Camping is a great way to experience the outdoors, but not everyone is up to truly roughing it. Most Michigan State Parks provide showers and bathrooms, as will some other government owned campsites and numerous private campgrounds in the state. Michigan's Department of Natural Resources provides facility information about each of its campsites.
Campground Facilities
Michigan identifies its campgrounds as modern, semi-modern or rustic. Rustic is simply vault toilets, and you better bring your own toilet paper.
Modern campgrounds include a modern restroom building with showers, pressurized water spigots, a sanitation station for RVs and electrical service at each campsite.
Semi-modern means the campground provides either access to a modern restroom building with showers, or campsites with electrical service. The specific campground listing on the DNR website will give details on whether plumbing or electricity is offered.
Other kinds of campgrounds, equestrian, group and organizational, are rustic campsites.
Cabins
Michigan also offers cabins on state land near or within its campgrounds. "Mini-cabins" are one-room cabins that can sleep four, located near restroom facilities. There is no plumbing inside the cabin, but there is electricity.
A "camper cabin" is a three-room shelter also located within a modern campground with electricity and access to modern restrooms and showers.
Rustic cabins are located in isolated areas, can accommodate four to 24 people with no plumbing or electricity, except for a few that provide limited electricity through solar panels. Heat is by wood or propane.
State Parks
Some state parks are day-use-only areas. Of the 71 Michigan State Parks that do offer camping, most have modern or at least semi-modern campgrounds.
Some state parks, such as Warren Dunes State Park on the Lake Michigan shore near the Indiana border, offer a rustic campground in addition to a modern site.
Newaygo, Leelanau, Fisherman's Island and Craig Lake state parks are the only state parks that have only rustic camping available. Although the parks stay open for day use during the winter, 10 of the parks allow winter camping, and only three parks keep a heated restroom open in winter: Rifle River, Traverse City and Mitchell.
State Recreations Areas
State Recreation Areas are broad areas of land that offer a variety of outdoor activities, from swimming, biking and hiking to cross-country skiing and snowmobiling in season. Recreation areas that offer camping typically have a mix of modern and rustic campgrounds. Reservations for state parks and recreations can be made online up to six months in advance.
State and National Forests
Most state forest and national forest campgrounds are rustic, and some are only accessible by hiking or canoe. But there are often a number of private campgrounds near the forest land that offer modern facilities. These campgrounds are usually listed by local chambers of commerce.
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