Garden, Michigan: Fayette Historic State Park

May 2023, weekdays, 4-nights, campsite #53

Sunset over bay behind campsite 53 in Fayette Historic Campground
Below: view from inside camper in Fayette Historic Campground site 53

We have previously camped in this park, and we have visited by boat. You can find info from previous visits by clicking on labels at the bottom of this post. This was our first visit since 2015. It is also the first time we made an advance reservation. We called to add an extra day to our trip after our casino stay. We considered stopping at another State Forest Campground after we had nixed Hog Island; however, we decided it would not be worth it to stop elsewhere for only one night. Also, the rate for Fayette was only $10 more than a primitive SF campground. 

Campsite 53 in Fayette Historic State Park Campground

Arrival and campsite 53

After we arrived, I wished we had not made a reservation. The campground was mostly empty, and site 53 is very unlevel. We spent quite a bit of time trying to park our camper in different positions to see if we could get it where we would not need three or more blocks under one side. In the end, we backed in the usual way with blocks under the passenger side. Campsite 53 is one of the more private sites; however, since there was only 1 or 2 other campers during our entire stay, seclusion did not matter at this time of year.

Truck is close to the edge of campsite 53 in Fayette State Park Campground

We have a 25' camper, and I am not sure I would want to put a camper much bigger than that on this site, although the reservation site says it takes up to a 40' camper. Our camper is backed in about as far as you can get before the back of the site drops down to a gully. The bay is partially visible in both directions, and this site has one of the best bay views.

Fayette Historic State Park Campground

This campground has free wifi, and with the campground being mostly empty, we were able to connect to it on site 53 with one of our devices. For some reason, my laptop connected okay, but our phones, iPad, and wifi booster would not connect. This was not a distance factor, as we also tried to connect them when standing next to the bathroom where the antenna was located. When we tried to connect any of the other devices, the popup wanted a password. I talked with the park ranger about this, and he said there is no password. Apparently, they had been having a few troubles with the connection, and someone was scheduled to look at the connection and settings after our stay.

Beach in Fayette Historic State Park

Recreation: boating, beach, hiking, town, fishing

A boat ramp and beach are located south of the campground. There is a path next to campsite 61, which goes out to the boat ramp. The path continues to the beach on the other side of the boat ramp road. This is a short and easy walk. The bay area around the campground and town site is all stones, so we were surprised to see the nice sandy beach! It was too cold to swim during our stay, although it was warm enough to sit on the beach and enjoy the view.

Fayette Historic Town from the hiking trail

There are about six miles of hiking trails in this park: a path out to the town site, a couple of trails up the hill from the town, and a trail that starts behind the bathhouse in the campground. All of the trails are scenic and easy hikes.

View from town site in Fayette Historic State Park

The Visitor Center was worth visiting last time we were in this park; however, it was not open during this stay.

View of the flies on our shelter in Fayette Historic State Park

Misc. and overall

The weather was warmer than usual during our stay, and the flies hatched sooner than we had expected. They were not bad on our hikes; however, they got bad at our campsite after the first day. When we first heard them moving in above the trees, it sounded like a drone in the distance. Definitely plan on having a screen shelter during the month of May!

Campsite in Portage Bay State Forest Campground

There was not enough hiking in this park for us, so we drove to nearby Portage Bay State Forest Campground, and hiked Ninga Aki Pathway one day. This is a nice campground less than 10 miles away on the other side of the peninsula. The last 5 miles of the route to this state forest campground is a winding dirt road. We saw a bobcat cross the road before we got there!

Ninga Aki Pathway map and portion of trail along lake

The pathway starts inside the state forest campground. The hike was pretty easy, and scenic through the woods. The portion along the lakeshore was a bit rocky.

Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to share this post for others!