White Pine Backcountry Campground Permits

Horrible, horrible place full of poison ivy.

Remote set of 6 campsites with a 2 mi hike in. The lake is a 10 minute walk away.

This campground was really nice, quiet, and clean! the hike to get there was beautiful. The mosquitos are bad so be prepared. There also wasn’t any toilet paper so be prepared for that as well!

This is a lovely hike in to the backcountry sites, just long enough to be a workout without being too much. The pit toilet was clean and fully stocked with TP (not always a guarantee), sites were spaced a good distance apart to give some privacy and sound buffer with your neighbors. The beach is about a half mile walk but private and a beautiful place to end the day. The only negative was the number of mosquitoes, but that's not anyone's fault. I'm already planning another trip later this year!

Great place to camp! The hike in was not bad at all. The sites are a little close together but still somewhat private. Great short hike to Lake Michigan off of the site and the beach is not populated at all. Only issue was some noisy neighbors.

My teens and I camped here for our first overnight backpacking trip. The trails were well marked to the campground. The path to the beach was well maintained, and the beach was lovely! The bear lockers were large enough to share for the groups we had in the campground during our stay. The bathroom had plenty of toilet paper.

Mosquitoes weren’t too bad at the campground, but in the lower elevation trails there were clouds of them. Watch out for poison ivy. Check for ticks - we came out of the trails with 2. Also, there must be an airport nearby because we had planes going over quite often, even at 3 am.

Overall, we had a great time, the trails were beautiful, and the campground was perfect for our stay.

We camped about a mile back from the beach and it was so quiet and beautiful~ most ppl camped along the water but it's super windy and also more crowded than I wanted so this was perfect. Not a soul in sight, best ever

White Pines is a wonderful backcountry camping destination! Located conveniently close to Traverse City, and within a half mile walk from the beautiful sandy beach of Lake Michigan, it is equally remote and accessible! Amenities include an outhouse well-stocked with toilet paper, a large bear box, and two fire pits with large sturdy benches located around the pit which includes a grilling grate. There are also benches in each of the six campsites which are all plenty spacious and flat although not really secluded from each other.

The long section of beach is located between Peterson Rd. and Esch Rd. and I’ve never felt crowded by other guests. In fact, at times, I’ve been the only person there - it’s serene!

There are two access trails. I’ve hiked the ~2 mi from Trail’s End Rd. There’s also a shorter ~1 mi hike starting near the beach on Peterson Rd. I’m planning to try this hike on my next visit.

Without forgetting that it is a backcountry experience and the greater comforts of glamping are not expected, it was not ideal. There is very little information about the hike, location, parking, water access, etc. posted online at all. We were prepared enough, and knew what we are getting into being very experienced long distance hikers, but seems easier these days to give some more complete info online. One campsite had a pile of human feces and the smell was awful. The mosquitos made the entire hike to the campsite and the camping unbearable unless we were in the tent. The longish distance to the beach was just far enough, and the beauty of the campsite was mediocre enough where it was not a campground where we would go to again. We left our dog at home as he was not allowed here. Totally understandable for the sake of nature, but our dog sitter was crummy, so returning home to an uncared for dog after a rough camping experience was a bummer...would prefer to take him along somewhere else next time. The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is the best part of this park, but is no where near this end of the park. Connecting it to these campsites down south (like Platte River Campground and the trailhead parking lot to this backcountry site) would be wonderful. I know, I know, that driving to camp is normal for most people I know, and national parks love more cars, but a bike tour near some campgrounds would be wonderful, or some Nordic ski access past the campgrounds would be cool. EXTEND THE SLEEPING BEAR HERITAGE TRAIL - IT ROCKS! I'm going back to DH Day Campground next time. DH Day is pretty, has bike access on the Heritage Trail, dogs are allowed, adjacent to a beach, really no mosquitos that I ever remember, and plenty of good info about it online and in brochures, plus the nearby history is fantastic there. No, I do not recommend camping in the White Pine Backcountry Campground at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

I rated this 5 stars despite several negative things about my trip. This is because none of those things are the “fault” of this venue. This is a backcountry site so as long as you keep that in mind this place is awesome. There’s even a pit toilet in the camp. It’s nasty but you don’t need to dig a cat hole. There are two food lockers and two fire pits. I was really happy to be the only one in camp but there are a total of six campsites so you could be sharing the campground.