May 2021, Weekday-weekend, 3-nights
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| Campsite 104 at Rifle River Outdoor Adventures |
Outdoor Adventures Rifle River campsite 104
Our visit to this campground with our free night certificate was not as impressive as our first Outdoor Adventures stay. When we arrived, we were told we had to pay a $5 daily entrance fee for each day we would be staying. I questioned this, as we had not been charged this last time. The clerk told me it was something new that had started in May, and that we had to pay it to camp. She said I would have to take it up with the corporate office, if I wanted a refund later. When I called the reservation line the following Monday, I was told the same thing. So, this company told us we were receiving inclusive free night stays (entrance to the campground and a campsite), and then later they decided to charge everyone a daily entrance fee, which was never disclosed?!? Wow. The pool area, river service, and other parts of this campground were not even open yet. We basically used only the campsite at this "resort," and that was it.
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| View from campsite 104 at Rifle River Outdoor Adventures |
Our campsite was a decent site. It was spacious and mostly flat, with water and 30 amp power hookup. Only seven sites in this park have full hookup. The rest have water and electric; most sites have 20 or 30 amp, and there are four 50 amp sites. There were less than 15 campsites rented during our stay, so it was peaceful. There are a few campsites on the river; however, they are narrower than the sites in the area we chose. Some of the river sites are only 20 amp sites.
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| Bridge on Melita Road across Rifle River from landing at Outdoor Adventures |
This entire campground has gravel roads with speed bumps every 5 to 10 feet. We are always cautious drivers, especially in areas with children and pedestrians. We would have only been driving 5 MPH without the annoying speed bumps. The number of speed bumps was a bit extreme and unpleasant to jostle our camper over so often.
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| Pool area at Rifle River Outdoor Adventures |
When I inquired when the pool and hot tub would be open, I was told Memorial weekend. This campground also provides river shuttle service when it is operating, which is after Memorial weekend, as well. If we had been able to use this service for our kayak trip, I may not have been as annoyed about the last minute daily fee we were charged. The campground map shows a nature trail along the back of the upper campsites; however, it is not marked or used (we tried to hike it). WiFi in the campground is only available by the camp store. Cell reception (Verizon) at our campsite was okay for voice calls. Texts and data reception was poor.
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| Beautiful Rifle River |
Area recreation: Rifle River kayak trip from Moffatt Bridge to Outdoor Adventures/Whites Landing, hiking, Turtle Park
We loved the kayak trip from Moffat Bridge back to camp on a Friday. This is about a 3-hour casual paddle. The river has a gentle current most of the way with few obstructions. We found a couple of places to stop, although a lot of this trip is along private property.
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| Moffat Bridge landing |
We got on the river just before 11:30 AM. We did not see anyone else on the water our entire trip. We caught glimpses of trout, hawks, an eagle, deer, mink, and more. At one point, several deer were crossing the river in front of us when we came around a bend.
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| Riverview Campground |
We initially thought Riverview Campground was some type of picnic area/park when we stopped after first seeing this campground. There were no campers or people in the section where we stopped. We observed campsites after we got out on land, and thought the park was not open yet.
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| First stop on Rifle River |
When we paddled past the rest of Riverview Campground after leaving, we observed more sections with activity, and a No Trespassing sign. We had not seen any posted signs in the area where we stopped. This large campground is nestled among many bends in the river without much water flow. The most we paddled this entire trip was around the campground. We thought this would be a nice campground to stay in except you need to travel about two miles down dirt roads to get to it.
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| Bryan's [private] Hiking Trail in Alger, Michigan |
The next day, we thought we would do some hiking and then stop at Turtle Park, which we had paddled past in our kayaks. On our maps, we found a hiking trail near the park called Bryan's Hiking Trail, so we drove there first. After arriving, we observed a posted sign stating that a parking pass is required. Unfortunately, there was no one around or any information about how to obtain a pass. I had found pictures of this trail and the trail sign online, and no one else posted that this is a private trail. We would have looked for a different hiking trail, if we had known.
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| Turtle Park on Rifle River in Alger, Michigan |
Turtle Park is a small park on the river with no facilities. The park has parking, picnic tables, charcoal grills, and a small trash can. We stayed for a while to have lunch and watch the river traffic (several people in kayaks and canoes passed by on Saturday afternoon). We observed people fishing from their kayaks and from the park.
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| Groope Turkey & Ham at Four Leaf Brewing |
Dining
On our way home, we stopped to have lunch at Four Leaf Brewing in Clare, Michigan. We shared a beer sampler and the Groope Turkey & Ham sandwich. We were impressed when they brought the sandwich to us on two plates until we got the bill. We were charged $15 for our $12 sandwich. The menu says you can add pickles and mild peppers to any sandwich, and we added both. Since the server knew we were sharing the sandwich, she opted to have it served in two containers without asking our preference. After we got the bill, I asked why we were being charged $15 for our $12 sandwich. She said there is a $1 charge for each extra (the pickles and peppers), and also for sharing a sandwich. She had not told us there would be an upcharge for any of these things, and none of them are disclosed on the menu. We also had not asked for the sandwich to be split on two plates. There is no way we would have paid $15 for this sandwich. We thought $12 was a little steep, given most of the other sandwich prices were $9 and $10. The sandwich was delicious; just not worth $15. We could have done without the extra kettle chips, and would have requested just one plate, if we had been asked.
Misc. and overall
White's Landing and campground is located directly across the river from Outdoor Adventures. We liked our kayak trip on Rifle River, although I imagine the river is quite full during warmer months. We did not kayak from the campground, because we were told that the next public access point was a 6 to 7 hour trip. We are casual kayakers, and prefer 3 to 4 hour trips.
If anyone reading this has any questions or information to add, please let me know!
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