Ausable River Camping

Very peaceful camp, couldn’t barely hear the neighbors down the road (quite a bit down the road, barely any drive by), and it was a perfect campsite. Little messy from previous campers but we cleaned it up before we left. Highly recommend and will definitely return to any of the sites on this strip in the future. About a ~100 yard walk down a hill through the woods to a perfect riverside relax site along the water. We chilled there for a while and skipped rocks before going back to make dinner. Highly recommend this site!

The big island is the best campsite on the river probably the best one in Michigan. That’s the way I feel, but there are people who do not respect the island. When I arrived there on August 4 th I was very disappointed with the people who had just left. I’m sure it was the kids that were there that left behind the cellophane wrappers from juice boxes. I pick up almost 20 from one end of the site to the other. Come on parents those poor kids may never learn how to respect nature!! And the adult that was too lazy to dig a cat hole and left a large pile of poop on the base of a tree just steps from the campsite. NICE JOB! I am sure that came from the group that had just left because the friendly raccoons that visit each night couldn’t find any thing at my camp cleaned up the pile of crap. Oh yeah one more thing whoever thinks that the campers that follow you likes the look of thousands of pistachios shells everywhere you are wrong so wrong they are too small to rake up so you just have to walk through them. You should be banned from camping. Try a wastebasket or the fire pit. I hope you are lucky enough to get the chance to visit next year an see what all the others that do not trash the place have to look at the whole time they are there. Another great job from someone who has no respect for nature and the great number of people who share that island and do respect it!!

Sorry to be so harsh on a few people because most of you islanders do love and respect that small place of paradise.

Love this site, especially when the water is up

Love this site, especially when the water is up

Love this site, especially when the water is up

The most beautiful spot I've ever camped in.

Very large secluded campsite

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

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.

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!