Onaway, Michigan: Onaway State Park

May 2023, weekday, one night, Onaway State Park campsite #15

Sunset from site 15 in Onaway State Park

This was our first visit to this campground. It was actually not where we had planned to stay; however, many campgrounds in Michigan do not open until the end of April or the end of May. We were actually surprised by how many campgrounds were not open yet at the end of April/beginning of May. This campground had opened April 22nd.

Advance reservations and arrival

We were only staying in this campground one night, so I figured we would just wait until we arrived to pick a site. My husband, however, wanted to pay the $9 reservation fee to make sure we got a nice site on the lake! 😁 So, we reserved the end lakefront site, #15. 

If you have never been to this campground before, the road down the hill into the lake area sites (1-24) is not visible until you get to the crest of the hill near campsite 25. There is a labeled campground photo near the bottom of this post. This is also the only road in the campground that is not a one-way road. It is not wide enough for two large campers to pass, so we were glad we arrived during off-season. The road is not real long, so you can mostly see if there is another camper arriving or departing.

 Campsite 15 in Onaway State Park

Campsite #15

This end campsite on Black Lake has 30AMP service. The cost was $22, not including the $9 reservation fee. The site is mostly level with partial shade. We did not have anyone on either side of us for our one-night stay.

 Beach area in front of campsite 15 in Onaway State Park
Bottom photo is through back trailer window

The beach area along the lakefront campsites is quite stony. My husband casually fished a bit, and did not get any bites.

 Onaway State Park Campground

It is about ¾ of a mile from the park entrance to the campground area. The photo above is what the campground area looks like after turning in from the road that continues on to the boat launch.

Trail sign and Morgan's Well in Onaway State Park

Recreation: boating, hiking, fishing, swimming

This park has a boat ramp, picnic area, beach, and a couple of short trails. The trail back to Historic Mongan's Well is beside campsite 16. This same trail continues out to the road that goes to the picnic area. We did not go to the beach area next to the boat ramp, so I am not sure if that area is sandier than it was at our campsite. After our stay, I noticed online that there is another trail that crosses near the park entrance, and then loops around to the boat ramp and beach area. This park was not staffed during our stay, and there were no park brochures or maps available, so we did not realize this while we were there.

Rental cabin in Onaway State Park

Rental cabin and misc.

We thought the rental cabin in this park looked pretty nice. It is in a great position overlooking the lake.  

Restrooms on lower level in Onaway State Park May 2023

The bathhouse in the lower campground was closed during our stay. We did not visit the restrooms on the upper level.

After visiting this park, we thought campsite 1 would have been a great site for this time of year. It is the first site at the bottom of the hill on the water. The site is sunny, level, and grassy. I had been afraid it would be too close to the road and fire pit; however, the site is very long. There would have been plenty of room for us to park our trailer and truck without being too close to the fire pit.

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