Lake Gogebic State Park — Attraction in Marenisco Township

My family recently camped at Lake Gogebic State Park. We had followed the firewood guidelines found in our campground registration paperwork, the Lake Gogebic 2019 brochure and on the DNR website; bringing in a mix of firewood sourced nearby. Upon entering the park, the student worker inspected our firewood and took some of it over to the Park Ranger. The Park Ranger then asked for my husband’s driver’s license which my husband gladly gave to him (at that point having no idea why he was asking). A few minutes later he issued us a Civil Infraction for bringing ash firewood into the park. When I showed him our camping registration paperwork (which DOES NOT state anything about bringing ask into the park) he stated that there was a sign by the road. I have included this picture to help educate other campers. Arriving at 7pm at night and pulling a camper, I was simply trying to navigate entry into this park and was not trying to read all of the signs they have posted by the road. But that is the ONLY notice you will find about this rule. Your camping paperwork, the Lake Gogebic State Park 2019 brochure and the Lake Gogebic DNR website will make NO mention of this rule. In addition, when we appealed to the Park Ranger that had we simply known about the rule, we never would have violated it, he replied to us in a condescending tone that the fine "couldn't be much" and that the "court would decide the fee". Well, $190 is a lot of money to my family and to other Upper Peninsula families that choose camping as a low cost family vacation. Since we received the civil infraction late on a Friday night, we had to wait until Monday morning to call the court. We called shortly after they opened and offered to come in that day and explain our side of the story. The nice lady told us that we had called within the 10 day window (which it says to do on the ticket) and encouraged us to write a letter explaining our side. So we waited until we got back from our trip, wrote our letter and included pictures of the Firewood section in our camping paperwork that did not state anything about the Ash violation and sent it in very hopeful. We were so disappointed to receive a response from the Magistrate saying that since they didn't receive our letter within the 10 days (which also is NOT stated anywhere), they wouldn't accept our explanation and we had 30 days to pay the $190 fine. I called the Magistrate directly to ask where on the ticket is says that the letter needed to be submitted in 10 days. She admitted that it does not say that on the ticket but that it is "common practice" and I should have been told that when I called the Court (which I was not). I am not familiar with “common practice” at the court house and I doubt many other Upper Peninsula families are either. I tell you all of this to help warn other families that this campground and local court system has taken it upon themselves to post rules on signs / have “common practice” rules that can override any information you have in your campground registration documentation, their printed brochures, their websites and even on the tickets themselves. I am truly perplexed why they don't want to inform Upper Peninsula families about these rules. We are good people and will follow the rules… we just need to know them! It definitely left me with a very shady impression of what is going on there and I would urge you to save your hard earned money and stay somewhere else. This fine was a significant hit to my family and we will never return to this campground or County. I would suggest you...

Just got back into camping this summer and have camped 6 different campgrounds thus far. I hate to sling dirt however this park by far is the worst. Granted it was a busy 4th of July weekend. The bathrooms were disgusting men's and women's alike. The young staff were quite pleasant and always waved/smiled. The camp hosts were very pleasant. The "Ranger" on duty for this particular park needs a repremand. He is quite unpleasant. I myself had a negative interaction with him over a very trivial issue. I overheard neighboring campers also talk about negative interactions. I even heard children compare him to Paul Bart mall cop. I had a friend interested in camping here and wanted to just drive thru, the Ranger would not allow him to without first purchasing a day pass. Rediculous!! It's a shame to have such a beautiful location diminished by one bad apple. The state Michigan is overall a poor, mislead state and when a specific area like Lake Gogebic which almost entirely thrives off tourism alone, you need some slack for your paying customers. Absolute shame. I strongly recommend camping at the Gogebic or Ontonogan county parks over the Lake Gogebic State Park. This park could really learn something from Fayette State Park. 2 stars only because of the support staff...

Stayed here over labor day 2024 with friends. Shared spot #1 and had 2 tents on site and even with 2 tents we still had lots of room and didn't feel crowded at all!! The distance of the lake from the campsite was unbeatable!! Falling asleep listening to the waves was absolutely perfect!! We tent camp at a lot of state parks across Wisconsin & Minnesota, this was our first time at one in Michigan. The park itself was small, more like a camping spot than a state park, but it still offered a great swimming beach and the bathrooms were clean and spacious. I heard the showers were nice too. My only negatives was that the road was very close to the camping, so you will definitely hear cars driving by. Also the bathrooms ran out of toilet paper so we had to run and buy some at Walmart (by the time we got back they had restocked it, but it was out for over half a day).

Just be aware that the fire rings do not have grates on them.... We ended up buying one at Walmart also.

Still giving it 5 stars because of the lake! Can...