We stayed at this campgrounds for 2 nights. The location was absolutely lovely. Despite being in…read moreclose proximity to a main road, the campground was super quiet. We heard another camper (with another group) played the sax one evening and it was very soothing with the sound of the lake lapping the shoreline. The camp host kept plenty of air fresheners in all the vault toilets. They were super clean and very pleasant smelling for vault toilets. The campground overall was super well kept.

Bay Furnace Camp and Picnic Grounds is a terrific place to stay for the simple traveler who…read moreappreciates sleeping outdoors in the heart of nature. I discovered Bay Furnace through the app on my phone called Campendium. Campendium was very helpful in assisting me finding worthwhile campsites along my 2021 summer road trip. Although Bay Furnace Campground is technically located in the town of Munising, Michigan, it's actually situated in the charming town of Christmas, MI. Though when I was here visiting back in the month of May...there wasn't anything Christmas(y) about the town, lol. Still, the main purpose for me being in Munising....was to explore the scenic coastal landscape along the shores of Lake Superior. Overall this campground is set just outside Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and a host of beautiful waterfalls. After spending a good portion of my day driving along Pictured Rocks NL...I couldn't find any affordable accommodations in Munising. The next best thing for myself was camping. I had a tent with me and showed up here to Bay Furnace Campground. It was early evening when I pulled up to the entrance area. The instructions stated that Bay Furnace accepts about half reservations at recreation.gov and half on a first come, first served basis. I was a little nervous about not finding a campsite when I started driving throughout the grounds. It was late in the day on a Thursday just at the start of the summer vacation travel season, yet I spotted an unoccupied site right near the entrance and backed my car into the site. Yah, I was good for the evening! As per normal policy...when you arrive, you pick a campsite and then fill out a slip with your payment and drop it into a safety box. Then the campsite is yours and you can start constructing your tent and getting settled in. It was $22 per night. They accept cash and checks, though no credit cards. Checks must be made out to RRM, Inc. and need to include your Drivers License and License Plate Numbers. There are about 50 non-electric campsites on the grounds each with a fire-pit and picnic table. Check-In time is 2pm and Check-Out time is 11am. Honestly, I really lucked out probably grabbing the 50th and last site. Because in general, throughout this UP section of Michigan I had trouble discovering on a whim available campgrounds that weren't full. I was grateful to be here. Unfortunately there weren't any showers to use, but still...I had cell phone reception and each campsite was really spacious. I felt like I had plenty of privacy being in the woods without anyone around. Two extra notes I'd like to mention... I didn't have plans for the night and across the street from Bay Furnace was the Kewadin Christmas Casino. So...after setting up my tent and washing up...I took a short 15 minute walk outside the campground and went inside the casino and played some blackjack for an hour. It was sort of a pleasant change of pace from driving and picture taking all around the UP, to all of a sudden sitting down and playing blackjack at a random casino. Returning back to my campsite, there was a terrific little overlook vista point section just to the side of the entrance where I sat down on the shore of Lake Superior and admired the colorful sunset. It was a pleasant way to end my day. This panoramic coastline beach shore can't be missed when you're walking towards the facilities area. I highly recommend hanging out here when the sun begins to fade. Although I am a big outdoorsy type of person who loves being among nature...I just really wanted this opportunity to highlight Bay Furnace Camp and Picnic Grounds. Munising, Michigan is well known for its scenic waterfalls combined with picturesque vantage points of Lake Superior that makes this section of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan quite popular. But for those tourists who don't mind setting up camp among quiet surroundings with basic amenities, then I believe you will appreciate choosing to stay at Bay Furnace Campground in the heart of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

My husband and I had a great experience at Munising Tourist Park Campground. We loved it so much we…read morebought a sticker to put on our truck tent. This campground looks unassuming at first glance, but it really has everything you need. Our site was equipped with outlets and water hookups, a picnic table, and a fire pit. Firewood is available for purchase at the little camp store. The whole campground sits on the edge of the lake which provides great sunsets. It was oddly quiet in the morning (minus a rude couple using drills to tear down their setup at 6AM, but that was not the campground's fault as they do have quiet hours)-- which is unusual for a family campground. The staff were exceptionally nice and helpful. I would definitely stay here again and recommend it to others.

After the first night of my stay, I went to the office to inquire about the campfire policy because…read morea neighboring site's smoke had been blowing through mine for several hours (this was in the daylight, it was warm out, AND the group had left their site and left the fire unattended). The person working laughed at me and essentially told me 'f-you, we don't care about your experience, we aren't going to do anything about it'. Each subsequent night, fires were left burning and unattended while the site occupants slept. On top of the reprehensible customer service and fire safety, the sites are crammed on top of one another with no trees and zero privacy. Also, the water and electric pedestals are shared between 2-4 sites each. On the plus side, it is right on the beach (assuming you can stand being around all the smoke long enough to enjoy it) and close to town. So much for spending time outdoors to enjoy the fresh air.

Easiest camp site. Great location. Clean trash areas, public areas and bathrooms. The mid tier…read morespots have a beautiful view of the islands

This was our second year stopping at this campground on our annual anniversary trip and boy it did…read morenot disappoint! Love the people, the views, accommodations, and serenity. We will make it back again! Thanks again for having us!

They need to spend more time maintaining what they have instead of building. It was dirty…read more Earwigs all over the place. Bed was hard.

We stayed with our dog Max at the Presque Isle cabin January 3 thru the 7th. The cabin was…read moreperfect, it met all our needs very cozy. Did some X-country skiing and snowshoeing there was plenty of snow and it was beautiful out. Met the owners Tom and Heather, very down to earth people. Greg and Kathy

Nice park surrounded by trees. Feels secluded. Cement pad is nice. Bath house looks new, but I…read moredidn't use it. Sites have grass and are spacious compared to. KOA and cost less. Good AT&T cell service to power my hotspot. This will definitely be my goto park for future visits to Pictured Rocks. Casino is close by and pretty nice. Good food there.

Light on amenities and not particularly well maintained. The bathroom facilities are very basic,…read moreand the overall property feels neglected, with trails leading to broken-down trucks and trash. As other reviewers mentioned, there is absolutely no shade anywhere on the grounds, people were literally sitting outside the bathroom building with chairs just to escape the sun. There's a small playground for kids, but not much else in terms of activities. Road noise is noticeable while tent camping, so expect a steady hum of traffic. One positive: they don't seem to care what you put on your site. We had an RV, a tent, bikes, and a car all together, and it was completely fine.

Great campground. All national park campgrounds at Pictured Rocks are now 100% online reservations…read moreso all the comments here about people stalking for sites are no longer relevant. Reservations can be made at recreation.gov six months in advance. Very poor if any cell service. The west "generator free" loop was mostly all tent campers and apart from wailing children, very quiet. Pit toilets, running (cold) water, and garbage bins (ignore what recreation.gov tells you). Short walk to the beach from every site; many sites are right above the beach.

This campsite is incredible and the pros very much outweigh the cons. We stayed at site 15 for our…read morefirst night and 26 for the second night. Site 15 is 1 of 2 sites that are non reservable until 4 days prior to your approval date, great for last minute planners! We were bummed we couldn't snag 15 for our second night because holy moly it was such a beautiful view. But it also ALL SAND so we had sand all over us and on everything for the 2 days we were there. Site 26 was alright, it's nice because you really only have your neighbors at 27 otherwise you're pretty secluded on the road but it is still bit wide open from the road, so lots of people walking by. Overall the campground isn't the most secluded but being so close to Lake Superior is worth it! The lakeshore campsites are definitely the best imo. I was bummed to see they had no recycling here and unfortunately only pit toilets but the toilets were clean and they had plenty of trash cans. The camp host was incredibly sweet and knowledgeable of the area.

Located right on Indian Lake and home to Kitch-iti-Kipi is Palms Book State Park. This state park's…read moremain attraction is Kitch-iti-Kipi and I find it to be a relatively small park outside of that freshwater spring. I can imagine that most people come here just to check out the spring as there is a separate entrance directly to the parking lot for Kitch-iti-Kipi. Granted, I didn't take the time to explore the rest of the park, but just looking at the map, I could tell there were one or two more trailers, but other than that not much else. We were camping at Indian Lake State Park, so after visiting Kitch-iti-Kipi, going out on the raft and back, we headed back to our campground to hike the trailers at Indian Lake State Park.

Beautiful place!! Highly suggest to anybody looking to sightsee! Cute little gift store as well.read more

Grand Island offers a bus tour! For those of us long past strenuous hiking or mountain biking but…read morestill wanting to explore Grand Island, there's a bus tour for day trippers! Experience and explore the highlights of Grand Island without worrying about mobility. The bus has a lift for mobility aides. Most walkways are plank board or firm gravel. Viewing area have plenty of room. The driver adjusts to the needs of the group. You get all the best of " pure Michigan " and then some. Yes, I'm talking about flies, mosquitoes, and no-see-in's. Dress accordingly and bring bug spray. Learn a bit of the fascinating history of Grand Island without over exerting yourself. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet are in the main office. Surprise! They're also your ferry captain and 1st mate. Rich, the bus guide, is a lifelong local who loves the area and especially Grand Island. Ask him anything. He tells great stories. You'll see some fauna and a lot of flora. Overall, a most enjoyable excursion in Munising.

Based on other reviews we got lucky when it came to bugs...I do't recall even using our bug spray…read moreand we didn't have any issues. We visited the first week of September, so maybe we just got lucky. My husband talked me into biking the west rim, then cutting down the middle of the island back to the ferry. Around 20 miles. Our rental bikes were a bit tough to use with not much padding on the seat and gears that were difficult to use. My husband's chain came off at one point. The good news is that we made it in just over four hours - I was so worried about missing the last ferry at 6pm, but we actually caught the 5pm ferry. I would love to visit the island again and stay over night so we don't have to race a clock. The bike trails are tough! I'm a decent bike rider, but trail riding is tough for me. I actually was okay for the first 12 miles, but my legs and rear became sore, making the last eight miles tough. I'm super glad that I was able to complete the ride, and once again had we gotten an earlier start and didn't have to worry about catching the ferry back I think I could have relaxed and not been as worried about having to push my bike up and down some tough and washed out trails. The views on the west rim were amazing! I actually wish we would have just turned around and retraced our steps instead of going down the middle of the island to get back, which is mainly a dirt road for atvs. We will be back to explore some more and work on our bike skills!

This is a KOA now, which is an embarrassment for KOA. This…read moreis one of the most expensive KOA camping cabins I've ever stayed in. There was no potable water or electric on the exterior. This made cooking and washing a real chore. I found myself dehydrated on 90 degree days because I wasn't drinking enough. The RV site next to us had it. It would be simple to split the spigot. If you have a fire ring, you should have water to extinguish said fire. You have to hike super far for water or bathrooms. There are only three showers for a ton of sites. For $150, this was a joke. There are no hooks or mirror inside or screen door (pretty standard at Kai camping cabins). Pay the extra money and stay at the Econolodge next door for $160. You'll have water, ac, and electricity. We wanted to go camping for the first time with our son. It wasn't worth it for the cabin. We should've just rented it. The campground in Newberry was half the price and worth it.

Pros-decent sized sites. Woodsy or sunny options. Close to Munising and sites. Full hookups to…read morerustic. We hauled firewood out of woods and no one cared. Nice trails on site. Kids had fun with free mini golf. Cons-Noisy neighbors. People doing full pan of dishes AT the freshwater sprayer and no rule against it (different people, daily). Bathrooms seemed messy but not completely disgusting (we had full hookup so I only went in the park's bathhouse once). Noisy road, next to railroad (loud whistle @ 7:00am!), landfill across street with noisy trucks in am. Pool advertised as heated but quite chilly! Pool and mini golf need repair. Laundry facilities not adequate (but there are two laundromats in town). Overall, not bad, not great either. Served as a good home base for our adventures but definitely not a destination itself. Sidenotes: check out MNA Falls and Tannery Falls. AWESOME and easy to get to. If you do Pictured Rock cruise, get dramamine!! Go to IGA in town rather than Glens grocery. Cheaper and really nice store. Skip Frozen Flamingo, ripoff!

This is a very convenient camp ground to see many points of interest. There are full hookups and…read morenice drive thru pads. It is tucked behind a golf course. There are no trees around the trailer spots, but the surrounding area is beautiful forest. There are fire pits and picnic tables. We needed a part and had Amazon ship it to the office, and we were able to pick it up at 9 PM. There are 4 clean showers and a nice bathroom. The only recommendation I would give is to add a chair or seat in each shower. The entire campground is very well maintained.

This is a really high rating but the park was perfect for us…read more It's new and has gravel roads, no trees, but electric and water and sewer campsites. It's spacious and most sites are pull through. There are some tent sites back in the woods and along the river, very rural and pretty out there. There is no pool, playground or fenced in pet walk. What I really liked the most was the proximity to local bicycle trails located just off the park, making it easy to ride to Marquette and even Presque island. The Northern Michigan University public golf club is just outside the park. If conditions are right you have an unobstructed view of the Aurora borealis. I've seen many prettier parks but this was just right for our needs. Even though we had some rain the gravel sites didn't get muddy, big plus when traveling with dogs. Enjoy the amazing area, hike, bike, eat and enjoy nature... this park is a great place to set up and then go do the stuff you came here to do.