Ludington State Park - Michigan

Ludington was our first time visiting a Michigan State Park. The entrance was our first clue that this park was different from any other state park we had visited. There were four or five dump stations parallel to each other heading into the park. These had drinking water hoses so that you could top off your fresh water tanks before heading to your campsite. We followed our other camper's leads and filled Rosie's, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, fresh water tanks while draining her grey and black water tanks.

The sign entering the park

Topping off Rosie's fresh water tanks as we enter the park

It was a good thing we took care of Rosie's tank because Ludington's sites are electric only. You need to bring in all the water you intend to use because there are no water connections at each campsite.
We learned from talking to other campers that Michigan isn't the only state offering electric only sites. Several other "northern" states do the same. Maybe it is too hard to protect water spigots from the brutal cold northern winters.

There are multiple camping loops in this park. We reserved a site in the Pines area, which is closest to the shoreline. A 30 foot high dune separated Rosie from Lake Michigan.

The Pines Camping Area

The downside to the Pines loop is that we couldn't see any reliable voice or data service from AT&T. We noticed that the Beachwood camping area had a good 4G signal on our iPhones.

The tradeoff may be TV. We were able to watch TV signals from Green Bay and Milwaukee from the other side of the lake. I don't know if those signals were able to make it inland to the Beachwood and Cedar camping loops.

Looking at Rosie from the dune behind our camping site.

Lake Michigan as seen from the dune behind Rosie

It appeared to me that the Pines camping area had more shade than the others. Of course, that also means more things will fall from the trees onto your camper during rain or wind storms. Yes, it did rain while we were in this park and yes, we heard every acorn that fell onto Rosie.

There are some great biking and hiking trails in this park. One of the popular trails leads to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse. This was a great destination while riding our bikes. We had a flat one day about halfway to the lighthouse. I walked the bike back to Rosie and successfully changed the tire's inner tube.

The path to the lighthouse

The lighthouse

The stairs leading to the top of the lighthouse

Becky on the top platform at Ludington's lighthouse

The view from the top of the lighthouse

We also enjoyed seeing some different types of trees than what we normally see in the south while camping at Ludington State Park. We were probably there no more than three weeks before the fall colors started showing up in the trees.

Here are some specifics about this park:

• Our site had 20 and 30 amp electrical service. Some sites near us had 20 and 50 amp service. You need to check on the power available at a site before reserving it.
• Our site did not have a water connection. You need to bring in a full fresh water tank to your site.
• There are a couple of fresh water taps in each camping loop. These allow campers to refill small water containers.
• Our site did not have a sewer connection. There are dump pads next to most restrooms allowing you to empty your sewage totes.
• We had no service from AT&T at our campsite. We discovered that the other camping loops had better voice and data service.
• Our site was dirt and not level. The soft dirt guaranteed that our leveler would sink into the ground and our unlevel status would only get worse during our stay.
• The left-to-right lean wasn't our only problem. There was a strong front-to-rear slant. This made hitching up our Hensley type hitch an hour-long nightmare instead of our normal five minute deal.
• It rained while we were camping here and that turned our dirt camping pad into a muddy mess.
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC most of the time. NBC from Green Bay would drift out for a minute or two then fade back in for a while.
• The restrooms and showers were well maintained.
• This was a pet friendly park.

We really enjoyed camping in this park and we look forward to returning there one day.

One of the trails in Ludington State Park

We found Lost Lake

Lost Lake trail

Steve and Suzy in Ludington State Park

A small lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan

In Ludington, Michigan

We found a place serving ice cream in Ludington

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Becky and Suzy in front of the dunes

Art in the park

Pen and Ink drawing by Becky

Becky was able to visit with her cousin in Michigan