Ausable River Camping

Site 86C is a large site, with great shade and easy access to the water. Rented a pontoon from Old Orchard Park campground which allowed us more flexibility on getting gear to site, as well as a fishing and entertainment platform.

It’s a beautiful site. Unfortunately, the poison ivy has taken over most of the surrounding area. If not reduced, it risks making the site unusable. We enjoyed the sights & river access but still took home some poison ivy spots.

Site 6 has always been awesome. Wonderful view, shade and full sun. Good area for swimming and a very large site. The only drawback is the amount of poison ivy on the site....I come home with poison ivy every year!

We camped for 2 days at site 082. The ground is spacious, clean, enough trees and bushes around to position your tent. The view is simply gorgeous! The site is on top though. To get to the river, if you'd like fishing or swimming, you will have to go down very steep slope, and the hardest part, of course, is getting back up! but it's a great workout )) the slopes are covered with fine white sand. The whole experience was great!

Site 70 was good other than the steep long walk to the water and back up. Definitely not for the unfit like myself but the kids did fine.

Although this isn't a waterfront site, there was a well taken care of path from the site along the shoreline. The site itself was great and quite private. It has a good flat spot with tree coverage for a tent. We had a thunder and lightning storm while here and everything was good. No flooding at all. The shore doesn't have a beach, but there are a few spots where you can get in the water to swim or just walk a bit. The boat launch is within walking distance as well. The only problem I've noticed in the past couple of years are the gypsy moth caterpillars. The entire forest seems overtaken by them. This particular site has the same problem. Be sure to wear a hat. It's mid-june and the ticks weren't too bad if you stay out of the brush deeper into the forest.

We couldn't find the site because there was no clear indication of where we should go. I was pretty sad because we were looking forward to it. Once we finally got someplace where we had service to look again where we should have went, it was too far away to turn around. Hopefully signs to show where to go could be added so you know where you need to go when u don't have service. 😔

Amazing site on the island! True nature with amazing views. More catipillars that you can count though. The kayak ride in offers some of the best views I've ever seen in Michigan. Cannot wait to make this a yearly tradition.

Beautiful site, we really enjoyed our stay. The fire ring and grill were missing, so make sure to bring something to cook on. You can take a short walk out to the point for a beautiful view. Lots of friendly chipmunks around. Parking is kind of tight around all the trees. I found it helpful to put up lights around the parking area if you will be having visitors who are leaving at night. My favorite part is early morning campfires making coffee by the river. Enjoy.

Beautiful, secluded and semi private camping is always great.
My only gripe with the river right now is the surface pooping and the lack of respect for other users.
Our camp site and the 3 others we stopped to look at were littered with several piles of crap and toilet paper. One site was so bad you would have o clean it up to pitch a tent..
Every beaching area, every river camp site, every single beautiful bluff overlook that we have found in the last 20 ears is now over flowing with toilet and tissue paper. What was once a nice anchor area for a day picnic or a short hike through the woods is littered with surface poopers refuse and feminine hygiene products. Pigs!!
I would like small signs on the simple fiberglass posts saying no surface pooping or "Pack It Out"!
From our experience and what we are seeing is that the girls are far worse than the men.
Maybe put a sign up telling of the fine for littering and actually give out a few fines. You could put out the dog poop bag dispensers at specific woodland sites for the pigs..