September 2017, Weekday-weekend, 3-nights, Black Creek State Forest Campground, Site #11
You can find a previous review of this campground with more detail in my post from June 2016.
Arrival
We arrived, again on a Thursday, and our experience was similar to our first stay. There was one camper in the second loop, and one camper in the third loop (we did not check the first loop). The camper in the third loop happened to be on site 21, the site we had liked from our previous stay. We chose site 11 at the east end in the second loop. The check-in experience and cost were the same.
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| View from site 11 |
Site #11
Site 11 is a HUGE site with better water access than site 21. The path to the water was not as steep for getting a small boat in and out of the water, and there was room at the bottom of the trail next to the water for two chairs.
If you have a camper, there is a steep downhill slope from the road onto the dirt/gravel pad. The rest of the site is level. We ran the front of our camper down as far as it would go, and it was barely level. We have never had to do that before! Fortunately, we were still able to open our flip-down steps without them hitting the ground.
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| Campsite 11 |
There were trees around the site perimeter, save for a small footpath between this site and the one after (NE side). This made the site very secluded, visually. It did not, however, help with the noise. There is a ravine with many trees between this site and the sites on the southwest end of the third loop. It is possible the ravine made voices and noise carry farther. We had a peaceful first night, and after that the noise was extremely intrusive. Campers in the third loop made a lot of noise: screaming, and playing continual loud music. I tend to think the ravine made matters worse, because we could hear their conversations, as well. Merely providing a heads-up for anyone wanting a peaceful site!
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| Pere Marquette Rail Trail |
Pere Marquette Rail Trail and Midland Brewing Co.
This time, we rode our bikes on the trail south from Veteran's Memorial Park in Sanford to Emerson Park in Midland. This is about nine miles one-way. We were surprised that this ride was more exhausting than the 20-mile ride we had taken between Muskegon and Whitehall in early summer. This was more due to the unseasonably hot weather than to the inclines. The trail is not 100% flat in between these points, although the hills are minimal.
Emerson Park is a large park along Tittabawasee River with picnic tables, picnic shelters, horseshoe pits, softball fields, and flush toilets.
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| Averill Preserve construction project sign |
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| Averill Preserve |
Along the way, we stopped at Averill Preserve, Duck Hunters Memorial and Midland Brewing Company. Averill Preserve was still under construction in September. A small shelter with picnic tables underneath looked finished, and some of the paved areas looked freshly completed. The project map showed a play area under construction at the end of the road. We did not go down the road to see the progress.
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| View from our seats at Midland Brewing Company |
Midland Brewing Company is located between Duck Hunters Memorial and Dublin Ave. We did not see a sign along the trail; however, the location is easily visible from the trail. We both liked the beers and the food that we had, and we would visit this brewery again. We were a bit disappointed, however, with what happened when we filled our growler. Our server, and the bartender, had both told us that growler fills are $12. After we had our growler filled, and the bartender brought us the charge slip, he told us the price was $14 instead of $12. He said he did not know that until after he had rung it in. Seems to me, the right thing to do would have been to re-ring it for $12, and then explain this to us for future visits.
Pine Haven Recreation Area
Pine Haven Recreation Area is 325 acres of diverse trails off W. Maynard Road a few miles south of the campground. We had hoped to spend the day hiking; however, the parking lot was closed in September. There had been extreme rains in this area a few months prior to our visit, and signs warned of washed out trails. I checked their webpage at the time of this post, and it says the area is now open again.
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