Ausable River Camping

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

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

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.

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.

Site 62 W is beautiful and very large - the site easily accommodated our group of two families with children, and it easily could have handled a third extra-large tent. The site is right on the water (with wooden steps going down to a small beach) and has both a large grassy area with sun and plenty of trees and shade. The walk from the parking lot is short - less than one minute. The site next to us (63W) was occupied and we could see that group's tent, but we still had plenty of privacy. The site is just a few minutes from Lumberman's Monument and not too far from Oscoda. We did hear some people having a screaming argument in the parking lot late the evening; this was the second time that we've had middle-of-the night disturbances camping on the Au Sable, but we still love camping here.

One of our favorite sites. Easy access from the parking lot. Very large well shaded site. Perfect for a couple of tents. We hung hammocks right on the waters edge and spent the weekend. Great site to kayak or canoe from can easily put in from the parking lot and paddle around to your site. We like 61 because it's the last site in this group so there is nothing but woods to one side of you and a good 40 feet or more to the site on the other side. We have enjoyed this campground so much each time we have visited we end up booking another trip. We highly suggest exploring other sites while there each one has its own thing that makes it a different experience. Camp at the waters edge camp on a bluff or camp on your own island. Several trails with amazing views. The big banks trail just up from this sites parking is well worth the walk when you find the sand dune make sure you walk up it the view of the bay is awesome especially as the fall colors are setting in. It looks like one of those puzzles with all the colors of the trees reflecting in the water

So Beautiful and peaceful!!

Beautiful and peaceful, just what we needed.

Awesome spot

One of my favorite camping spot! Too bad previous campers forget to take their fresh with them or believe that can and other peices of trash will decay in a day.