Clare, Michigan: Herrick Recreation Area

June 2024, weekend - weekday, 2-nights

Herrick Recreation Area

Reservations and arrival

We decided to camp at this park last minute, as it was on the way to our next destination in Bay City State Park Campground. We did not make an advance reservation for a couple of reasons: we had never been to this park before and did not know what the campsites actually look like, there were many available campsites, and there is a $5 online reservation fee. 

The entrance booth on the south side of the road was empty when we arrived at the campground area. A sign on the window instructed campers to check-in at the picnic area on the north side of the road (about 500' east of the campground entrance). Since we needed to continue into the campground area to turn around with our trailer, we decided to drive through the campground first to see some of the campsites. We found several empty sites, wrote down the numbers of a few we liked, and then headed to the the picnic area to check-in. We were able to get one of the sites we had chosen; however, we still had to pay the $5 reservation fee. 😳 The nightly rate is $25, and this park also has the following daily fees: vehicle entrance fee $6, and boat/kayak fee $6. We had two kayaks with us; however, we did not use them, nor had we planned to. It sounded like we had to pay the boat fee anyway, so with these additional fees, the nightly rate would have been $43 (+ the $5 reservation fee). After I questioned this, we were told that since it was free fishing weekend in Michigan, the park was waiving the boat and entrance fees, so our final cost was $55 for two nights. There is no information about the boat fees on the park website, and I doubt we would have stayed in this campground if the cost had been $43 a night.

Campsite 54 in Herrick Recreation Area

Campsite 54

This campsite is a spacious and somewhat private site in one of the last campground loops. It is level and grassy with 30 amp power. The fire rings in this campground are very small, and set in flush with the ground, which we thought was quite dangerous. That are not highly visible. You can enlarge the labeled photo above by clicking on it.

Clare County, Michigan: Mud Lake State Forest Campground

June 2024, weekdays, 2 nights, campsite 5

We arrived at this campground from the southwest. The roads after M-66 are dirt; the distance on dirt roads was just under 5 miles when we arrived at the campground. When we left, we traveled southeast on M-115, and the distance on dirt roads traveling that direction was about the same.

 

Lake view from campsite 5 in Mud Lake State Forest

This is a state forest campground with 8 campsites. It has a fresh water hand pump, an outhouse, and a dirt boat ramp. The self-registration cost was $20 per night at the time of our stay. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon, and the park was empty except for one vehicle at the boat ramp.

Campsite 5 in Mud Lake State Forest Campground

Campsite 5 and more

Campsites 5 and 6 are the only sites with a view of the lake. Although the view from campsite 6 is more open than it is from site 5, we chose site 5, as it is a larger campsite with a bit more privacy. The campsite on the other side of site 6 (I do not recall if it was 7 or 8) is a private site on the lake side; however, the lake is not visible from that campsite, as it is not as close to the water. Campsite 3 is also a great site, in terms of privacy and space. The site is open in the back and overlooks the meadow.

Campsite 5 in Mud Lake State Forest Campground
Below: looking toward site 6

We were glad that campsite 4 was empty during our stay, as the fire pit on that campsite is on the edge, close to our lot. The drive/parking area for campsite 4 is a ways away, next to trees on the other edge of the lot.