Garden, Michigan: Fayette Historic State Park

May 2023, weekdays, 4-nights, campsite #53

Sunset over bay behind campsite 53 in Fayette Historic Campground
Below: view from inside camper in Fayette Historic Campground site 53

We have previously camped in this park, and we have visited by boat. You can find info from previous visits by clicking on labels at the bottom of this post. This was our first visit since 2015. It is also the first time we made an advance reservation. We called to add an extra day to our trip after our casino stay. We considered stopping at another State Forest Campground after we had nixed Hog Island; however, we decided it would not be worth it to stop elsewhere for only one night. Also, the rate for Fayette was only $10 more than a primitive SF campground. 

Campsite 53 in Fayette Historic State Park Campground

Arrival and campsite 53

After we arrived, I wished we had not made a reservation. The campground was mostly empty, and site 53 is very unlevel. We spent quite a bit of time trying to park our camper in different positions to see if we could get it where we would not need three or more blocks under one side. In the end, we backed in the usual way with blocks under the passenger side. Campsite 53 is one of the more private sites; however, since there was only 1 or 2 other campers during our entire stay, seclusion did not matter at this time of year.

Truck is close to the edge of campsite 53 in Fayette State Park Campground

Upper Peninsula, Michigan: Recreation in Bond Falls and Sturgeon River Gorge

May 2023, 8 days 

Above: view from trail in Bond Falls West Campground--trailer and kayak on campsite 20
Below: trail sign next to Bond Falls Road

Bond Falls Flowage: hiking, falls, boating, fishing, swimming

There are a couple of easy hikes from Bond Falls West Campground. The hike from our campsite to the falls and back was less than 4 miles roundtrip. We walked past the boat ramp, Roselawn Creek, and along the snowmobile trails next to Bond Falls Road. A small portion of this walk was along the shoulder of Bond Falls Road. We turned back onto the trail beyond the signs shown in the photo above. When you get to the dam after passing campsites 24 and 25, there is no way out to the road (the falls are on the north side of the road) unless you walk across the stone spillway behind the Outpost.

The falls and river were raging when we were there! The video above is the river near the falls picnic area. This is just below the dam and up river from the falls.

Ontonagon River above Bond Falls May 2023

Free Michigan Camping in Upper Peninsula: St Ignace Casino, Bond Falls, Sturgeon River National Park

May 2023, 9 nights

Kewadin Casino campground in St. Ignace, 2 nights, weekend

We had initially planned to camp at Hog Island State Forest Campground. The weather turned very cold and rainy the two nights we were in this area, so we decided we wanted a camping location with power instead of a primitive site. This camping area next to the casino has power, a dump station, and picnic tables (after it opens May 15th). We were there before the 15th, so no amenities were available except the electric. There was also no charge for our stay! 😊 The cost used to be $10 a night, and now the website says it is $20. We were able get a few tasks completed during this stay: there is a decent laundromat in town with free wifi, and we grocery shopped at Cedarville Foods after visiting Les Cheneaux Distillers. The grocery store had a decent selection with good prices for this rural area. You can find more info about the market and distillery by clicking on the "Cedarville" label at the bottom of this post.

The casino campsites are along the perimeter of the lower parking lot (some might complain that this is parking lot camping). Since we had lousy weather with no opportunity to be outside, and there were only a couple of other campers during our stay, this was not a problem. The wifi signal from the casino is not strong enough to use from the camping area.

Eagle in Brevort Lake National Forest Campground

Hog Island State Forest and Brevet Lake National Forest (neither of these are free)

We checked out these campgrounds after our casino stay on the way to our next destination. Hog Island did not appeal to us, and we were glad we had decided to stay at the casino. The sites are small, not very level or private, and some of them were wet with standing water. We would have stayed in Brevort Lake NF, except it was not open for the season yet. We walked through the park, and observed many spacious sites on the lake. 

Bond Falls campsite from road

Bond Falls west campground in Haight Township, 4 nights, site 20, weekdays and weekend

This was one of my favorite campgrounds during our 6-week trip. It is a primitive campground with only vault toilets and trash receptacles. There is an old hand water pump in the campground, which looked like it has not been working for awhile. Park information does not say that fresh water is available. Sites are all first come, first serve.

Bond Falls campsite

Onaway, Michigan: Onaway State Park

May 2023, weekday, one night, Onaway State Park campsite #15

Sunset from site 15 in Onaway State Park

This was our first visit to this campground. It was actually not where we had planned to stay; however, many campgrounds in Michigan do not open until the end of April or the end of May. We were actually surprised by how many campgrounds were not open yet at the end of April/beginning of May. This campground had opened April 22nd.

Advance reservations and arrival

We were only staying in this campground one night, so I figured we would just wait until we arrived to pick a site. My husband, however, wanted to pay the $9 reservation fee to make sure we got a nice site on the lake! 😁 So, we reserved the end lakefront site, #15. 

If you have never been to this campground before, the road down the hill into the lake area sites (1-24) is not visible until you get to the crest of the hill near campsite 25. There is a labeled campground photo near the bottom of this post. This is also the only road in the campground that is not a one-way road. It is not wide enough for two large campers to pass, so we were glad we arrived during off-season. The road is not real long, so you can mostly see if there is another camper arriving or departing.

 Campsite 15 in Onaway State Park

Campsite #15

This end campsite on Black Lake has 30AMP service. The cost was $22, not including the $9 reservation fee. The site is mostly level with partial shade. We did not have anyone on either side of us for our one-night stay.

 Beach area in front of campsite 15 in Onaway State Park
Bottom photo is through back trailer window

Millersburg, Michigan: Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground, the Falls and Hiking

May 2023, weekdays, 3-nights

Ocqueoc River

We drove through this state forest campground when we visited Ocqueoc Falls in June 2017 from P. H. Hoeft State Park. This time, we stayed in the state forest campground across the street from the falls. We had planned to arrive a few days earlier than we did; however, shortly beforehand, we discovered this campground does not open until May 1st. We arrived May 1st, and were the only campers all three nights of our stay.

View from campsite 3 in Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground

Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground is a primitive campground with vault toilets and a hand pump for fresh water. The water we pumped out was brown, and we did not use it. I am not sure if it is always like that, or if this was because we were apparently the first ones using the pump since the previous fall.

View from campsite 3 in Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground
Below: from back camper window

Campsites

We stayed on campsite 3, which is an amazing site. Campsites 1 and 2 are also on the river; the view is just not as open as on site 3. Campsite 3 is the most open riverfront campsite. It is a bit tricky to back into, as the road in front of it has a slight incline.

Above: View in front of campsite 3 in Ocqueoc Falls State Forest Campground
Below: Another view from campsite 3

Vanderbilt Michigan: Pigeon River State forest Campground

April 2023, campsite #1, weekdays-weekend, 4 nights

Picnic area in Pigeon River State Forest Campground

Arrival and registration

This campground could not be found on google maps or on our GPS, although the Pigeon Bridge State Forest campground showed up. We arrived from the south, and entered the Discovery Center/ranger station (both in the same location; next to each other) into our GPS. The river state forest campground signs were visible after we passed the ranger station. This campground is about 5 miles down a dirt road after passing Pigeon Bridge Campground. It is a state forest campground with self-registration and payment by cash or check. The cost was $20 per night.

Campsite 1 in Pigeon River State Forest Campground

Campsite #1

Two riverfront campsites were occupied when we arrived on a Wednesday. We gladly snagged spacious and grassy campsite #1 on the river. The two occupied sites have a bit more open river view than site #1; however, campsite 1 is the only roomy site. All of the other riverfront sites are very shallow, and the trailers were parked parallel next to the road.

Campsite #1 in Pigeon River State Forest Campground from across the river
Below: The beavers were busy behind campsite #1!

When you enter the campground, campsite 1 is straight ahead, and most of the other sites are down the road to the left. There are only three campsites to the right at the bottom of the entrance road--one shallow site on the river, and two across the road. We observed many beaver downed trees, although we never saw any beavers.

Artesian well in Pigeon River State Forest Campground

Petoskey, Michigan: Hampton Inn & Suites

View from guestroom 304 Hampton Inn Petoskey

 March 2023, Sunday-weekend, one night

We previously stayed in this hotel in whirlpool guestroom 120 in January 2019. You can find details from that stay in the following link. The guestroom photos on the website were a bit incorrect before that stay, and it looks like some of those errors have now been corrected. This time we reserved a king bed studio suite with sofa bed. 

Guestroom diagram from Hilton Honors app

Arrival and diamond perks 

When my check-in notification arrived a couple of days before our stay, we were being assigned an odd numbered guestroom on floor three. Odd numbered guestrooms face the parking lot, so I ignored the check-in notifications. When I checked the app a few hours before our arrival, we had been assigned guestroom 304, which is on the side of the building facing the water. If the room we received was an upgrade, then some guestroom photos on the website are still incorrect. A king study suite shows a balcony door in the photos, and the guestroom type I reserved is $10 more than a king room that says bay view. None of the guestrooms actually say they have a balcony, although you can see the balcony door in the photos. The two even numbered guestrooms at each end, on floors two through four, have a balcony. The front [odd-numbered] guestrooms, like the room initially assigned to me through the app, do not have a balcony. I confirmed that our guestroom had a balcony when we completed check in at the front desk. The clerk was friendly and professional. She recognized my status, and provided waters and a snack.

Hampton Inn Petoskey guestroom 304