June 2018, Weekend - weekday, three nights
You can click on any photo in this post to enlarge it, and there are more photos in the Facebook album: Tawas Point State Park.
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| Sunset over the bay from the beach area next to campsite 42 |
Tawas Point State Park reservations and check-in
I had a difficult time choosing a site when I made our online reservation. There is only one photo of campsite 130 on the state website, and the photo does not show the entire site (further information below). We arrived around 11:00 AM, and check-in was very quick. The people camping on this site the day before us were packing up to leave, so we parked in the overflow lot near the office. We then walked back to get a better look at the site before we drove back to park.
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| Secluded fire pit on campsite 130 |
Tawas Point State Park campsite 130
This is a fabulous campsite, and I would definitely choose it again. It is grassy, level, private, and the size is 50 x 50. The photo on the Michigan reservation site only shows the left half of site 130. In fact, the picnic table and fire pit on the left in their photo are on site 132.
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| Photo taken from under our awning facing east before campers arrived on site 132 |
Looking at the campground drawing before we arrived, it had been difficult to tell if campers on site 52 would be in our backyard/right behind us. Campsite 51 is actually closer to site 130 than 52. I have included a few labeled photos in this post, and there are more in the Facebook album.
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| View from camper window on campsite 130 facing west |
Most of the campsites in this park are generous in size, and close quarters was not an issue. Campsite 51 showed that it was not available any of the nights of our stay; however, there was never anyone on that site. It is possible that the tent trailer on site 52 actually belonged on site 51 because we observed many people in this campground that parked over the lines and/or partially on neighboring sites. This did not make any sense to us given the generous dimensions of the sites. There are two arrows on the edges of each site, and the site numbers are in the the middle, so it is easy to tell exactly where each site starts and stops.
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| Photo taken from cul-de-sac by cabins and sites 50 - 52 |
When campers on site 129 arrived, I was glad my husband had parked our truck on the backside of our RV behind the bush in the photo above. The line for that side of our site was still a few feet beyond our truck, and if our truck had not been there, I imagine the people on site 129 would have ended up on our site. They initially started out trying to pull across the site close to our truck. About the time we heard them and thought about offering to move our truck [temporarily], they ended up backing in instead.
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| Tawas Point Lighthouse |
Tawas Point recreation: lighthouse, bay and beach, kayaking, hiking
The lighthouse in the park is an easy walk of about a half mile from campsite 130. There is a gift shop next to the lighthouse, and the [adult admission] cost is $5 for a guided tour. Online information says that a self-guided tour is also available for $2; however, we were not offered that option when we visited.
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| Taken at the north end of sunset beach on the bay |
There are several sandy beach areas in this park. Unfortunately, we did not do any swimming, as it was chilly the weekend of our stay. There is a sunset beach on the bay between sites 40 and 42. This is a small swimming beach with no facilities. It is quite close to the campground restrooms. Kayaks are available for rent at this beach.
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| Concession stand seating at Lake Huron beach |
There is a large beach on Lake Huron with a concession stand, facilities, and kayak rental. A dog beach is located on the bay side between the campground and lighthouse. Everything is well marked.
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| I saw a big fish jump in this pond! |
Two "catch and release" fish ponds are located between the campground and Lake Huron beach area.
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| Deer spotted during our morning hike. Tawas Bay in distance. |
There are only about 2 miles of hiking trails in the park. This was not enough to keep us busy during three cool days, although the trails do offer additional excellent beach options.
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| Lake Huron at the point |
You can hike out to the point where the water is beautiful and sandy for swimming; on both Lake Huron and Tawas Bay sides. I thought the beach was sandier and more beautiful on the point than in the designated beach area where the concession stand is located.
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| Tawas Point; bay on left, Lake Huron straight ahead |
The water was quite high during our visit, so we had to walk through the water to get to the point. It was definitely worth getting wet, even on a cool day!
Local area: Tawas Bay Bike Trail, shopping, and Brew-B-Q
The bike trail from the campground to town is about 4 miles one-way. There is a small portion of the ride, which is alongside the road on Tawas Beach Road. There is not much of a shoulder in the area by the marina and yacht club after leaving the state park, which did not present any problems. The speed limit is slow in this area.
We decided to visit the Brew-B-Q when we saw posters for this event after arriving in the area. The $20 admission included a glass, 6 tastes, entertainment, and many souvenirs (bottle openers, logo koozies, etc.).
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| Shopping area in Tawas City. Nicely landscaped with murals on the buildings! |
There were a few restaurants and some shopping in the town area next to the event. No wineries or breweries, although Windjammer Gifts sells Michigan wines. We had something to eat at Mr Jack'ss Sports Bar & Grill because we received a discounted appetizer coupon with our Brew-B-Q goodies. I would not visit that establishment again. The service was good; however, it had an unclean/dirty bar atmosphere, and the food was not good. We walked by Barnacle Bills afterward, and wished we had stopped there instead!
Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to share this information.
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