on the hotel grounds: Terrace Point Marina, and Lake House Waterfront Grille. This was our first stay in the Shoreline Inn. I was not familiar with Ascend Collection hotels before this, so I looked up Ascend Collection hotels before our stay, and found this description: Meet the Ascend Hotel Collection®, a network of historic, boutique and unique hotels that offer guests an authentic, local experience. Member hotels share a passion for delivering attentive service to guests seeking a more experiential, individualized travel experience that gives them a sense of local flavor.

Reservation/arrival experience

Since I am a light packer, I called the hotel before our stay to ask if bathrobes are provided in the guestrooms. The person I spoke with said that only the club guestrooms have bathrobes. He said we could request them if all the club rooms were not booked. He looked up our reservation, and then added this request to our reservation.

Check-in time is 4:00 p.m., and we arrived at the hotel between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. We received an upgrade to the club floor, and then we paid a bit extra to upgrade to a room with a whirlpool tub and fireplace. Staff members were willing to work with us regarding our room choice; however, since we were not familiar with this hotel or the room offerings, it was difficult to know which type of room to request. Hopefully, the information I am providing here will help future travelers in making a guestroom selection.

Shoreline Photos

click on this photo of the Aruba shoreline to enlarge it

When I created the sunset photo album on Facebook, I had a request to share shoreline photos, as not everyone has had the opportunity to view our beautiful planet from that vantage point. 

The photo at the top of this post is the Aruba shoreline, and you can find more shoreline photos on our Facebook page. I have started two shoreline albums: Shoreline views from Lake Michigan & within the state of Michigan, and Shorelines-Landscape views from the water. The second album contains photos of Alaska, inland US lakes, and the Caribbean.

Since I live in Michigan, I tend to have more shoreline photos from our lakes than other areas, so I made a separate album for those. I may break the second photo album into segments, also, if it gets too large as I add more photos. For now, I have the two albums ~ Enjoy, and please continue to share your requests!

Muskegon, Michigan / Muskegon State Park Channel Campground

October 2014, Weekend, 2-nights, Lot 109

Arrival/check-in

There was not anyone working at the entrance shack when we arrived Friday afternoon. We had made an advance reservation, so we confirmed our lot and name information on the board for arriving campers and then proceeded to our site. Park rangers drove through the park after our arrival to check on campers and sites. Someone had setup on lot 110 across from us, and they stopped to collect payment. The campers were not on the lot at the time, so they left a payment envelope. The rangers did not provide any information for the campers though, because they asked us what the cost is per night when they returned. 

Lot 109, second loop

view from tar pad

Lot 109 has a tar pad, 20/30/50 amp service, and it is listed as able to accommodate an RV up to 45'. The information for this site says, "low limbs overhanging site." We did not encounter any low limbs on the site, although it did take a bit of finesse to back the RV in, as the limbs on the road in front of the site are low hanging, and this lot is located on a curve in the road. Our 5th wheel is 30', and it is taller than some RVs. I am not sure I would want to maneuver a 45' RV into this site.