Hartwick Pines State Park — Attraction in Grayling Charter Township

We decided to drive up to Hartwick Pines for a weekend trip with our 5 year old son. We reserved the rustic cabin (no electricity, water pump is very close by) near Bright Lake. We had a marvelous time! The cabin was clean, beautiful and quiet. (Our only complaint was that it was really dark inside the cabin, even with all of the curtains open in the middle of the day. We had lanterns, which helped a ton!) There were tons of board games in the cabin, which was awesome to have since it rained a bit while we were there. The fire pit is in back and has a really beautiful patio area. We spent all day at the park. My son loved the museum, it was really interactive for kids. He talked about everything he'd learned the whole way home. We walked the old growth trails and bird-watched and then went back to the cabin to relax near the fire pit. If you're ever looking for an extremely relaxing place to go off-grid for a while, I highly recommend the Rustic Cabin at Bright Lake in Hartwick Pines. We will definitely be...

I love this park. The sites are all paved, reasonably level, and are clean and reasonably maintained. There is a museum and historical tours and similar activities as well. There are also a fair amount of trails for walking or biking in the 3 to 8 mile length ranges. Two smaller lakes on site for fishing. They are about 1/4 mile walk from the camping area down a small trail or you can drive a mile or two to get them if using a kayak. They are trout stocked and trout designated lakes however I have only caught a few trout and mostly catch smallies and pan fish. The showers and restrooms at the main building are very clean as compared to other parks. They do have vault toilets which are about what you would expect in the summer. If you get a site in the middle of the park it is more convenient to use the main facilities. I always go for the full hookup sites as it is a large park and the wait at the dump site can get to be a very long wait, especially if you are...

Hartwick Pines is a really nice state park campground! Many of the sites are large, have level asphalt pads, are wooded/full-shade, and are very secluded. Some of the sites are full sun/partial shade but the draw to them is they are pull-through. The showers and bathrooms were always clean and I noticed employees there frequently checking and cleaning them. It was very quiet on the weekend we stayed there even though it was fully booked. The only sound complaint is of the extremely loud, low-flying helicopters going to the air force base nearby. Four or five flew over during the duration of our stay. The only other complaint is that there isn't really a beach area or place to go fishing. Also, the park is very sprawling and expect to drive 5+ minutes to get anywhere inside it. The paved trail through the old growth forest definitely made up for it though! That in itself is...