Strongs, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula: Three Lakes Campground

September - October 2024, 3 nights

Sunset over Walker Lake behind campsite 5 in Three Lakes Campground

Arrival and campsite choice

We had hoped to camp in Soldier Lake Campground for this stay; however, that campground had already closed for the season. The information for Three Lakes Campground says it has sites for up to a 20' trailer, and ours is 25'. People we had met when camping in Brevoort Lake National Forest Campground told us the sites are large, so we decided to check it out. This campground is easy to access from M-28, and all of the roads are paved. Our 25' trailer could have easily fit on most of the sites in this campground. The facility map for this campground is not correct at the time of this post, and some of the website photos are incorrect, as well. I have shared information about that farther down in this post.

Campsite 4 is the site with the best water view; however, there was a camper on that site when we arrived. There was no tag on the post, and that camper ended up leaving late that day, after we had already chosen site 5. 😳  We chose site 5 because it had the best kayak launch spot of the remaining waterfront sites available.

Campsite 5 in Three Lakes Campground
Photo above is lake view from inside our trailer

Campsite 5

We liked all of the campsites in this park. The sites are spacious, and there is quite a bit of privacy around every site. The area where we parked our trailer on site 5 is hard packed, as is the ground on the road side of the tree. There is not a designated gravel or tar parking area on any of the sites, like is often common in National Parks. We chose to back in on the other side of the tree in order to have a better lake view, and so the tree would not be in the way of our awning.

Campsite 5 in Three Lakes Campground

This campsite is pretty level, and the ground cover was all dirt (and, pine needles!). It is not as open as campsite 4; however, the trees also helped block the wind on the day it was windy and cold.

Walker Lake in Three Lakes Campground

Recreation: fishing, boating, hiking, lakes, picnic area

We enjoyed peaceful Walker Lake with our kayaks, although we did not have any luck fishing. As I mentioned earlier, the lake behind campsite 5 had great access for our kayaks. You can see the area where we put our kayaks in in the sunset photos at the top of this post. There is also water access between two of the first couple of lakeside sites (between sites 2 and 3, I think) for people who do not have access from their campsite. 

Above: Whitmarsh Lake from Strongs Road 
Below: Brown Lake in Three Lakes Campground

We did not see a great way to access either of the other two lakes in this park. Whitmarsh Lake is across Strongs Road from the campground, and I suppose you could get a small boat in the water there, and then park your vehicle in the campground or picnic area. We followed an overgrown 2-track type road/trail across from the campground and in the direction of Whitmarsh Lake; however, this road did not go through to the lake. Brown Lake is located behind the campsites that are not located on Walker Lake (#10). This lake is barely visible from Strongs Road, and we could not find any type of trail or path to get to this lake. 

View from hiking trail toward Three Lakes Campground

There is a very short hiking trail (less than a mile) from the campground to the picnic area. This trail does not make a loop. If you want to circle the lake and not backtrack, you need to walk along the road from the picnic area to the campground entrance. Only one vehicle drove by us the day that we did this.

Campsite 6 in Three Lakes Campground

Misc. campground info

This campground is very peaceful, as there is not much traffic on Strongs Road. The campground has fresh water, vault toilets, and a very small trash can near the toilet building. Information posted at the self check-in says to pack out your trash. The overnight rate is $16 a night, or $8 with the senior park pass. It was very quiet during our stay. The three campers that had been in the park when we arrived departed that day. A couple of new campers arrived for only one night, and we had the place to ourselves for one night of our stay.

Above: website photo for interior campsite 4 in Three Lakes Campground
Below: actual photo of campsite 4 in Three Lakes Campground

The campground map for this park shows interior sites, and all of the interior/center sites looked like they had been blocked off and closed for quite some time before our stay. All of the campsites in Three Lake Campground are located along the outside permitter. The first campsites after the pay booth (#1-7) are now all lakeside. I have shared a photo of site 6, and information about campsite 4 above. I thought campsite 6 was a great site, except it did not have the great kayak launch opening like site 5. Although campsite 4 has a great view, the water area behind this site is king of marshy with no great water access. There is a short trail behind this site that connects to the area where we launched our kayaks from site 5.

Let me know if you have any questions or information to share!