CAMPGROUND REVIEW - Little Bay De Noc in the Hiawatha National Forest, near Gladstone Michigan

Thought I would write up another campground review, for the folks who love the quiet and peaceful rustic camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  If you read the post before this one, it's our actual camping post of being there with friends:  2022/05/finding-bigfoot-with-bill-and-janet.html  

We just spent a wonderful weekend at Little Bay De Noc Campground in the Hiawatha National Forest. This rustic campground does not have electric, sewer or water hookups, and we totally enjoy camping here with our motorhome. 

Our campsite #35

• Little Bay De Noc Campground is part of the Hiawatha National Forest. It is located about 20 miles east of Escanaba, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. It is located on a shallow bay of the waters of Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. 
• There are 38 rustic campsites with 2 larger group sites. Some sites are reservable, some are first come first serve.
• There's a nice swimming beach and boat launch. 
• Various pit toilets are scattered throughout the park and campground. 
• There are three unthreaded water spigots. (bring a "water thief" fitting for your hose if you need to fill your RV before setting up on a site). There is an Artesian well in the third loop called the Twin Springs Loop. 
• All of the sites are extremely level and deep and can accommodate a big rig. No pull-throughs. 
• The first two loops of campsites have some turns that are a little tighter, but if you maneuver carefully you can get through with a big rig. 
• All of the roads are paved black top and in good condition. 
• Cell phone service is quite good. 
• TV antenna signals ramp-up in the evening but fade away during the day or late at night. The local channel from Escanaba, channel 3 and its subchannels are readily available throughout the day. But they do not have a local weather channel so keep an eye on your cell phone for weather updates. 
• Nearby are a couple different convenience stores as you come down into the peninsula, as well as a few small shops and restaurants in Gladstone or Rapid River 10 to 15 miles away. 
• The larger city of Escanaba has more variety of stores, a Walmart, Meijer's, Camping World and a large casino at the outer edge of town.  The casino does have camping spots with hookups, as well as Pioneer Trail county campground in Escanaba/Gladstone by the highway.

Here is a link to the National Forest website with more information:

Little Bay De NOC Campground in Hiawatha National Forest

The campground is located across the bay from Gladstone, MI.

This is a copy and paste from their website:

Little Bay Campground provides a quiet respite from more developed campgrounds in the area. It has long been a favorite for visitors seeking solitude. Beautiful sunsets can be seen over the glistening water of the Little Bay de Noc, and campers enjoy water activities on the lake. 

Natural Features: The campground sits on the shore of Little Bay de Noc, on the north end of Lake Michigan. A group camping area is separated from the other sites with oak, hemlock and hardwood trees, providing a relatively private camping experience.

Recreation: The bay is widely recognized as one of the finest walleye fisheries in the country. The Hunter's Point paved boat ramp is located less than a mile from the entrance of the campground. 

Other than fishing, visitors enjoy non-motorized boating and swimming, or simply enjoying the beach. A variety of hiking trails are also within a couple miles of the campground. Peninsula Point Lighthouse is a short drive away from the campground.

Facilities: The campground offers multiple single-family sites and two large group sites, available for tent and RV camping. Each site is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are also provided. 

A day-use picnic area is equipped with tables and grills. An adjacent open grassy area is available for large recreational gatherings. The picnic area is also adjacent to the swimming beach and boat ramp.

There are a lot of activities

 in the Hiawatha National Forest

 in that entire area of the U.P.

We also toured the Peninsula Point Lighthouse, about 12 miles south of the park on the tip of peninsula, also owned and maintained by the Hiawatha National Forest. 

The fees for the rustic camping are $22 a night. Some of the sites are reservable via the website link up above.

If you purchase the America the Beautiful National Park and Federal Recreational Land annual or lifetime Senior Pass, you qualify for half-price camping. Our campsites only cost us $11 a night. Here is a link for the senior pass information:

America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Rec Land Lifetime Senior Pass

TAKE NOTE:  we filled out our envelopes for our campsites and put them in the pay post at the self registration kiosk. But our envelopes got stuck up inside of the post! The next day, the host politely came and asked us if we had inserted our envelopes, which we did. This was his first week volunteer hosting at this particular park. Out of the 5 envelopes inserted for the people in that area only one envelope had fallen down into their payment reservoir. They discovered later that the other four were stuck up high in the post!!! So if you have anybody questioning you as to whether or not you paid, let them know there is a cross brace in that post that hangs up the envelopes up at the top of the post. Our host only discovered it by putting a cell phone inside, aiming it up words with a flash, and taking a picture. Sure enough, there were four more envelopes stuck up inside of the post. He hopes that the Rangers will be able to rectify that situation, but the post seems to have been there for a long time. We have no idea why nobody ever discovered this before? Maybe the envelopes are just larger now than they were in the past? Anyway, if you get questioned about whether or not you paid, tell them you have it on good authority that there is a cross brace in that post that hangs up envelopes! LOL

We chose sites in the farthest loop called Twin Springs. We chose them because they are wider open with less tree foliage and more practical for our solar panels. All of the sites are spaced pretty far apart, and in the wooded loops you really don't even see your neighbors at all.  

Our site #35

There is a camp host down at the end of the Twin Springs Loop and they are on site to help with any questions or information. All of the roads are beautiful as they wind through the park at a very nice slow comfortable speed. Everything is thickly wooded with natural vegetation.  There is some poison ivy, so be aware. The campground is not near any highways or city noise. Once in a while you can hear a train from across the bay if the water is calm. But generally, it is a quiet natural serene wooded campground.

Although there is a nice swimming beach at the north end of the park, most of the sites down along throughout the campground are mostly waterfront. Some are in the woods and a few are more open to the sky for solar access. In the Twin Springs Loop there's even a little sandy beach by each campsite!

The sun sets to the West over the bay, so be ready for some absolute stunning sunsets when you camp at this beautiful campground located on the east side of the Bay.

Everything is natural and pristine. The fishing is great and the waterfront is rugged and beautiful and natural.  There are some cottages to the south and north of the park, but you can't see them unless you go out onto the bay. 

There were many nesting geese and ducks along the shoreline, and we heard a loon call out every once in a while. 

Again, be prepared for some spectacular sunsets! This was the second night we were there. The bay became like glass, and the sun was setting on the edge. The colors were spectacular! This is a completely untouched photo taken with my cell phone on landscape mode:

Here is our campsite number 35 and our friends are camped next to us in the beige motorhome in number 36. Showing you the distance between the open sights down in the Twin Springs Loop. Up further in the other two loops the sites are even further apart with an abundance of foliage in between... it completely blocks you from seeing your neighbors.

The views are gorgeous when the winds are calm. Although the bay is shallow, the waves can come up quickly when the winds kick up. Be careful if you are a fisherman, know where you are and how quick you can get back to shore.

All of the camping site spurs are deep enough to fit a large rig and a tow vehicle. The spurs are mostly gravel but the main roads are all black top pavement.

Each clean neat campsite has a fire ring and picnic table and a post with a bracket to hang a lantern. 

If you read the post before this one, it's our actual weekend camping post of being there with friends:  2022/05/finding-bigfoot-with-bill-and-janet.html  

All in all, Little Bay De Noc Campground in the Hiawatha National Forest is a beautiful place to go camping if you appreciate peace and quiet, rustic settings, and a great value for the dollar.

Another Day of Heaven at My Favorite Campsite Of All My Life

Waking up again in this place gives me a sense of calmness... serenity... peace.  I smile inside as soon as I wake up.  I remember that I am here and give a big sigh.

Now that we have been here a few days, I don't even care about travelling any further. I can go home now and my vacation is complete.  And I know I will be back! Rattlesnake Point at Elephant Butte State Park in New Mexico.

Steve was talking about moving on and exploring City of Rocks SP and Silver City. And I was trying to come up with more excuses to stay here!   Lo and behold, we got an email from fellow RVers Merikay and Craig.... Their blog is:http://merika-merika.blogspot.com  they are coming to Elephant Butte and want to stay by us for a few days!!! YAYAYAYAAAAAA

My blog from meeting Merikay and Craig

Sooo that means we get to stay around this park longer now!   We will move today from our lovely boondocking spot on the beach and head up to the campgrounds. We will find two electric sites next to each other so they can pull in next to us this afternoon.  Since it is Sunday, there should be a lot of sites to choose from.  The park is about 2/3 full we noticed on our ride around, so moving should not be a problem.

After breakfast, we hopped in the Tracker with the dogs and water, and headed out to explore the areas around the dam and up the other side of the lake.  The views were incredible, as long as I could get Steveio to stop so I could take a pic!  He is Mr. Zoom Zoom Zoom gotta see what is around the next corner.  ARGGHHHH

It is worth it to stop and see a view like this for a few minutes...

There are a few different marinas hidden in the coves and bays around the reservoir. Each one looks well-stocked and used a lot.  Around the towns of Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte are many, many boat storage places too.  I can imagine in the summer months, this place is packed with people seeking relief from the heat and going out in the lake in their boats.

The weatherman said it was going to be a cloudy day today. Hmmmm I guess the fine wisps of white stuff make it a "cloudy day"?   We sure don't mind.  It was gorgeous and the temps in the mid 70's.  Tshirts and capris for me.

As we drove up the road along the west side of the reservoir to check out South Monticello Campground we saw a roadrunner dash across the road in front of us!   Lacking any "Acme Bird Seed" or a Wile E. Coyote to help us catch him, he disappeared in the bush.  I mentioned on FB  that  I just saw my first roadrunner of the trip, and will make it my life's mission to photograph one before we go home.  HAHA I got a lot of advice on how to catch one.  On the return route on the same road, I think in the same spot, we saw one again!!!  Perhaps the same one????  And yes, I had the camera ready and got 5 photos of him up on the side of the road!!!!  See?

 Mission Complete.

We arrived back at the motorhome in time to take an afternoon nap.  Ohhh the clouds snuck in while we were sleeping.  We woke up to the sounds of someone stuck out in the sand. Not staying on the packed gravel in this area is a real NO NO.  We have seen a lot of idiots trying to prove their manhood or horsepower by plowing into the sandy areas here on this point and getting stuck.  We watch with delight while all the young dudes have to get out and push or flag down some other big truck to pull them out. 

But in this case, it was different. One look in our binoculars told us that they needed our help. This elderly gent and his wife were trying their hardest to get out.  Steve grabbed our tow strap and went over in our little Tracker to help them out.  Popped the Tracker in 4 wheel drive mode and he was able to get them out.  They were sooo thankful and saved them a wrecker call. 

(p.s. the wife TOLD him to not drive there)  

We are amused by the littlest things, I tell you.  It's so dry and such low humidity here that we are getting a lot of static.  Remember when I bathed the dogs the day before? Well, a good brushing out is always needed.  We laughed and laughed at the static electricity on their fur... look at how it sticks out!!  They were walking around like little porcupine butts~~~

 But Handsome Finnegan and Princess Binney don't seem to mind. 

Yes, the littlest things amuse us... 

We were playing with our shadows on the beach,

and decided we really were an alien invading the world! 

An easy supper salad was whipped together with tortilla strip chips as a base, them taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese on top.. and guacamole for me!  Steve hates the stuff.  But that's okay, the more for me.  Been finding ripe avocados here for 50 cents each and loving it.

We enjoyed another amazing sunset here in the park from the lawnchairs as we sit out and relax... after a day of doing not much of anything.  Well, I did knit a sock.  That was about it.

The clouds hung around and they are saying the winds might kick up Sunday afteroon.  We saw the sun setting in the west and it reflects against these rocky hills and cliffs on the eastern shore of the lake. Totally untouched pics, that is the color and that is the sky.... amazing tones!

Here is the Painted Sky of the Desert shot....  looking like everything I have ever dreamed of in a sunset.  The pinks, the purples, the blues, even highlights of golden oranges ... down to deep fuchsias and rich rosy glows....