Portage Bay State Forest Campground
Dept. Natural Resources
Write a Review 12.75 Lane Garden, MI 49835 906-644-2603 Official WebsiteGPS: 45.7239, -86.5351
Overview of Portage Bay State Forest Campground
Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry into state parks and recreation areas, state boat launches, state forest campgrounds and state trail parking lots. The Michigan Recreation Passport does not cover local, county, municipal, or metropolitan parks or recreation areas. Learn more: Michigan Recreation Passport
Last Price Paid: $20
Reported by camper-869099 on 7/23/2024
Longest RV Reported: 22 feet (Class B)
Reported by 1bike on 8/16/2019
Number of Sites 23
Open Seasonally Yes
Elevation 557 ft / 169 m
Tent Camping Yes
Discover a smarter way to RV with Roadtrippers
All your Campendium favorites and more are now in Roadtrippers.
Q&A - Ask the Community about Portage Bay State Forest Campground
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 906-644-2603
Campendium users haven't asked any questions about Portage Bay State Forest Campground
Reviews of Portage Bay State Forest Campground 4 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 1 User
Last reported 7/28/2020
“Beautiful, Quiet Location Right On Lake Michigan. ”
Reviewed 7/23/2024
| Nightly rate: | $20 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 1 |
| Site Number: | 6 |
Overall Rating
We only stayed one night. Would be great location to stay longer. Beautiful sand beach. Large fire pits. Pit toilets were clean. Pretty quiet. Worst part if getting there. You leave paved roads in Garden and it’s all very winding dirt roads for about 10 miles. Would be tough for a large RV, but our car did just fine.
camper-869099 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Excellent place to unplug and enjoy ”
Reviewed 8/19/2021
| Nightly rate: | $15 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 2 |
| Site Number: | 8 |
Overall Rating
The 8 or so miles of dirt road was just fine getting to the campground. If you like a gamble, it is first come basis, so you might drive around the spread out campground and find nothing. We were lucky and got Campsite 8, which was perfect for us. The beach area was practically private and although the campground was full, the sites ar... more
The 8 or so miles of dirt road was just fine getting to the campground. If you like a gamble, it is first come basis, so you might drive around the spread out campground and find nothing. We were lucky and got Campsite 8, which was perfect for us. The beach area was practically private and although the campground was full, the sites are spaced far enough apart to provide decent privacy. It is primitive with a well pump for drinking water and vault toilets. There is a faint flicker of 1 maybe 2 bars on Verizon, but the phone best serves as a camera and clock. We were able to take our sit on top kayaks out and enjoy bobbing around the small bay area. There is a decent trail to hike around just to move your legs. There are no trash bins, so after we left it is easy to go to Fayette State Park for dump station, which is allowed when staying at Portage. Stay here just to get away from the noise and hustle of world affairs.
Kim would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Remote Spot Right Off Lake Michigan ”
Reviewed 7/28/2020
| Nightly rate: | $15 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 3 |
| Site Number: | 4 |
Overall Rating
Such a hidden gem! Not packed and super tranquil. At night you can hear the waves crash and you can have a great view of the night sky from your very own beach spot next to the site.
| Access | |
| Location | |
| Cleanliness | |
| Site Quality | |
| Noise |
T-Mobile 4G
Dawn13422 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Our favorite spot in our week in the Upper Peninsula”
Reviewed 8/16/2019
| Nightly rate: | $15 |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 1 |
| Site Number: | 21 |
| RV Length: | 22' (Class B) |
Overall Rating
First a cautionary warning: To get to this campground there is 8 miles of tough gravel. The last 5 are very tight. We have a campervan (9'6" high) and we brushed a few branches. We saw few trailers but I wouldn't have done it. Also many places in the road are not wide enough for two vehicles. We only met 2 cars on the way in. One guy h... more
First a cautionary warning: To get to this campground there is 8 miles of tough gravel. The last 5 are very tight. We have a campervan (9'6" high) and we brushed a few branches. We saw few trailers but I wouldn't have done it. Also many places in the road are not wide enough for two vehicles. We only met 2 cars on the way in. One guy had to pull off the road about 2' for us.
That said...wow.
This is on a protected bay on lake Michigan. From the back of our site about a 30' walk on a small trail on our site and you had your own personal beach with spectacular sand. The water was warm because it was shallow and most of the afternoon and evening it was like glass. We were able to launch our kayak right from our site (There is a boat launch too).
The sites are very private (mostly) and we never heard the neighbors.
Pit toilets were well maintained.
This was a really great place and the bay was so beautiful. I actually woke up to get a sunrise pic (I never do that).
| Access | |
| Location | |
| Cleanliness | |
| Site Quality | |
| Noise |
Verizon
1bike would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
10 reviews
noted 8/23/2020
We parked our Winnebago 2250DS at a nearby RV park so we could recon the road into this campground. It's a good thing we did, too, because we could not have gotten our trailer to the campground without damaging the roof from low-hanging branches.
While we didn't make it all the way to the campground and can't say for sure, I strongly suspect anyone with a teardrop or popup would be able to navigate the "road" to the campground without damage.
Be the first to add a video for Portage Bay State Forest Campground!
Have you written a blog post about Portage Bay State Forest Campground?
Contact us to update this listing.
Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
Recreation
- fishing
- picnic area
- recreation trail
- swimming beach
- water access
Site Amenities
- fire ring
- picnic table
Facilities
- restrooms: vault
- water available
Pets
- pets
Nearby RV Rentals
In partnership with
Nearby RV Rentals
In partnership with
19 Reviews
2017 TRAVEL TRAILER
Keystone RV Springdale 189FLWE
$109 /night | Sleeps 6 Guests
3 Reviews
2019 TRAVEL TRAILER
Forest River RV Salem 26DBUD
$150 /night | Sleeps 8 Guests
1 Review
2019 TRAVEL TRAILER
Keystone RV Springdale 2980BH
$127 /night | Sleeps 9 Guests
New Listing
2019 TRAVEL TRAILER
Forest River RV Cherokee Grey Wolf 29TE
$140 /night | Sleeps 10 Guests
9 Reviews
2022 TRAVEL TRAILER
Dutchmen RV Aspen Trail LE 1950BH
$150 /night | Sleeps 7 Guests
11 Reviews
2017 TRAVEL TRAILER
Keystone RV Summerland 2960BH
$138 /night | Sleeps 8 Guests
Nearby
Please select a reason for flagging this item: