MUNISING TOURIST PARK CAMPGROUND, MUNISING, MI (U.P.)

Our Opinion: Recommend.  Beautiful views on the shoreline of Lake Superior.

Date of Stay: July 31 and August 1, 2010.

Weather During Stay:  Pleasant summer weather, up to 80 degrees one day, overcast the other.  Lows in the 60‘s.

Site Description:  This is a city owned and operated campground, 2 or 3 miles west of the center of Munising.  The 87 sites are a mix of E, E/W, and FHU (16 FHU).  A separate area is set aside as “rustic tent sites”, and they have an overflow area with water and a big new bathhouse.

Twenty-two of the sites are directly on the shore of Lake Superior, adjacent to a sandy beach.  We were in one of the shoreline sites, #77, shaded by tall pines.  Our row of 9 FHU sites have been added since our first visit 7 years ago, along with 7 pull through FHU sites across from us, one row off the beach. 

The sites in our row, 72-80, all are pleasantly long and wide, some with shade, some in the open, and all reasonably level.  The pull-through sites across from us aren’t as long or as level.  The remaining sites, all older and none FHU, are a variety of shapes and lengths.  Each site in our area has a heavy-duty picnic table and a fire ring - I‘m not sure about the others.

Roads are dirt/gravel (with potholes that filled when it rained), and sites are gravel, sand, and grass.  The campground includes two bathhouses (heavily used and sandy when I visited), a dump station, and access to the Lake Superior shoreline and beach. 

Rate: Range from $19 to $30/night (for FHU sites). 

Phone/radio/TV:  Strong Verizon signal.  In site 77, trees blocked our roof-mounted satellite TV, but it would have worked in other sites.  No cable TV.  We didn’t get any stations on our antenna, but other campers had their antennas deployed.  The campground advertises WiFi, but we didn’t use it because Verizon worked so well.   NPR on 90.1.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: This is a flat, grassy, partly shaded campground at 900 ft. elevation on the shoreline of Lake Superior.  The water here is shallow and warm, great for wading and swimming.  Views are of other rigs, trees, the beautiful lake, and nearby Grand Island.   

Lighting/noise:  Located just off the main east/west road through the U.P., there is quite a lot of road noise during the day, less when traffic thins at night.  Thought it was noticeable, it didn’t keep us awake.  Very dark in our section at night.

Favorite Sites:  We wanted FHU while here, and the newer FHU sites along the beach were great.  Next time, we would reserve 75, 74, 73 or 72 - they were more open, so have a better shot at satellite TV.  W/E sites #1 and 2 are very large, with nice privacy in site #1.

Hiking/Walking: The sandy shoreline of Lake Superior is a nice stroll.  For longer hikes, head east to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  The hike to Mosquito Beach is 4 miles round-trip, to a lovely beach with a wonderful limestone shelf for wading/swimming in the lake - truly beautiful.

Comments:  Munising is the “western gateway” to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and this campground is very convenient to town.  Lovely location on Lake Superior.  Boat tours of Pictured Rocks leave from Munising, as do the glass-bottomed boat “shipwreck tours”, which we took and enjoyed several years ago.  On the advice of a reader, we had lunch of pasties at Muldoon’s (voted #1 pasties in the U.P, according to their sign) - excellent!