Ausable River Camping

Large site. One of the best sites i've been to next to the AuSable!

Great campsite! Its at the very end of the road and it takes a moment to get to but it sure was worth it. Its very distant from other sites (except site 79 which was a few hundred feet away on a foot path) which is nice for privacy and just being with nature. It has a nice view of the river but pretty limited access to it. The hill down to it is very steep and easy enough to climb for the sure-footed, but not a viable option for water access if thats what you're looking for. But even so, it’s definitely worth the price, if I remember correctly it was around $10 per night, which is pretty darn good. Id certainly recommend this site to the next person. The reason I gave 4 instead of 5 stars is because we found we simply didn’t have a whole lot to do, there isn’t a whole lot of trail options close by but Oscoda is about 20 minutes away. On top of that theres no service, so I’d recommend downloading anything you’d like to listen to or watch before you get close to the site. An audiobook would be a good idea if you were interested in that sorta thing.

I think this site is perfect. Isolated except a few boaters during the day. The pennisula is just lovely. Saw plenty of birds, heard a barred owl at night, black crowned night heron at night.

While this is a very nice site with great views, there is a dam about 1 mile away that has 3 high intensity lights on 24 hours a day and they are surprisingly bright. Also, the highway is closer than expected and you can hear engine noise during the quieter time of the day and night. Aside from that it is a great site with wildlife viewing and fishing opportunities. Please pack out what you bring in or at least bury your toilet paper as the area was littered with peoples “litter” and cigarette butts. Please stop putting nails and screws in all the trees and learn to tie a decent knot if you want to hang stuff. These sites are not maintained regularly or possibly at all by staff and we are responsible for the cleanliness of the sites!

The Ausable River sites are my favorite in all of Michigan. Very secluded and close to what my definition of camping means.

Incredible views of the forest and the Ausable River. It's a very brief 'hike' from the parking spot on the dirt road through the woods before you get to the camping area. It was isolated from everyone and, best of all, zero cell phone service (exactly what I wanted). I hesitate to call it a hike as it's completely flat, on a worn path through the woods, and isn't even 1/4 of a mile. But it gets you away from it all and into the woods. It was perfect in every way.

We had beautiful weather, and a clean campsite. We enjoyed watching the swan family on the river.

Very large secluded campsite

The most beautiful spot I've ever camped in.

Love this site, especially when the water is up