Luther, Michigan / Silver Creek State Forest Campground

August 2016, Weekday, 1-night, Site 3

Views of Pine River from the back of site 15 -
taken during a previous visit

From site 15

We had camped in Silver Creek State Forest Campground a few times with our pickup camper; however, this was the first time in our 5th wheel. We were familiar with the park, and figured we had a couple of options for site choices near the entrance. We would not be able to make the loop at the back end of the park for sites in that area, as many of the tree branches are low hanging, and our 5th wheel is too tall. We had hoped to find something available on the river on a Thursday evening.

Arrival

We arrived around 4:00 p.m. The weather was mildly unsettled, and the forecast called for storms overnight. We were surprised to see that all of the larger riverfront sites near the entrance appeared to be taken. We observed campers on sites 19 and 16, and a canopy was set up on site 15. Later, we noticed a different tent on site 15 and the canopy was gone. Campers on sites 15 and 16 appeared to know each other. We assumed the campers on site 16, who had arrived earlier, had been saving the site for the people who arrived later. We did not check the paper on the site, nor did we ask. We chose site 3 across the road, which is a large secluded site. Riverfront sites 17 and 18 were open when we arrived; however, they are smaller sites.

Site 3

We have a 30' 5th wheel, and site 3 was long enough to park our RV and truck end-to-end. The site butts up to the hillside, and there were trees around the perimeter.

Site 3 from the road

Site 3 - photo taken from back of truck

There was not anyone camping beside us on sites 2 or 4. Even if there had been, this site is still quite secluded. There was a picnic table and fire ring on the site.

The rate to camp was $13 a night, and a recreational passport was required. This campground has vault toilets, fresh water hand pumps, and a trash dumpster. There is no dump station or electricity.

Cellular service did not come in very well during our stay--to use the Internet or to make calls. We must not have been the only ones who experienced this, because when we left the next day, we observed someone from the campground out on the roadway in front of the park checking his cell phone.

Campsite information, Pine River, Silver Creek Pathway

In addition to the 19 campsites with access from the road, there are 7 riverside tent sites available from the river. The river tenting sites can also be accessed via a foot path near the park entrance.

Site 15

Site 15 - taken during a previous visit

I am sharing a few more photos of site 15. Before we arrived, we had hoped site 15 would be available. After this stay, we decided site 19 might be a better site for us next time. Site 15 is more open with a better view the river; however, site 19 is a larger site. The river is less visible on site 19, although it looks like it still offers a partial view of the river.

There are a few places in the campground with water access to launch kayaks or canoes. There are a few spots in the tenting area, and there is room next to site 15, where a park bench and hand water pump are located. The inlet for this area is visible in the first photo at the top of this blog post. The river is swift, and the bottom is mostly sandy in this area.

You can hike along both sides of Pine River from this campground to Lincoln Bridge State Forest Campground. We have hiked the trails before, although we did not go very far this time. We changed our minds after observing what looked like poison ivy along the trail.

rope swing on the river just north on the trail from the campsites

There was a rope swing on the river very close to the campsites, which I did not recall seeing before. The bottom of the river looked sandy, although I am surprised it would be deep enough to jump from a rope swing. This would probably be a great place to stop when kayaking down the Pine River, as the area before the campground is mainly private land and houses.

Misc.

We have experienced thick mosquitos when camping in some areas this summer, and mosquitos were not a problem at this park. The address in this blog post was the exact entrance to the campground when I entered it in my GPS.

Let me know if you have any questions. Please share this post for others!