Sleeper State Park — Attraction in Lake Township

When: June 8th thru June 12 (2015) Where: Sleeper State Park Campground, Site #84 What: 32' Motorhome

We probably won't return to Sleeper State Park. Despite the great location near the lake, the campground is quite underwhelming. It's a nicely wooded lot and the sites have electric (50/30/20), a picnic table, and a 48” fire pit – but water and sewer are available only at the communal stations.

Unfortunately, we ran into trouble almost right away. We have family in the Caseville area, and some of them joined us to check-out our new coach and help us get backed-in and setup. The sites are pretty tight for maneuvering larger rigs, but luckily the site in front of us was unoccupied. Come to think of it – almost all the sites were unoccupied. The campground was practically deserted – perhaps a half dozen other campers were scattered out there with us (this is a 226 site campground). So we were particularly shocked when Ranger Ridiculous wasted no time in roaring-up in his UTV to admonish us for too many vehicles on the camp site. Really?

There wasn't another camper or vehicle within 100 yards of us. Whether we had one car or twenty cars wouldn't have mattered (at least not for that next half-hour or so). My blood started to boil a little as he spouted his practiced recitation of the rules and began to act like he was writing down the license plates of the offending vehicles. I drew a breath to tell him what a silly little automaton he was being … but then I thought better of it. This was just the kind of guy who would revel in an “incident” for his weekly enforcement report. So I holstered my tongue and our family members left the park. I read the reviews before booking this site. Other SSP reviews had specifically mentioned the overzealous rangering. To be honest, I thought they were exaggerating. They weren't. Be prepared to contend with Ranger Ridiculous if you come to Sleeper State Park.

Maybe on a different day the experience would have been different. But it's hard to shake a bad first impression – so I think we'll just go someplace...

Cons: Upon arrival our picnic table was super filthy. The same with the fire pit being maintained for newcomers, the tables should be wiped. We quickly noticed that our site was lined with poison ivy. The sites are not set up well. We noticed on many sites the fire pit is located right on the line with your neighbors so you can’t position chairs fully around the fire pit without some chairs being on your neighbors site. They close the bathrooms for cleaning from 8-10 pm which is probably the most inconvenient time to do so. It’s not closed that entire time but still, they should have someone continuously check but do the actual cleaning after the morning rush. The most annoying part was the infestation of gypsy moth caterpillars. OMG it totally ruined the experience for us. It was impossible to relax because these things were constantly falling all over us and climbing on our chairs, shoes and legs. It literally sounded like it was raining at night, but was actually an alarming amount of poop falling from the trees. They were all over everything which made our tear down process super tedious because we didn’t want to transport any back home. The campground should treat the area for these because they are super invasive. We still found 10-15 when we got home as we were going through our camping things. There were easily THOUSANDS of caterpillars. I know it’s a time a year thing so the caterpillar problem probably only applies to early June.

Pros: The beach across the beach was nice and the showers were not the best but not the worst either! Although, I didn’t go to the newer side, I heard the bathrooms/showers we more modern there.

Probably my least enjoyable Camping experiences ever here mainly due to the infestation of moth caterpillars. Actually definitely my...

Our stay at Sleeper State Park was absolutely amazing. From the moment we arrived, the check-in process was smooth and friendly, and we were thrilled with our campsite location—right in front of the playground. It was the perfect spot for our family, surrounded by tall trees and nature all around.

The trails here are beautiful and well-marked. We explored both the Deer Trail (about 2 miles) and the Candlestick Trail, which offered gorgeous scenery and peaceful walks. There was also a shorter trail decorated for Halloween, and our kids had a blast exploring it!

One thing that truly stood out was the bathrooms—they are the cleanest I’ve ever seen at any campground. Our family ended up using them the entire time instead of our onboard Class A motorhome bathroom.

The campground itself feels tucked away in the woods, with plenty of trees and privacy—it doesn’t feel like a typical open campground at all. Just note that the sites have electrical hookups only, so no direct water or sewer hookups.

The beach is just across the road, easily accessible via a walkway that connects the campground to the shoreline. It’s a short, easy walk, and once you’re there, the view is stunning—the sand, the water, and the sunset made it a perfect day.

Every campsite is close to a restroom, and the whole park feels safe, clean, and family-friendly.

We had an unforgettable time here, and I can confidently say Sleeper State Park is one of the best campgrounds in Michigan—a perfect mix of comfort,...