The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has an influx of money. So, it has scheduled numerous campground closures for 2024 and 2025 at state parks and recreation areas. During the closures, they plan on doing everything from routine maintenance to major upgrades.
We spent a year visiting all 103 Michigan state parks, which showed us a number of necessary projects. If you’d like to see our reviews of all Michigan state parks, you can watch them on YouTube at www.youtube.com/trekers. You also can read the complementary blog posts we wrote about them at www.trekers.org. We’re also linking each park below to our blog post about it.
By the way, do you know the difference between a Michigan state park and a state recreation area? State parks are closed to hunting unless posted otherwise, whereas state recreation areas are open to hunting unless posted otherwise.
Here are the closure highlights from the DNR’s Closure List.
- Algonac State Park: Modern campground and day-use area closed spring and summer of 2024. This is to install full-hookup sites and repave roads.
- Aloha State Park: Campsites 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 54 have an “electrical issue.” They are available as semi-modern sites but no generators are allowed. Also, sites 15, 18, and 19 are closed due to “ongoing groundwater issues.”
- Bay City State Park: Modern campground is closed through May 23, 2024, for park entrance enhancements and flooding remediation.
- Belle Isle State Park: Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory is closed for major renovations. The outdoor gardens are scheduled to reopen in spring 2024. The indoor rooms of the conservatory are scheduled to open in summer 2024.
- Brighton State Recreation Area: Bishop Lake Modern Campground will be closed from Aug. 11, 2024, through mid-May 2025 to update electrical and roads. The Horseman’s equestrian campground will be closed from June 1 through Oct. 15 for road repairs.
- Brimley State Park: Modern campground reopening is delayed until May 15 to May 23, 2024, as electrical upgrades are completed. The campground will close again after Labor Day for water line and stormwater system upgrades.
- Cheboygan State Park: Modern campground is temporarily closed and expected to reopen in spring 2024 for upgrades to electrical and water distribution systems.
- Clear Lake State Park: Modern campground will be closed Sept. 4, 2024, through June 15, 2025. This is to update water distribution, as well as toilet and shower buildings, and the dump station.
- Fort Custer Recreation Area: Modern campground is closed through July 31, 2024. This is to replace both toilet and shower buildings, as well as install new electrical conductors, site pedestals, and distribution panels.
- Fort Wilkins Historic State Park: West loop of the modern campground and the mini cabin will be closed from August 2024 through spring 2025. This is to construct a new toilet and shower building.
- Harrisville State Park: Modern campground sites 97, 99, 100, and 102 are closed due to high water damage. The DNR is still evaluating whether they can be repaired.
- Hartwick Pines State Park: Modern campground will close after Labor Day Weekend 2024 to upgrade electrical systems. The reopening date has not yet been announced.
- Indian Lake State Park: Lakefront sites 64, 70, 71, 75, 92, 94, 98, 99, 106, 108, 116, and 117 in the modern campground are closed for the 2024 camping season due to shoreline restoration.
- Interlochen State Park: Day use area and boating access for Duck Lake will be closed for spring and summer 2024. This is to upgrade the park’s water and sewer system, as well as the beach house toilet building. Modern campground north loop will close for the entire 2024 camping season and the south loop will be closed through Labor Day 2024 for this work. Rustic Green Lake Campground will remain open, however, the dump station will be closed.
- Ionia Recreation Area: Modern and equestrian campgrounds will be closed from Sept. 9 through Oct. 31, 2024, to upgrade the toilet and shower building, the dump station, the drainage field, and the electrical system.
- Island Lake Recreation Area: Riverbend, Dodge, Liberty, and Sycamore shelters will be closed through July 2024 for updates to the park’s roads and parking lots. Bluebird and Hickory shelters will be closed for the entire 2024 season.
- Kal-Haven Trail State Park: The trail will be closed between South Haven and Bloomingdale through early summer 2024. This is for pavement resurfacing and bridge replacements.
- Ludington State Park: Entire park is closed from Sept. 23, 2024, through July 1, 2025. This is for road paving, parking lot paving, expanding the Lake Michigan parking lot, expanding warming shelters, and enhancing traffic and pedestrian traffic flow at the park entrance. The east loop of the Cedar Campground is closed through April 19, 2024, for upgrades to the park’s lift station.
- McLain State Park: Campground will be closed starting Aug. 1 and remain closed through 2024 for upgrades to the wastewater treatment system.
- Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area: Modern campground will be closed through late summer 2024. This is to pave roads, replace electrical and water lines/spigots, and make sewer improvements at the camp store.
- Muskallonge State Park: Section 3 of the modern campground is closed through late summer 2024 for replacement of a toilet and shower building.
- Otsego Lake State Park: Campsites 1 through 99 are closed through June 15, 2024. This is to upgrade electrical and septic lines, as well as convert the northern end of the campground to full hookup sites. In addition, sites 1 through 55, the mini cabin, and the shelters will be closed Sept. 3, 2024, through June 15, 2025.
- Pontiac Lake Recreation Area: Modern campground, tiny house, and cottages will be closed Sept. 7, 2024, through April 2025 for updates to the dump station.
- Port Crescent State Park: Modern campground will be closed for the entire 2024 season. This is for new roads, new water and sewer lines, new electrical, new dump station, and more. The beach house is slated to reopen on Memorial Day 2024. The day-use area will remain open in 2024.
- Rifle River Recreation Area: Grousehaven modern campground will be closed from Sept. 2, 2024, through spring 2025. This is to update the day-use road and parking lot, update the day-use building, and upgrade the electric, water, and lift station systems in the modern campground. The day-use building is closed through Jun 15, 2024.
- Sleeper State Park: Modern campground is closed through May 24, 2024. Reservations will not be available until June 23, 2024. This is due to upgrades to the sewer system.
- Tahquamenon Falls State Park: Lower Falls Modern Campground Hemlock Loop will be closed from May 1, 2024, through at least July 1, 2024. The Lower Falls Modern Campground Portage Loop will close on Sept. 6, 2024. No date for reopening has been announced. These closures are for the replacement of the toilet and shower buildings.
- Tawas Point State Park: Modern campground will be closed from Sept. 3, 2024, through April 30, 2025, for electrical upgrades.
- Twin Lakes State Park: The planned work to replace the campground toilet and shower building, update the wastewater treatment system, and pave the park roads has been postponed. Therefore, the previously announced closure also has been canceled and the campground will be open for the 2024 camping season.
- Waterloo State Recreation Area: Sugarloaf and Portage Lake campgrounds will be closed from April 1, 2024, through May 31, 2024. This is to resurface playgrounds, replace the fishing pier, and update the water system.
- Wells State Park: Modern campground sites 1 through 51 will be closed for the 2024 camping season due to shoreline restoration work.
- Wilderness State Park: Pines Campground (sites 501 through 599) will not open until May 15 to May 22, 2024 due to construction delays. All other campsites will open on May 15.
- Yankee Springs Recreation Area: Gun Lake Campground, beach house, and picnic shelters will be closed for the 2024 camping season. This is to update electrical, roads, fishing pier and sewer system.
- Young State Park: Modern campground (Spruce) is closed until late summer 2024. This is to replace both toilet and shower buildings, as well as fix drainage issues, pave roads, and replace sewer pumps and wells.
Two other closures of note are at Seven Lakes and Pontiac Lake recreation areas. The dump stations are closed to noncampers indefinitely due to potential capacity issues. Even for campers at those parks, if you don’t have your receipt, you may be assessed a $10 dumping fee.