Windwalker55
Missouri
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Plan on making a trip up along the east shore of Lake Michigan into the upper pennisula and then down through central Wisconsin in August. Will we have any problems finding boondocking areas along the east shore of Lake Michigan? The upper pennisula has quite a bit of national forest so I suspect it will be easy up there. What about central Wisconsin.
We have a truck camper so parking in small areas is no problem.
Thanks,
Larry
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Opie431
Bellevue, MI
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Boondocking will probably not be possible in the southern half of the LP. If you mean Walmart type boondocking you will probably find some you can stay at but there is no NF land in the southern counties of Michigan. Even getting into the state parks on the lake can be hard without a reservation altho all parks do have sites that cannot be reserved.
There are state forests and National forests once you get about half way up.
Go the their websites and ask them to send you information. Sleeping Bear Dunes NL is about at the little finger and would be a good place to stop for showers midweek unless you want to make a reservation ahead of time.
The NF and MSF campgrounds are cheap and have water and outhouses.
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kknowlton
Wisconsin Border Country, IL
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Also, if "boondocking" means to you that you can pull off the road anywhere and camp, even in the NFs that's probably not allowed. I remember reading that camping is confined to officially designated campgrounds only. Granted, the campsites in NFs are no-hookup and probably inexpensive, but not likely free.
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Camping Hoosiers
Southern Indiana
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After poking around the Huron National Forest a few times, I could find about ten million or so places to boondock!
From this Huron NF info website:
it should be mentioned, dispersed camping is allowed on most areas of the Forests. Because dispersed camp location are undeveloped by the Forest Service, it is not included in this campground directory. Contact the Manistee National Forest for more information.
Info on Huron National Forest
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jim isham
stevensville, michigan
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This map will show you where the state forest campgrounds are. You won't find any on the eastern shore until you're north of Ludington and some are quite close to the lake.
State Forest Campgrounds
Michigan's Sunset Coast
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Opie431
Bellevue, MI
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There are a few free sites here. http://freecampsites.net/attribute/states/mi/
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bonscott
Michigan
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For Michigan, as mentioned in the LP you need to get north of Ludington/Baldwin and there are lots of State Forest land. There are tons of "dry camping" campgrounds in the state forests, many of our favs are up around Traverse City area and there are plenty up to the bridge as well.
There is much less forest in the southern part of the state, but I do know a couple spots, about 50 miles from the lake though. First is Yankee Springs Rec Area at Gun Lake, halfway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. There is a regular "state park" type campground but there is also a rustic campground at Deep Lake. Over 120 sites, very wooded, many are quite private and a few overlook the lake off a bluff. Deep Lake info
Another option is in the Allegan State Game Area. They are kinda hard to find, one of them is a few miles of dirt road off the nearest blacktop. There is a ranger station on the main road about 8 miles west of Allegan city where you can get more info. Both campgrounds do have vault toilets and a water spigot but that's about it for convenience. Fishing is available on the lakes nearby. Allegan county now manages the campgrounds.
Pine Point Park campground
Ely Lake
Ely Lake is the one that's pretty isolated.
The UP is full of national and state forest land so you're all set there.
Have fun!
Scott
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langenc
Montmorency Co, MI
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In Michigan boondocking is pretty easy-and I realize that is not what some posters have already said.
Stop at a DNR office and get several "Camp Registration Cards"(a white form about the size of sheet of paper on light card stock.. They are good generally for camping anywhere on state land (much in N MI and UP) EXCEPT within 1 mi of SF campgrounds.
Card is filled out w/ names and addy and left at site when departing.
No charge for cards/ any campers dont use but leave yourselves open to problems.
I guess the key is STATE land. NOT good on stste GAME areas from May 15-Sept 10th.
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Windwalker55
Missouri
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langenc wrote:In Michigan boondocking is pretty easy-and I realize that is not what some posters have already said.
Stop at a DNR office and get several "Camp Registration Cards"(a white form about the size of sheet of paper on light card stock.. They are good generally for camping anywhere on state land (much in N MI and UP) EXCEPT within 1 mi of SF campgrounds.
Card is filled out w/ names and addy and left at site when departing.
No charge for cards/ any campers dont use but leave yourselves open to problems.
I guess the key is STATE land. NOT good on stste GAME areas from May 15-Sept 10th.
I actually emailed the state forest people and they mailed me some of these dispersed camping permits. Very cooperative. Now all I have to do is find the spots. I have a DeLorme Atlas for Michigan so shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for your help.
Larry
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Windwalker55
Missouri
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bonscott wrote:For Michigan, as mentioned in the LP you need to get north of Ludington/Baldwin and there are lots of State Forest land. There are tons of "dry camping" campgrounds in the state forests, many of our favs are up around Traverse City area and there are plenty up to the bridge as well.
There is much less forest in the southern part of the state, but I do know a couple spots, about 50 miles from the lake though. First is Yankee Springs Rec Area at Gun Lake, halfway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. There is a regular "state park" type campground but there is also a rustic campground at Deep Lake. Over 120 sites, very wooded, many are quite private and a few overlook the lake off a bluff. Deep Lake info
Another option is in the Allegan State Game Area. They are kinda hard to find, one of them is a few miles of dirt road off the nearest blacktop. There is a ranger station on the main road about 8 miles west of Allegan city where you can get more info. Both campgrounds do have vault toilets and a water spigot but that's about it for convenience. Fishing is available on the lakes nearby. Allegan county now manages the campgrounds.
Pine Point Park campground
Ely Lake
Ely Lake is the one that's pretty isolated.
The UP is full of national and state forest land so you're all set there.
Have fun!
Thanks for the information, especially on Allegon County. I've began doing a Google search for camping in all the counties I'm going to be traveling through. This does provide some good sources sometimes. Thanks again.
Larry
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