I kind of randomly picked this campsite, I was headed somewhere else when I saw the sign and…read moredecided to take a chance. It really paid off. The campground was clean, the spaces are not cramped together and more than a few have lake views. There is running water, pit toilets, and steps down to the lake, and each campsite has a picnic table, fire ring, and parking spot. A few are against the forest, some are in the middle of the site, and the others kind of by the lake (these were my favorite, nothing like waking up in the morning and looking out on a clear blue body of water). Overall I was very happy with this campground, it seemed underused, which was kind of surprising given the beauty and quietude of the area. My only complain was that it had a lot of yellow jackets that wanted to eat my lunch more than I did. Bring spray or something, you're probably going to want it. Or maybe it was just my site, who knows. You can fish in the lake, it's stocked with trout. The water also seemed very clean, I almost went for a swim (it wasn't that cold either). There is also a day-use area, so you can just picnic or fish if you feel like it. To get here you have to drive down S Stephan Bridge Rd and will then take a left - keep your eyes peeled for the sign. There is also a sign on MI-72 which will point you in the right direction.

As long as you know how to swim, it's a great lake.not much shallow. Long set of steps.read more

I've been going here for as long as I can remember. Apparently, it's one of the most popular…read moretourist places in Michigan... mainly just so your kids can jump off the dam and go swimming. The campground itself is very rustic: no electricity, hand water pump, outhouse toilets. The park is free to enter and is a popular fishing spot. The dammed side of the river is very rocky and strong current, and the water level fluctuates from flooding into the forest to a bunch of rocks depending on the season. It certainly offers a rewarding fishing challenge if you can fight off the crayfish, snags, and kids jumping in the way to splash in the water. For a better fishing experience, go to the lake side. Shore fishing is met with blobs of grass and minimal catches, but if you take a small boat out into the reservoir, it's filled with sizeable bluegill, smallmouth bass, and the elusive northern pike. I go to this area several times a year for fishing, photographs, and nostalgia.

I came here to camp (car camping/tents) for the first camp of the summer and what a great kickoff…read moreto camping season it was for me and my group! Everything here was top notch and well maintained, probably above average from the many state park campgrounds that I have camped at through the years! What that tells me is that this is probably one of the more highly trafficked campgrounds, so there is a lot of maintenance done on it! This campground had the most "modern" bathrooms. Everything was automatic, the toilets, the sinks, the hand dryers. This is by main indicator that the bathrooms are the latest and greatest update! We also loved our campsite. We had a few of Higgins Lake peeking out from around other campsites from ours and were able to enjoy the lake breeze and sunset view from our campsite alone. It was also an easy walk to the lake, where there was a little playground/swing set AND a dog-friendly beach just right off of that playground area as well! Super dog-friendly, which was great because I brought my dog along! Lots of trailers/RVs at all the neighboring campsites, which is to be expected, especially of a more popular campground! This campground also had the most campsites that I've seen as of late (minus Ludington, I'd say)! South Higgins Lake State Park also had some great hiking trails that we took advantage of! Marl Lake Trail is a trail that is very customizable for any of your time/energy level needs - 1, 3, or 5 mile loops can be done on this trail! Other than the hiking and the camping (spent 3 days and 2 nights here), we didn't do much else at the state park, opting instead to rent a boat (from the South Higgins Lake State Park Store - see my review there for details on boat rentals and our experience!) to spend a whole day on the actual lake, so I can't attest to the other amenities this state park has to offer. But for our purposes on this wonderful weekend, it was darn near perfect and we really enjoyed our time!! Hope to be back soon! :)

Park store charges $5 for a skimpy scoop of ice cream. Old owners gave you much more for your…read moremoney. Got a bad case of swimmers itch yesterday. Would be helpful if the park had nice feet washers and showers to wash the parasites off but instead that have a dribbling high in the air "washer" where the ground is covers with piles of sand and essentially of no use. The grass is long which makes it a haven for bugs. The beach area is so small and crowded. Need to clear more edging for beach use. Overrun with boats and have to wade through them all to get to a deep enough area to swim in. Lucky if you get in the park at all on the weekends.

WARNING - Bed Bugs in Duplex 10 at Jacks Landing…read more I want to start by saying I have stayed at Jacks every year for the past 22 years and have always enjoyed our vacations until this year. We mostly stayed in Duplex 10 but have also stayed at the waterfront cabins and Anglers Hideaway. This year we stayed the week of July 6th in Duplex 10. We discovered a bed bug issue towards the end of the week. We started getting red bite marks and waking up to find blood on the sheets. Upon further inspection we discovered live bed bugs and a lot of black/red stains on the box springs of all three beds and evidence on the futon. We immediately notified the management and were extremely disappointed in the response. They said they always clean the rooms and have never seen evidence of bed bugs. The offered us a $150 gift certificate for next year and told us one of the managers was going to the store to get "stuff" to clean it up right away. When we pushed for a full refund they said "they don't know where they came from" insinuating that we brought them with us. This is a very big infestation and not hard to find once we looked closer. All four people who stayed in the cabin had upwards of 50+ bites appear once we were home and started looking closer. We kick ourselves for not inspecting the bed upon arrival but after 22 years you tend to trust a place. I understand that these things happen but the response from the manager was the worst part. She said she had them before and it was not a big deal to get rid of them. They insinuated we brought them. Worst of all I believe they are going to try to "clean" it themselves. From what I read (and I have not read a lot) bed bugs are difficult to eliminate, and my guess is they will continue to be a problem at Jacks. I want to raise awareness to all potential guests at Jack that bed bugs were in Duplex 10 to be very cautious if staying at Jacks Landing

Nothing fancy or pretentious, but great people and great location. We love coming here during the…read moresummer and appreciate feeling at ease and at home. Very relaxed and low key.

DO NOT BOOK HERE. This place is a complete joke. Booked and lost my money due to poor…read morecommunication. I asked how far is Higgins Lake from their campground, they said oh it's a 5 min walk. Well it's not a 5 min walk. It's a 5 mile walk. So canceled the day of and the other 3 days I had, the young worker said oh you'll be able to get a refund and pay a small cancellation fee. So I cancelled. Well the manager calls me this morning saying oh there's nothing they can do because you canceled the day of and won't get any of the refund back. His only excuse is they must've been new to the job. Why wouldn't you teach them about the cancelation policy if they work at the front desk and deal with reservations? The manager didn't try to work with me due to poor employee communication. If this is how they have to make money to stay afloat, then that's horrible business. They should change the name, extremely miss leading when they aren't even on the lake.

I thought this was a great experience. Pat that answers the phone and checks you in is awesome. I…read morecould tell she really wanted to get us the best accommodations. We ended up getting a deluxe cabin which says it can sleep 6 but the includes a double bed, 2 twin bunk beds in a very tiny room and the couch which is a futon. We only had 2 people so we had plenty of room. There is a toilet and a nice shower in the bathroom. The living room area has a tv, a table with bar chairs for 4, a microwave, refrigerator, kitchen sink and lots of cabinets to put your stuff in. You need to remember to bring your own sheets, towels, pillows and bedding. Also remember paper towel and toilet paper. Even though the Park was filled - it was surprisingly quiet. It's about 5 miles from Higgins Lake State Park which requires a recreation pass, but is very nice and has a paved bike trail and a public beach.

We stopped here to break up our trip on the way home from up north. I'd love to go back! The Old…read moreGrowth Trail was lovely to walk through in the fall. There's a cute little logging museum along the way. I loved the beautiful juxtaposition of the fall leaves with the pines and hemlocks. The path is fully paved, and a nice walk for a quick stop along I75 between Ann Arbor and up north. I'd love to go back there.

Our stay was very nice and somewhat quiet. It is summer so kids are out until after 11 apparently…read morebut... we still enjoyed our stay. It was pretty hot and we assume all were using their air conditioning units which kept causing the power to go out. But, the campground was on top of it and got it back up quickly. So, a huge kudos to the campground and its staff for taking such great care of this park. As newbies here we'd go back. We liked it.

HIGHLY RECOMMED! The owners are very nice and very accommodating. We've been to Paddle Brave 3x's,…read morewe tent the first time and rented Cabin #3 last two times HIGHLY recommend! We rented it again for this Memorial Holiday weekend 5/2026.

My family has been going to paddle brave for years. 8 years was the last time we were there. But…read morethey have new owners who are amazing and care bout the campers. They are working very hard on improving the campground and it shows. I wish I had before pictures of the "love shack". That is what everyone I know calls it sorry don't know the actual name. Lol. But it was disgusting inside. I took these pic to and omg what a huge improvement. The bathroom and showers wow. I can't wait to go back

Excellent Campground on the Rifle River in Sterling, Michigan…read more Excellent river trips... kayak, canoe & tube rentals.

Have an annual camping weekend for 3 years and always enjoy this campground. They have water and…read moreelectrical at the campsite for a reasonable price and there is plumbed restrooms and showers that are walking distance. They maintain the facilities and always clean. It's really nice to have a campsite along the river and really nice they shuttle you to the starting point and provide usually good quality tubes and also offer tubes for your cooler if you pay per cooler tube.

Great campground. Ben, the owner, is very accommodating and personable. Great communication. Clean…read moregrounds and bath house. Pat, campground host and maintenance guru, was very helpful with questions and site needs. Close to Higgins Lake. Staying for a couple months and so glad we chose Northern Nights.

From the owner: RV & Tent Camping. Seasonal and occasional campers welcome.read more