Munising, Michigan: Bay Furnace National Park Campground in the Upper Peninsula

September 2024, 4 nights, weeknights

Sunset from inside our camper in Bay Furnace Campground

Reservations and arrival

The entrance into Bay Furnace is quite rough with many potholes. Fortunately, the distance down this rough dirt road is less than half a mile from M-28. 

Bay Furnace Campground self registration September 2024

We had made a reservation online several months ahead of time, and were able to proceed directly to our campsite. At the time of our stay the last full week of September, campsites that had not been reserved, had all been converted to first come, first serve. A sign on the self-registration post listed the park close date as 10/9/2024. The online system had said the park was going to close on 10/4 when we made our reservation. The host had already departed from full hookup site #8, and a local person had taken that campsite for the maximum 14-days allowed. According to the information on his post, he had rented it for the same price the rest of us paid for our primitive campsites.

Campsite 9 in Bay Furnace Campground
Photo above is view through screen door.

Campsite 9, and more

Campsite 9 is a great campsite on Lake Superior with a fabulous view. It was an easy few steps down the hill to the water. 

Campsite 9 in Bay Furnace Campground

This campsite is spacious, level, and somewhat secluded. There is a trail to the picnic area between this campsite and host site 8, which did not pass too close to our trailer. I marked the trail with an arrow in one of the photos above.

Most of the campsites in this park are great. They are spacious, and offer some privacy. Host campsite 8 and campsite 6 also have good views of the water, even though they are not directly on the water. Campsite 10 would be a good site for a tent, pickup camper, or motorhome pulled in. We did not like that site, because the fire ring and sitting area is behind the trailer when backing in with a travel trailer.

Above: picnic area in Bay Furnace Campground
Below: Campsite 9 in distance from edge of picnic area

Picnic area and recreation

The picnic area in this park is spacious with plenty of parking. There is a clear open view of the lake and Grand Island. Many people visited the park to watch the sunset, and to gather rocks on the beach. Although the beach is very rocky, we did see a few people swimming, including my husband!

Bay Furnace ruins

There is not much hiking directly in the park. There is a short trail from the picnic area to Bay Furnace ruins. We walked this, and we walked the trail from the ruins to the parking area near the park entrance. A trail from the first parking lot leads to Paddler's Village and The Duck Pond Eatery and Beer Garden. We discovered this on the last day of our stay, and probably would have visited the beer garden, if we had realized this sooner. 

We visited a few different areas of Pictured Rocks during our stay here, and I will share that info in a separate post. 

Above: beach area below our campsite in Bay Furnace Campground
Below: sunset from our campsite in Bay Furnace Campground 

Misc. and overall

We enjoyed a peaceful stay in this campground, and would definitely visit again. Since many of the campsites in the park are great, we would probably not make a reservation at this time of year again.

There is a sanitation station at the entrance, and we did not need to wait when we arrived, or when we departed. There is fresh water at the dump station, and there are many spigots located throughout the campground, as well.

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