Camping at Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of the top five most toured spots in Michigan! Do you want to plan your trip, but are unsure of your stay due to the highly populated first come, first serve campgrounds? No need to fear. If you like rustic camping, then I have the place for you!

In the summer of 2017, my boyfriend and I planned a weekend camping trip at Pictured Rocks. We had originally planned to stay at the Twelvemile Beach Campground. Just our luck, when we arrived all sites were full! We then drove over to the next campground on our list Beaver Creek Campground and you bet, it was full! We continued driving down H-58 looking for a tent only campground feeling hopeless until we stumbled upon a wooden sign on the road that read "JoeIda Campground".

We had never heard of this campground, however we needed a place to stay and decided to adventure down the long dirt path. Now, I am not kidding when I say a lonnngggg dirt path. We drove down twists and turns through a tunnel of trees for what felt like 10-15 minutes. Our hopes began to diminish until we finally came across the small 4 site campground.

When we arrived it was easy to pick out the many perks to this campground. Only one out of the four campsites were in use and we couldn't see the other guests from the site we picked. The sites were HUGE with a fire ring, picnic table, and a circle of trees around you. On top of that, the campground had handcrafted restrooms to provide the rustic feel without forcing you to go outside. This campground was our silver lining for the weekend.

After we finished setting up camp we were lucky enough to run into Don, one of the owners. He had informed us, this was their opening season. It was a family property and they had decided to convert it into a campground. We didn't think this site could get any better until Don informed us there were fresh blueberries we could pick for FREE! If you stay here and ever get the chance to talk to the owners, do it! They are the most welcoming couple and they'd love to hear their hard work paid off.

As of today, there are now 8 campsites and one cabin available for rent. You can also make a reservation online using this link https://reserve2.resnexus.com/resnexus/Reservations/Lodging/5177C20C-F780-4149-93B6-6EF7A064FEF8.

I hope you find this information helpful and decide to take a chance on JoeIda Campground. I promise it will be worth your stay!

xoxo,

M