Monday, September 6, 2010

Canoe Harbor SFCG


My wife was going with some people fishing at Wakely lake just East of Grayling and they were staying at Canoe Harbor State Forest Campground. At first I was a bit nervous of taking the camper, as some of the SFCG are not big enough for a large camper. But there was no problem here, the campground is set up in a big loop and most of the sites are big enough for a 30+ foot camper. It is a primitive campground so no power and only hand pump water wells. If you get off at Exit 251, which is 3 miles south of Grayling, there is Charlies Country Corner truck stop. They have fresh water fill (no cost) and they also have a dump station ($4). So this makes a convenient fill/dump station that is only about 15 miles from the camp ground.
The campground has a trail that leads down to the river, since it was a hot day the kids and I put on life jackets and just floated down the river, it was fun and refreshing. The campsites are big, there are sparse to heavy trees depending on the site you select. For $15/day you can't beat this site. The place has 50+ sites so we did not have problems finding a large site (that was easy to back into). There is also Kneff Lake campground about 4 miles before this one. They offer paved pads on the upper loop and has a swimming access on the lake. If we went up again I would like to stay here to see which of the 2 places I would prefer.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Monocle Lake National Forest Campground


Monocle Lake, is part of the Hiawatha National Forest, and is about 20 miles West of Sault Ste. Marie. The campground is set in a dense hardwood forest and situated on Monocle Lake. The lake itself is nice to swim in, but gets deep in a hurry, there is a small beach at one end. There is also a hiking trail that runs by the lake and into the woods. This is a nice location and is near by several other cool things. You are only a mile from Point Iroquois light house. The light house is retired and is now open to the public, you can also walk to the beach and watch great sunsets over Lake Superior.
Cost is $14 per day. It is primitive so no water or power. They do have some pressurived water faucets, so we just took 6 gallon water jugs to fill up the camper. About 2 miles away is Bay Mills Casino, and they have an RV park there where you can can dump your tanks for $10, they also have fresh water fill. Or Brimley State Park is about 7 miles East of the campground.
While we were here we also discovered Bay View campground about 10 miles further west. This is another National Forest Campground, but it is RIGHT on Lake Superior, I think this is going to be our destination for next year.

Reedsburg Dam State Forest Campground


Reedsburg Dam State Forest Campground [LINK to DNR site]
Aug 5, 2010

We stopped here on the way to the U.P., it was getting late and we decided to stop before it got dark, and wasn't sure I could make it to Grayling before the sun went down. We stopped at Reedsburg Dam last year so I knew it was big enough for our 33' camper. It is really a nice campground, there are several sites right on the lake, and you can walk down to the dam for fishing.
It is a State Forest Campground, so it is rustic, no power, bathhouses or running water. They do have outhouses and hand pumps for water. Cost per night is $15, with a self registration station when you come into the park. The campground

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

North Higgins Lake


This year we bought a new camper in May, a 33' Coachman with bunkhouse in the back. It is a great camper with ~way~ more room than the previous one. This was our first road trip with the new camper. We made our annual trek to North Higgins. This is a great park with mature forest and a beautiful lake, we alway have a great time here and this trip was no different. This year we had site 160 in the corner of the loop and we liked this as it was not as busy. The park was maybe 2/3 full, I was surprised it was not busier on a nice weekend.