Bay City, Michigan: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Breweries, and more

We have visited the beautiful riverfront town of Bay City several times, and you can find more information about the area by clicking on the Bay City label at the bottom of this post. You can find more information about the DoubleTree Hotel in my March 2019 blog post.

Sunset from the riverwalk behind Real Seafood Company in Bay City

 November 2022, weeknight, one night, suite 431

Other than the fabulous suite upgrade, this stay was similar to previous stays. I have previously stayed in this hotel with gold and diamond status, and have always received an upgrade to a river view room. This time, when I looked on the app before arrival, our room assignment was a suite on floor 4. I had noticed that there is also a suite on floor 5; however, I did not try to exit the current room assignment to see if that one was available. I did not want to take a chance of losing the suite we had been assigned! 

Suite 431 in DoubleTree Hotel in Bay City, Michigan

We stopped at the front desk to get an extra key, cookies, and water when we arrived. The front desk agent did not say anything about breakfast, so I asked if I just needed to provide the guestroom number for breakfast. She said yes, although she did not recap how much I would receive. Our entire meal was comped the next day.

Balcony and view from suite 431 in DoubleTree Hotel in Bay City, Michigan

Fennville, Michigan: Ely Lake Campground

October 2022, 3-nights, weekdays-weekend

Ely Lake in Allegan county

Ely Lake County Campground campsite 30

This is a primitive campground with vault toilets, fresh water hand pumps, and trash dumpsters. Since this was our first visit, so we decided to wait until we arrived to actually view the campsites before choosing a site. There are two sections, and the campsites on the north side of the lake (the higher numbered sites, 49-73, to the right) are set up for horses. We did not drive through that section before choosing campsite 30.

Campsite 30 in Ely Lake County Campground

Someone was camping on site 2 when we arrived, and there were a couple of reserved tags on some of the other sites. Campsites 2 and 9 have great views of the lake. We considered site 9, but did not choose it because we thought it would be busier, as it is directly across from the beach and picnic area. There was a lot of local traffic during our stay. Many vehicles drove through the campground without stopping, and many vehicles drove down the boat ramp road, located just before campsite 30; apparently to view the lake for a short time before departing.

View from our front window on campsite 30 in Ely Lake County Campground

Campsite 30 is across the road from the lake, and we had a decent view of the lake. The picnic tables in this campground are chained down, so we were not able to move the table beside our camper. We set up our screened room over the table, which partially obstructed our view. I guess this also helped obstruct the view of our campsite from passing vehicles. This is a spacious and somewhat private site, as it is the only campsite in this triangular section of ground. A fresh water hand pump is also located in this area, across from campsite 41. I marked the water pump location in the first camper photo above. The pump was not right next to our camper, and no one used the pump while we were on our site. 

Campsite 30 in Ely Lake County Campground

None of the campsites in this section of the campground are located directly on the lake. Some of the campsites in the Equestrian section are directly on the lake.

Partial view of the beach and picnic area in Ely Lake County Campground

Hessel and Cedarville, Michigan: Kewadin casino campground, Les Cheneaux Distillery, and more

September 2022, 1-night, weekend

Kewadin casino campground in Hessel, Michigan

Kewadin casino campground in Hessel, Michigan

After camping in Mackinaw City with no facilities, we needed a place to recharge our camper and dump our holding tank. Although we are not huge gamblers, this seemed like one of the better options available for just a one night stay. We paid $20 for a campsite with electricity, and I see the rate on the Kewadin website now says $22. We joined the players club after we checked in, and each received $10 in free play.

Kewadin casino campground in Hessel, Michigan

This campground has vault toilets, and a sanitation station on-site. I am not sure why the website says the dump station is off-site. We were on the first campsite against the woods on the right, although I do not recall the campsite number. The only other people in the park the night of our stay were a few campers together in the center lots. Apparently, there are no rules about how to park campers because the campers in the center were not actually parked within their sites, and they had their fire in another fire pit, which was not on the campsite of any of the campers. 

Mackinaw Bay Nature Preserve in Cedarville, Michigan

Manistique, Michigan: Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

 September 2022, weekdays, 3-nights

Sunset from campsite 3 in Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

Arrival and reservations

There are about 10 to 12 campsites in this campground that are first-come-first serve. We arrived on a Wednesday, and had great luck--the camper on a waterfront non-reservable site with electricity had just left that day. Checkout time is 11:00 AM. About a third of the other campsites were occupied, and almost all of the waterfront sites had reserved tags on them for the upcoming weekend.

Above: view of campsite 3 from lake in Colwell Lake National Forest
Below: campsite 32 in Colwell Lake National Forest Campground

Campsites

We thought all of the campsites in this campground were great; even the ones across the road from the lake. We had campsite 3, which is the first waterfront site. It is next to the host campsite. The host was already gone in mid-September, so our campsite was quite secluded during our stay. After walking through this park, this was our favorite site at this time of year, when the host site is empty. The first photo below is looking out our back window toward the host campsite.

Mackinaw City, Michigan: Campground, Breweries, Hiking, Swimming

September 2022, weekdays, two nights

View from top of the hill behind site 2 in French Farm Lake Campground

French Farm Lake campsite 2

This is a free campground with no services; not even water or a trash receptacle. There is a board at the entrance with information about how to register and tag your site when camping. Information I had read online said there are seven campsites in this park; however, we only saw six sites. 

Above: the drive out of campsite 2 in French Farm Lake Campground
Below: Road back to the higher numbered sites in French Farm Lake Campground 

The road in to the campsites and boat launch is not big enough for two trailers to pass side by side, and we were fortunate that we did not encounter any traffic when we arrived or departed. Our son was with us when we arrived, so we rode in his car to check out the sites before driving in with our trailer. When departing, if you want to turn right onto Trails End Road from French Farm Lake Road (west toward I-75), be aware that this is a sharp turn by a hill, and it is not doable with a trailer in tow. It is easy to turn left, and then turn around at the park, or do a U-turn at Wilderness Park Drive with a small trailer.

Above: view of campsite 2 in French Farm Lake Campground
Below: campsite 4 in French Farm Lake Campground

Marquette, Michigan: Tourist Park Campground, Biking, Hiking, Breweries

 September 2022, Weekdays, 3 nights

Beach and sunset at Marquette Tourist Park Campground

Marquette Tourist Park Campground, Campsite 77

I attempted to make an advance reservation online; however, the website for this campground is not user friendly, and it did not work properly. Apparently, I am not the only one who has had trouble with the reservation system, as I read complaints about the process from others when I researched this campground. Fortunately, I was able to reach someone in the office who was helpful with adjusting our reservation after it did not process as expected.

Marquette Tourist Park Campground
View from inside our camper on campsite 77, looking toward campsite 75 

Campsite 79 is a secluded site along the back tree line with electrical hookup. Most of the waterfront sites were already reserved when we made our reservation. During our stay, we were glad we had not chosen a non-secluded waterfront site, as it was quite windy and cool, and the wind was stronger at the sites closer to the water. Campsite 13 on the water had looked like a good site online; however, when we looked at it during our stay, it did not look like it would have been a good site for our trailer. It is not very level, and the camper sitting side would not have been facing the water. This is probably a great site for people with a truck camper or tent.

Beach area in Marquette Tourist Park Campground

This campground is located on the Dead River basin. It has a sandy beach with swimming area, and there are kayaks for rent inside the park. The paved bicycle trail alongside the park (Marquette City Multi Use Path) is well maintained and connects to Iron Ore Heritage Trail. 

Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Michigan

It was an easy bike ride of about 2 miles one-way to Presque Isle Park. There are a couple of stopping points along the way, and the Presque Isle Bog walk is located just before the park entrance. Inside the park, there are hiking trails along the water and rocks, and there are hilly trails through the woods in the center of the park. Most visitors just stopped along the loop drive to explore the areas along the water and close to the road. We passed only one other hiker on the hilly inside loop trail. It was easy to hike all of the trails, other than a few steps or mild hills for the interior portion.