We were here just after Labor Day so the beach was pretty much dead which was awesome for us as we…read morehad the whole place to ourselves. The wind made it a bit too chilly to do much outside from walk along the beach but had it been a bit warmer it would have been a great place to go swimming or wading. I hadn't realized that nearby is also a dark sky park so I imagine you'll have some dynamite night sky gazing if you're there after sunset. I'd love to come back and take some astrophotography shots with my camera this coming summer. Also worth noting, not sure if this is the case in peak season times but the park has a solid public restroom as well. Very clean!

2020-07-25. Oak Beach County Park, Port Austin, MI…read more In Michigan, everyone boasts of the beauty of the mitt; the scenic scapes of the UP (Upper Peninsula), the old world charm of Mackinaw and Mackinac Island, and the great outdoors of the Grand Traverse County. But there's another part to every mitten, and today my travels took me here, to Michigan's thumb. Well, to what I call the Thumbnail to be more precise. The thumbnail I refer to is the coastal areas of Michigan's thumb, from Bay Port to the West, to Harbor Beach to the east. One thing this area isn't lacking are beaches, beautiful sand beaches bordering Saginaw Bay or Lake Huron. While many a property here gets a piece of the water, there are many pubic beaches as well. The beaches are smaller and encompass only a few hundred feet of waterfront, but they make up for it in how many there are within close proximity to one another. Caseville has a decent size beach, but is often very crowded, and with COVID still looming around, we decided to go further north to Port Austin. Our day began at Bay Port to pick up some smoked fish, then to the Port Austin Farmer's Market. After that I had 3 beaches picked out. Oak County Park, Veteran's Park, and Bird Creek Park. Bird Creek Park is a 1000 foot expanse of beach to the immediate east of the Port Austin State Harbor. From here, you would be able to see personal boats come and go. The parking lot has enough space for about 70 vehicles, and spaces fill up by early afternoon. Not finding any spots within social distancing guidelines, we moved to the west side of the Port Austin State Harbor to Veteran's Waterfront Park. It's about half the size of Bird Creek with approximately 500 linear feet of beachfront. This side has the breakwater, so if you're in to boat spotting, it's not the optimal side to be on. While these two parks are adjacent to each other with only about 500 feet between them, there is no direct path to get there on foot. You will need to drive from one lot to the other. The parking lot is proportionally smaller here with about 40 parking spots. Not having any luck at Veteran's we moved to my original choice of Oak Beach. During our journey west, we passed by several other beaches. 4 miles away is Port Crescent State Park. Being a State Park, a Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry. We had ours, but if you don't have one, no worries, you can purchase one at the entrance. The cost is $12 for the year + $5 convenience fee for not purchasing it when you renew your License Plate tabs. This beach is the largest of them all by far, and spans about 2 miles. There's one central lot, and despite the price of parking, many come to enjoy this beach. This was my backup beach, so we pressed on westward. The next beach is at McGraw County Park. A small pubic park with no pavilions and only about 400 feet of beachfront. After this one is our destination, Oak Beach County Park. This park is much bigger compared to McGraw with two large pavilions, a playground, 2 horseshoe pits, and about 700 feet of beachfront. Here, we were lucky enough to find both a spot on the beach and in the parking lot. In addition to the pavilions, fixed charcoal barbecue grills are scattered throughout the park for public use. There are restrooms with one shower stall in each as well as a rinsing well to get the excess sand off your legs before heading home. Still on the Lake Huron side, the water is much cooler and the water remains shallow throughout the buoy markers for swimmers. At spots there are pockets where the water does get about 5 feet deep, so if you have little ones, take care to make sure they don't wander off to far on their own. If you venture past these deeper wells, it gets shallow again (about 3 feet). The bottom is sandy so muddy waters are kept to a minimum. Overall a nice beach with nice amenities. 4 stars. The great thing about this beach park is that there is a nature center about a half mile away. The Huron County Nature Center has many hiking trails that are well marked and pets are welcome. Overall, Michigan's Thumbnail Coast boasts many smaller beaches which is quite a nice change from the densely populated ones of Metro Park and Stony Creek. The water is cleaner and cooler, a bonus on those really hot days. There is one more beach if you continue on the Journey to the West. Thompson County Park is very similar to McGraw County Park, with about 400 feet of beachfront and no pavilions or playgrounds. So don't give up if you can't find a spot straight away. Our day trip was to conclude with a stop at Rybak's Ice Cream, but they were closed due to COVID, so we checked out The Grindstone General Store and Blue Moon Ice Cream Shoppe. If you would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Bon Appétit!

Not ideal for tent camping. This is the first state campground that I have stayed at, so I don't…read morehave anything to compare it to. We usually stay at more rustic campgrounds. The spaces were close together and there were lot of flies everywhere. There was a poop smell throughout the campground and the beach. With the campsites being so close together you could hear everyone "yelling at their kids" or partying until 2:00 AM. The bathrooms had dirty floors and the shower was gross. The beach was a nice short walk just across the bridge and to the other side of the road. There were lots of campers and many of them had lights on at night or hung lights outside their camper which created light pollution so you could not see the stars. Maybe you want to hang out with a bunch of strangers and listen to their business or their partying until the wee hours of the morning. If that sounds like fun then you should definitely come here. If you came for an outdoor experience, wanted to see the stars or hear nature then I would avoid this campground.

One of our favorite parks to camp at. Seriously it's beautiful. There are so many good sites and…read morewonderful views. This is an annual trip for us.

Beautiful park with breathtaking views. The cabins for rent here are awesome. Shared public…read morerestrooms that are clean. Great way to have an affordable, refreshing weekend getaway.

I went here for a quick day hike after kayaking to Turnip Rock. There's actually two trailheads-…read moreone official one with campgrounds and bathrooms, and one with a bridge over the river. I parked at the trailhead with the bridge, which does not have any amenities. If you're nervous about trying to find it, it's right next to the Dark Sky Lodge and Tavern so you can plug that into your navigation system. It's also well marked with a small gravel lot. When I went, the trailhead lot was full so I parked at a grassy lot across the street. The trail runs though the beach and forest ecosystem and it's pretty well maintained and well marked. It's impossible to get lost. As you go near the beach there's plenty of offshoot trails leading to the beach. Just watch out for ticks!

What a cute city park with a lovely beach, pier, skatepark, playground, and boardwalk. A great…read moreplace to catch the sunrise too.

One word: Beautiful! Nature takes care of everything and the great people of Oscoda and the State…read moreof Michigan does the rest. Really well-cared for! It's wonderful here! The beach is fantastic, the views are perfect. There are plenty of fun activities planned including movies in the park. Lots of places to relax. This is a slice of heaven! Amazing!

This campground was our go to place for years. We have friends that are seasonal campers. It was…read morealways packed. You could get in with some luck and a prayer. Now it's on its 3rd owner in 4 years. Now it's a Jellystone Park. They do not have an updated Yelp site even though they have posted a yelp review. They do not like seasonal campers. They do not want seasonal campers anymore. No more new seasonal campers as they leave. The pool has been down the last 3 times we have been there. The bathrooms are a mess. My wife got her phone stolen last year. They have more golf carts than they know what to do with but won't rent them for some reason. I was out on a wait list for a cart this weekend and watched about 50 carts sit unrented. In the office and store we made note of a substance on the toilets in the restroom (you know what I mean), it remained there from when we checked in this last Thursday until this morning (Sunday). Speaking with other campers, they are sad that they see so many empty spaces. It's ridiculous how many vacancies they have now. Some left before the completion for their reservation because they were so unhappy with what's happening. We used to hold trips here with the people we work with at least twice a year. I wish them the best of luck because they are going to need it. I think the staff knows what needs to be done but the corporate ownership is driving this place into the ground. Oh and bring life jackets for the kids to use their water activities on the lake. They don't even have enough life jackets for what little campers they had. I think this might me a violation.

My friends and i stayed here July 21st thru the 24th, 2022. I was in my 5th wheel, they had cabins…read more Lake Huron campground was awesome. JellyStone, not so much. Overpriced for stays now, bathrooms flooding sewage, pool closed for sewage backup, I'm not a happy camper. They will not allow personal golf carts anymore, i had goose poop, cigarette butts, and the previous camper on my site left a good amount of their black tank contents on the ground. I paid $327.00 for 3 nights. For that amount, a person would expect a clean site. Big corporate campgrounds don't care about their property obviously. We used to camp here at least once a year for the past 6 years now. I can see why there were so many sites open now. Corporate greed has taken yet another nice campground down. We won't be back. (Why won't this site allow me to post zero stars? That's what this place deserves now!)

I came here to see the lighthouse and ended up coming back multiple times for so much more. Only…read more$20 for an annual pass. The lighthouse is 150 years old and looks charming! I also enjoyed the Sandy Hook nature trail. I saw many birds, flowers, and a deer. I stopped at the beach to watch the kite surfers - so cool. This park offers something for everyone.

The lighthouse is beautiful going up to the top is a beautiful view the people that worked there…read moreare very nice. The tour was very informative. And they do have a gift shop

These guys were amazing, helped us with everything we needed. But most importantly did everything…read morethey could and saved our trip. If I could give them a 10/5 stars I would

Worst possible service and interaction possible. I called about making a reservation with the…read morecampground and asked to talk to the person that handles that. She said that was her but the woman that answered the phone seemed like she didn't have the time of day for me and also had a really bad attitude. After she treated me this way I would never recommend any family or friends to go there. There is plenty of other campgrounds next to the lake to stay at. The lady that answered the phone needs to learn how to talk and treat potential customers.

A lovely place I stumbled upon when planning a trip and a perfect place for a lunch stop. If I had…read moreonly known the next destination was rainy I would have stayed longer. A bargain of a spot for $3 a day as there is a great beach, kayak rentals, changing facilities all on the beautiful Saginaw bay. We saw jet skis and a lot of boat trailers so there must be a launch nearby. There was also campers and tents with people enjoying a pure Michigan day.

Great little beach on Lake Huron / Saginaw Bay. We visited on a sunny Monday morning to find the…read morebeach quiet except for one group of 4 boys, nice sunshine, and a gentle breeze. The park requires a $3 day use pass. The day before we visited Bay City State Park's beach and it was crowded, noisy, a further walk from the parking lot, and the recreation pass was $9. Plus the water at Pinconning Park is clear while the other beach was murky and algae filled. Both were fine but Pinconning is better.

Group of a dozen older ladies did the 7-mile kayak to/from Turnip Rock. Great outing and felt safe…read morethe whole time. You kayak close to shore in water not more than a couple feet deep the whole time, which was cool. It does get wavy and there are large rocks as well, so be mentally prepared for that.

Overall ,it was awesome. The staff was friendly, it was easy to book online. However ,I wish they…read morewould let you know how much water goes into the cabin storage. Everything was soaked including my key fob. It would be nice for a map maybe, we had to go the other way instead of Turnip Rock,(to my error) wasn't sure what part was the "public beach", so we just got out and enjoyed. Nobody complained about us there. Great first experience with the nieces!

Loved everything about this resort! I spend most MI summer weekends enjoying the Lake Huron…read morebeachfront at different venues with cottage rentals. Crystal Sands Beach resort was able to accommodate a girls weekend (17 girls) easily. The beach house apartments provided plenty of room, gorgeous views, full kitchen and an open floor plan. The Villa's are equipped with full kitchens, bedrooms, and open floor plans in general living areas. The Suite's were open floor plans with refrigerators and coffeemakers. The property and beach were well kept and grounds crews seemed to make regular rounds to ensure cleanliness. The resort is on the beach and has a gorgeous beach area. There were many families and children enjoying their swimming, kayaking, and bulldog sand castles. At night the resort set up chairs and multiple fire pits on the beach for guests and kept the wood coming and fires going! The resort also came equipped with regular housekeeping which included daily garbage changes, cleaning, and towel replacement. The resort is handicap accessible with an ADA Suite and handicap beach access. My travel companion is wheelchair bound and we had no problems getting around. The beach house steps were wide enough to get a wheelchair bound person up and down and all staff and owners were quick to offer assistance when we took the wheelchair and occupant of wheelchair up and down the steps. I've stayed in many (most) locations in that area on the beach and this is by far the best. We can't wait to go back for our annual girls weekend next year! I can't say enough about the location or the amazing staff/owners of the resort. They truly work hard (while making it appear effortless) to ensure everyone is having a great time. Thank you Sam and Nada!!!! It was truly a pleasure meeting you and thank you for such a great time and all that you did to make our 25th annual weekend perfect!

Beautiful, clean well kept resort. Nada and Sam are the perfect hosts. They have thought of…read moreeverything!