Petoskey State Park is located in the charming town of Petoskey, Michigan on the shores of the Little Traverse Bay. It contains 303 acres of forested land and includes 1 mile of sandy beach shoreline. Offering camping and hiking opportunities, Petoskey State Park is a pleasant place for a weekend getaway.
There are two campgrounds within the park; Dunes Campground and Tannery Creek Campground. Together they offer 180 sites with access to electricity and modern bathrooms.
We stayed at Dunes Modern Campground in site 61.
What We Liked
The campground had an access point to the beach that was merely a short walk from our site.
We liked having direct access to the 3 trails within the park from the campground. We hiked both the Campground Trail (0.5 miles) and the Portage Trail (1 mile, with route options for easy or difficult).
Despite being a full campground, this was one of the quieter state parks at night. Most nights people respected the 10 p.m. quiet time. Early mornings were also fairly quiet.
Privacy between sites was decent. There were plenty of trees on one side to separate us from our neighbors.
What We Didn’t Like
The bathrooms were the biggest issue. They are outdated and even smell old. Worst of all, there was one day where none of the toilets were working. The park brought someone in to fix the issue, but it took all day and there were still problems.
Some of the sites were really small. People with campers, even small ones, had a hard time getting into some of the sites.
We were slightly disappointed that the beach access from our campground was the same beach that non-campers used. Tannery Creek Campground had more privacy on their beach.
After a very heavy downpour, some of the sites had standing water. Our site was fine, but several in both campgrounds had pools of water.
More Information
Petoskey State Park Dune Campground offers the beauty that Michigan’s west coast is famous for. Sandy beaches, views of Little Traverse Bay, and lots of recreational water opportunities. It is a great place to look for Petoskey stones, enjoy a sunset, and spend a day swimming.
For more information, visit Petosky State Park.