Location: Marquette, Michigan
Marquette, Michigan is a unique place. An outdoor enthusiasts playground with the amenities for those who love the city. Miles of biking and hiking trails mixed with local breweries and unique restaurants. Where it lacked, however, was in campground options. Up until a year ago, if you wanted to camp near the city, your choice was limited.
Rippling River Resort opened in summer of 2018, making it a very new addition to the area. It offers luxury cabins, rustic cabins, rustic tents campsites (Walk-In Tent Sites), full hook-up campsites, and electric hook up campsites (“Pioneer Camp”).
Amenities include bathhouses and showers, shared water access, picnic table, fire pit, camp store with bar and access to an outdoor pool and hot tub.
We stayed at Site F, one of the walk-in tent sites.
What We Liked
I loved that this campground is located on Carp River. We could walk ten feet from our site and watch the rapids.
Ripping River Resort offers cabins and rustic tent sites that are open all year round.
The staff is extremely friendly, to both people and dogs. I was very impressed with how dog friendly this location is. Pups were even invited into the camp store.
The tent sites were entirely shaded and made it feel as though we were camping in a forest.
It was quiet. One of the biggest issues we have with campgrounds is that the campers tend to be loud early in the morning and late at night. Rippling River Resort didn’t seem to have that issue. Everyone was respectful of everyone else.
What We Didn’t Like
The tent sites were too small and they weren’t level. Normally not an issue for us with our hammocks. We barely fit two tents in the space and both tents were not on flat ground.
The sites were too close together. Our neighbors were backed up next to us. We had no privacy.
For us, it was a bit on the expensive side. Our site was $30 per night for a hike in with no electricity. We have paid this for other campgrounds in the area for larger sites with electricity.
The Shower/Bath house required codes to access. This wasn’t a big deal but it certainly was weird.
Parking is very limited. Not a problem if you only have one vehicle but we had two. One of us had to park on the other side of the campground, which became an inconvenience when having a walk-in site and especially when trying to practice wildlife awareness.
Conclusion
Would we stay here again? No, it wasn’t our kind of place. But if you’re interested in modern camping and don’t mind paying a bit more, this might be a good option for you.
For more information, visit the Rippling River Resort.