Ausable River Camping

The sites we booked between Alcona Dam and Cooke Dam were excellent for a multiday float down the river and across the ponds.
11C was a great spot to stage on Friday night as it was close to Alcona Dam for our start on Saturday.
26C on Loud Pond had plenty of great tent sites for our group to spread out and had pleasant views overlooking the pond.
61W had great river access, plenty of tent spaces and close to parking for our staged cars.

Went in early October and had a lovely time. Weather wasn't too hot and the bugs (which were horrible at this location in earlier summer) weren't bad at all. The campsite was fairly isolated and on a nice spot with the river on two sides. It was really lovely. Only issues were the lack of a grate over the fire pit (looks like most campsites have a grate, but for some reason ours didn't, which made it difficult to cook) and the sound of gunshots at about 5am one morning. I assume they were hunters. It woke us up at dawn and our dogs, who are afraid of gunshots, were going nuts. But overall really nice trip at a lovely location.

Even in the rain, camping along the AuSable River is one of my greatest pleasures. I always look forward to my next trip.

Great place. Well kept and respected. Will visit again soon.

This site is nice, but the fire ring is in a very exposed location that isn’t the greatest for camping.

Put steps in #50 for fishing. Fantastic place to camp. Staff at the monument went out of their way so we could purchase a lifetime membership.

We had site 3 and 4 and the view was so beautiful. really liked #4 better because it was more private and roomy #3 had the cluster of trees taking up space in the middle so i would recommend cleaning up that site and make it more open.

We had a really great time. The weather was perfect and the campground was quiet.

My wife and I love getting back to our favorite Au Sable dispersed site as often as possible. It's a four-hour drive, but it's always worth it! The site is quiet and peaceful. We love visiting in the fall and seeing all of the changing colors.

The site was nice with ample flat ground and a fire pit. The river is visible through the trees, and the trees surrounding the site provide a wind break. I would have liked the trail between the road and the campsite to be better maintained so the bottom of my car didn't scrape the ground as I entered and exited. The site is fairly remote from other campgrounds, which is great. Unfortunately somebody about a mile away was running very noisy equipment (probably a generator) at night and in the morning, which made it more difficult to enjoy the peace of nature and to sleep.

During the day, we visited the nearby Lumberman's Monument on the other side of the river and hiked 4 miles from there to Iargo Springs and then back. It's a largely beautiful hike, with great overlooks onto the Au Sable River and nice springs to check out.