Aloha State Park, located on the beautiful Mullet Lake in the northern Lower Peninsula, is the perfect park for boaters.
Before you go, you’ll want to brush up on your pronunciation. If you want to sound like a local, you say Ah-low-ah, not Ah-low-ha. Rumor has it that the gentleman who helped settle the local community thought the lake and surrounding trees looked like the Hawaiian islands, but over time the locals evolved the pronunciation.
Camping and Boating at Aloha State Park
Aloha State Park clocks in at only 172 acres. Most of that space is for the campground but there also is a day-use area and boat launch.
The modern campground has 282 sites, some with 50-amp service. The entire campground could be classified as an open field divided into loops. There is little to no shade and the campsites are pretty packed together. The campground does offer a handful of eyebrow/pull-through loops for larger trailers in a separate section.
Due to its proximity to the lake, the water table can get pretty high; some of the campsites have the tendency to flood after heavy rains, so check with a park ranger if you have any questions about a particular site, especially if you’re in a tent.
If you have a boat, the unique feature of Aloha State Park is the Boat Basin that runs through the middle of the campground. Campers can launch their boat into Mullet Lake at the boat launch and then leave it in the protected basin during their stay. A few of the campsites even back up to the basin. A separate parking lot for boat trailers is available in the campground and a fish cleaning station is located there as well.
Mullet Lake is part of the 38-mile long Inland Waterway, a historic water trail connecting lakes and rivers beginning near Petoskey and ending in Lake Huron. The route is popular with both motor and non-motorized watercraft and certain portions can be crowded during peak times.
Other activities at Aloha State Park
If boating isn’t your thing, there are a couple of swimming beaches in the park and a few playground areas with swings, basketball and volleyball courts. If you have a bike, the North Eastern State Trail runs along the edge of the park and connects Cheboygan and Alpena.
Aloha State Park is less than 10 miles south of Cheboygan and 30 minutes from Mackinaw City so you can pop into town and grab some fudge, or even take a day trip to Mackinac Island.
We have plenty more adventures to come, so subscribe to this blog and our YouTube channel. (We have a video about Aloha State Park here.) You can follow us on Instagram, our Facebook page, and Twitter. Plus, you can see our progress as we visit each park on this interactive Google Map. You also can keep track of our activities on social media with the hashtags #hikecampgo and #mistateparks100.
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