Wilderness State Park

The park is beautiful, campsites are a little snug but not horrible. The best campsites are in the ⁹³⁄₉₅ area. The main problem is the bathrooms, I don’t think it’s an issue that they aren’t being cleaned, it’s just some people are really nasty and dirty.

I stayed here last week with my boyfriend & our two-​year-​old son. It was a really nice park & very close to the beach which was nice. The «playground» was actually just a slide which was slightly disappointing & the beach area could have been more comfortable if it were a little bigger (everyone from the campground was trying to use this small area). We stayed in a tent & it worked out well because we had an air mattress, but I wouldn’t sleep on the ground because our site had a lot of rocks (although it didn’t look like all of them were like that).
My only complaint that would actually make me not stay there again is the closeness of the inside campsites. there was absolutely no privacy & our neighbors’ conversations kept me up at night even with a fan on inside our tent. I would recommend staying at a site on the outside ring by the woods. that’s what we’ll be doing next time!
We did some exploring & found some really cool trails & secluded areas by the lake which was my favorite part.
We also spent a lot of time in Mackinaw City as it’s just a short drive away!

Wilderness State Park is magical and truly wild, if you stay out of the campground. Rent a cabin instead, either deep in the woods, or on the shore of Lake Michigan. Bunk beds, an outdoor water pump, a port-​a-​john and a wood stove provide your only modern comforts, leaving you to your own devices to make your own fun. Miles of trails for hiking and biking wind through the woods and out onto a giant spit for incredible views of nature. Get ice, beer and bug spray at the store right before the park entrance, and freshly made doughnuts at the store in the middle of the park. See and hear Great Lakes freighters plying the waters of the Straits, and on a clear day, look for the Mackinac Bridge in the distance.

Beautiful location in the very northern lower peninsula of Michigan. This campground is right on the shore of Lake Michigan, and some of the sites are actually on the sand, not more than 15 feet from the water.
Our site was in the inner circle, so we had a quick 30 second walk to the beach. I preferred this, since it was pretty windy in the evenings, so we were a bit more sheltered. These sites are extremely close together, and about 85% of people had RVs. We actually had to parallel park at the edge of our site!
Bathrooms are easily accessible and relatively clean, although I recommend shower shoes. They are pretty crowded, though, especially in the morning and right after dinner. Note that the fire pit has no grill, so if you want to cook over the fire, bring your own (can be purchased at the general store down the road for $ 16), or expect to use skewers or cook in foil packets! The sites are gloriously not buggy at all, and it cools down at night, so tent camping is very comfortable.
The hiking here was great. Lots of different trails, and they were very well maintained. There are even a few bathrooms (out toilets, but still!) on the longer routes. It’s pretty buggy so I recommend carrying bug spray with you. We did the 10K loop as a hike, and we got to see a ton of beautiful wildflowers and even a beaver’s dam. (They had to tear it down because he keeps flooding the trail!)
Our friends brought kayaks and spent hours on the lake. They’d recommend all water based activities!

I almost can’t bear to tell you how much we love Wilderness State Park. We camp every fall at Big Stone Bay. The park is beautiful and can seem so incredibly remote – yet you are minutes from Mackinaw City and the Mackinac Bridge.
There are lots of hiking trails, so much rocky shoreline to explore (but oh, God, the black spiders!). It’s an outdoor paradise.

Fun place to hike. I found a few winterberries here — they are small, red berries that grow on green plants near the ground. Related to spearmint, and they taste minty. Be careful about eating things in nature that you are not experienced with though!

By far one of the best camping sites that I have been to in Michigan. My wife and I took a tent and had a wonderful time. If you do a tent I would recommend a site more back in the trees, so you are not blasted by the wind off the lake. But great site!

We’ve enjoyed camping here through the years with and without kids. They have sites right on a bay of Lake Michigan. They don’t have the more modern shower/​toilet facilities like some other state parks but the ones they have are very clean and well mintained. It’s a nice place to stay if you want to check out northern lower peninsula and Mackinac Island.
Go to the nearby boat launch for a nice view of the beautiful Mackinac Bridge.

Nice park, one of the top ones in the state. I have camped there frequently over the last 50+ years. Suffering a bit because of the budget problems. This shows in some of the maintenance that is need in the park, leveling camp sites out, patch roadways in the campgrounds. Restrooms are cleaned daily but need more detail work like dumping the dead bugs out of the light fixtures a few times a year. The trails are marked and there are many to hike. Take bug dope and a compass anytime you go in the woods there, even though the trails are marked.
3 campgrounds available, East and West Lakeshore on Lake Michigan and The Pines, these sit along a ridge across a County Road behind the Lakeshore campgrounds. The lake is not visible from there. Check
for more details.