Ausable River Camping

little trees available for hammocks and clothing lines, great swimming/wading area my kids loved it beware of some leeches. tons of posionivy surrounding the area to be expected. beautiful view of the river great campsite!

Great spot right on the water. Very quiet and clean site. Will become a regular spot through summer.

Au Sable River camping is the best, we come every year!

We had a great experience when we stopped into Lumberman's monument for river information. We were disappointed because we would have booked a 2nd site but they were all booked even thought no one was on the 2 sites next to and across from us the entire time we were there.

Beautiful campsite. Felt very tucked-away and private, and the stairway/ramp down to the water was so helpful for launching our kayaks! Could hear cars from the road a tiny bit from time to time, but very distant and quiet. Overall it was a serene and peaceful site, we loved it!

We went on a weekday, and it was soooo beautiful and quiet. But when the weekend came, we could hear music and laughter from the campsites 1/4 mile away! Lots of poison ivy; be aware. Pretty easy to get down to the river, about a 4-foot slope with some rocks to step on. The people before us left us a 1/4 cord of split lumber and a nice note.

We camped at site 061W, and the site itself is absolutely amazing! It is HUGE—the largest campsite we’ve stayed at yet—and has tons of shade for almost the entire day. The beach area is also really nice, clean, and not mucky, which was a huge plus. Wear water shoes! I did see a shiny lure in the water I couldn’t get to.

The one major warning I would give is: do not underestimate how difficult it is to get your camping gear back to this site. If you follow the designated signs and trail to 061W, you have to go up and down several very steep hills. Getting a loaded wagon down those hills is extremely difficult and really takes at least two people to slowly maneuver it, with one person basically risking being run over by the wagon if it gets away from you.

There is another trail that makes access easier, but using it means cutting directly through three other campsites, which isn’t really appropriate when those sites are occupied.

We were extremely lucky to have a friend camping with us who brought his boat and was able to transport our gear in and out that way. Without the boat, I’m honestly not sure we would have been able to make the camping trip work.

Overall, 061W is an incredible site once you’re there—huge, shady, and with a great beach area—but be prepared for a serious challenge getting your gear in and out. If you have access to a boat, I would highly recommend using it.

This is great campsite and It's pleasant

Didn't end up staying at 35C due to someone having dumped large amounts of food everywhere and a huge number of flies at the food. I assume this would also attract bears. So we found a different site and hoped nobody had reserved it.

97C
Beautiful, panoramic view of Foote Pond. The firepit is set quite a way back from the water so no view while enjoying a fire. I went the weekend following the weekend of July 4th and there was a LOT of toilet paper among the trees including unburied human waste. My recommendation to recreation.gov is to plan clean-ups following big weekends.