Located on Grand Traverse Bay just north of Torch Lake. Barnes Park is open year-round offering an extensive Lake Michigan beach, playground, and trails, with additional seasonal camping and pavilion rentals (Memorial Day through October.) Various outdoor recreational activities including Lake Michigan beach access, trails, and playground. Electric and rustic campsites. Dump station & water fill station. They have a well stocked camp Store offering ice, firewood, beverages, candy, etc .. Each campsite is outfitted with a fire ring and picnic table. There were two bathhouses with shower facilities that were clean and ADA accessible. Showers are coin operated ($0.50 for 5 minutes of hot water, quarters only). Also two spacious pavilions with electrical outlets. Each pavilion has 10 picnic tables and 4 BBQ grills (You can reserve a pavilion for the day by using our online reservation. read more

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All ways a great place for camping Nice beach and showers to clean up after. Staff is way better cleaning then they have been in the past they make hourly rotation cleaning 2 things they need to fix one make it Easter to schedule other than some day in March at midnight absolutely stupid 2nd the fire wood has roaches and they get in your camper and vehicle then you bring them home they should spray and bug bomb that and the camp ground mosquitoes and roaches were thick I understand it's camping but man just hire a spray serves to spray the area once's a week read more

Great campground, very clean when we visited bathrooms are pretty clean for a campground, spots are average spacing so not a whole lot of privacy, beach is a short walk away each spot have a fire pit and picnic table read more

Barnes Park Campground - Beach right by campsite - Parks Near Me - Central Lake, Michigan

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I was looking for a new campground for our annual family camping trip for the Perseid Meteor Shower (2nd weekend in August), and I wanted a campground with beach camping or a nearby lake... this campground checked all the boxes. It's a 5+ hour drive, but it was definitely worth it. Yeah, so there's pay showers, I couldn't figure out to get a hot shower...so let me tell ya, that was a BRISK and fastest shower I've ever taken. LOL! ...and I cannot wait for our camping trip this year. I look forward to getting more familiar with the campground and local attractions. read more

Barnes Park Campground - Parks Near Me - Central Lake, Michigan

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Visited here for the Petoskey Stone Festival, today. There were food trucks and kettle corn, my loves. I don't imagine they are here all the time! I had to go see the beach while I was here as it was my first visit here. Beach Access not super accessible, but wow!, what a view. Stunning. read more

Toilets facilities need updating badly, you get charged extra if you want to take a hot shower.... Nice lake view though read more

Omg. The beach is beautiful. Lots are big. This is an Amazing county park. Enjoy the water and woods.

This was our third time here and by far the worst. The place was infested with roaches. Not your common brown household roach but small tan ones that we looked up online bc they were everywhere. We all had them in our campers but our friends got the worst of it. They killed 50+ when they got home and found more dead when they bombed. Their daughter in law called to talk to management and they wouldn't take her call. The place was run by teenagers. we never saw an adult the whole time we were there. The bathrooms were filthy. Toilets full and dirty and the 'pay for hot water' showers were full of hair. The campground is electric only so you have to fill your camper at the dump station before you park. When we dumped at the end of our stay, the sewer was backing up. We will not camp there again but if you choose to stay, beware of what you might bring home with you. read more

Campground on Lake Michigan with several sites. Bathroom, showers and trash cans. We found several great rocks at the beach. Beautiful sunsets off the water at night. Playground for the kids. No dogs at the beach. Trails for hiking. Definitely would go again. Electric hookup for RV. Still have to get water first though and fill up tank. Dump station as you leave for the RV. Great fall colors this year. read more

Wood roaches dirty bathrooms and showers that you pay for that at filthy! These are a few of the reasons for this review!!

We have camped here twice. Family friendly campground with shower houses and flushable toilets. Right on Lake Michigan.

No one available to quiet curfew. Website very confusing. We had paid for Wednesday, Rhursda, and Friday of the week and were informed that we had to leave on Friday, and that there were other folks waiting for our spot. Basically overbooked us, "kid" apologized that their website was confusing and basically told us that the following people paid for the weekend rates, so we had to leave... read more

I almost hate to review this gorgeous beach since it seems to be one of Michigan's best kept secrets. Seriously, it's Memorial Weekend and there are only 4 other people here besides my family at the beach! The Great Lake State at its finest! read more

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Worst site in my life. Came here to have a great time outdoors for with friends and enjoying time away from home. Some old man and old lady came and yelled at us to "shut up" so rudely and told us to leave if we cant be quiet. You should never talk to anyone like that. There was one that was a hire up that told us that he was sorry that we got yelled at and we can continue on to doing what we were doing. Then in the morning the old lady came and told us to shut up and the gentlemen with him in the back and just laughed quietly and smirk the whole time the lady talked. It was so funny. Then when the lady left he laughed and shook his head and told us he was sorry. Worst camp ever. read more

Older staff was extremely unprofessional. They would yell and use profanity at late hours of the night. They try and charge fees for every little thing. Oh and don't forget to bring money to the bathrooms because they even charge you to use the showers. This place sounds good on paper, but with all of the unwritten rules and fees you will leave this campground paying 3 or 4 times what you expected to. read more

This was a referral from a friend. One of the 2 best camp grounds I've ever experienced. If your into brewerys, Shorts brewery is a straight 14 miles west on same road, makes it even better. Our campsite was amazing. The beach was super cool, found 24 Petoskey stones, laid in sand on beach, realy nice service, fills up quick, just pick your site then set up and wait for the guy to come by and collect the fee. Restrooms were clean. I couldn't more highly recommend this camp ground. One of the best ever. read more

Barnes Park Campground - Beach - Parks Near Me - Central Lake, Michigan

DO NOT STAY HERE!!! As a child I grew up coming here summer after summer for many years with my family. I haven't been in about 10 years, I decided to bring my closest friends up for a weekend of relaxation. This place meant so much to me and do to poor management I will never be coming back here, ever again. This place has become overpriced, and outlandish. Not only were we told to "get the hell out or shut the fu** up" with NO other previous notions that we were being loud. Once we went into bed, the same attendant yelled at us again WHILE WE WERE IN BED SLEEPING. Do not stay here, ever. read more

Poor customer service, was yelled at and told to "shut up or leave" by a worker. 0/5 stars. Also be aware that it's $30 per unit. Including deflated air mattresses not being used as well as cars when it storms read more

Full disclosure: I haven't camped here. But I've stayed in this area for holidays for the past 30 years. This park is a fantastic local asset. Great pull ins or tent sites. Walk a few paces to a lovely beach. Wonderful trails to walk and bike on. And walking distance to Eastport foods. We've had friends stay here many times. They've constantly remarked how much they love this park, how surprised they are that this is a county park, etc. read more

Beautiful beach. Just came for the day. Clean bathrooms. The kids loved the big open playground. Sand volleyball set up. Will come back to camp. read more

Barnes Park Campground - Parks Near Me - Central Lake, Michigan

Great place to camp! We camped in a tent and I really loved how you get to choose which site you want. The beach is only a short walk away and is just gorgeous. Very clean, well maintained. Campsite had a nice picnic table and fire ring and was well shaded. Very peaceful here. Definitely would come back. read more

Barnes Park Campground - Parks Near Me - Central Lake, Michigan

Love this place! $30 a night for electric campsite just steps from the beautiful sandy beach. Very clean bathrooms & shower houses. Very few rules unlike a lot of parks & campground. No glass, no dogs on beach & quiet time is 11pm-8am. Everyone is very nice & friendly. read more

Really nice park that I plan on camping at someday. The park is on grand travers bay and has some spectacular views. It seems to have a lot of camping sites and a small store on site. They have a playground and basketball court for recreation as well. It was super nice in the fall with all the colors. read more

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I was incredibly disappointed by my experience here. Myself and a group of people stayed for one night for a friends birthday and before anyone even gave us a warning about our noise we were told by a night manager to, "Shut the hell up or get the hell out." Mind you, the noise we were making consisted of the 12 of us sitting around a fire talking and having a good time, as you should when camping, or so we thought. If you're looking for a good time with friends, do not go here. read more

Went here again 2018 is my 5th visit. They all were in the second week of September. Once again it didn't disappoint!! The weather was outstanding. The high temps for the week started at 69 and climbed to just I've 80. The beach is absolutely great! Lots of Petostkey stones and the water was almost warm this year. They did raise the price on the showers to 50cents for about 4 minutes. Still very clean showers. The restroom by the beach was a little dirty but not bad. Day users and campers alike were way up due to the great weather that weekend. The two Young's guys working that week walking the sites to collect site fee were very nice and very personable. They are both great ambassadors for the area. The park is also great for it central location 30 miles to Traverse City and 30 to Petoskey, 16 to Charlevoix and 17 to Elk Rapids. 11 miles to central lake or 21 to Belleaire . Still love this place and plan on going again read more

Reserved a tent site by phone and had to pay 100% upfront by check cause they don't accept cc. Once I arrived and saw the site I was very disappointed to see it was next to the day use area and I couldn't park by it with my boat. A two track was the drive to get to it. So I moved to a better "first come first serve" site that was open. The office demanded I pay all over again for the new site three days @ $90. I had already paid $100 by mail. It is in their fine print and they wouldn't budge. Very rude office help. They rented out my old site so they didn't loose any $$. Word if caution, all the reserved sites are not very good. Take your chance and drive in and look for a non reserved site and stay as long as you want and pay day by day. I won't go again. read more

Passing through and stayed with our dogs on a tent only site. Reasonable rates, nice spot near the lake, restrooms with hot showers. There is a good gas station/grocery place nearby. Cool spot. read more