Platte River Campground — Hotel in Lake Township

First time at Platte River. Arrived just before 12:30 check-in time on a Thursday. Office staff were professional - did not have a sense of humor. They went over all the campground rules. We were in loop 3, right across from the bathrooms. Unfortunately, we were not informed at check-in the showers for our loop were out of order (it appears there are only 2 showers per loop) - the sign on the shower doors had a map to showers located in other loops. Site was very beautiful and spacious - configured differently than most State parks we usually camp at (this one had the picnic table (teathered to the ground) and firepit located way behind the camper/parking pad). MUST purchase your firewood at the park or from an approved vendor (a list was in the campground publication). We took a sunrise hike down the trail to Lake Michigan (1 mile) - nice and level, very beautiful. Saw three deer up close - my kids thought that was cool. Beach was beautiful and seemed almost untouched - sandy, not rocky. Spent one day touring up the Leelanaw peninsula (M-22) - so many interesting places to see - Leland (Fish Town) is a MUST!! Came back to being written up for having a cooler of bottled water outside our camper. Spent the next day kayaking/tubing (using our own equipment) down the nearby Platte River. We put in at the bridge/roadside park by the campground entrance. Was told it would be 1 1/2 to 2 hour trip. That would apply if you were not going on a warm, summer Saturday. The first 30 minutes were awesome! After we passed the point where all the inflatable tubes put in, it was clearly a drunken free-for-all. So much foul language, "party barges" blocking the river, loud music, and rudeness. Definitely not family friendly. If you are looking for a family friendly nature experience, I would suggest going on a weekday (?). Our trip to the mouth of the river at Lake Michigan took us 3 hours and 45 minutes. We had two vehicles, and strategized parking for drop-off and pick-up - however, parking at both ends was severely over-crowded. Might want to take a shuttle? The river was very beautiful, though - we even saw TWO bald eagles hovering over ... breath-taking and awesome! Back to the park, not sure why it was SO difficult to reserve a spot when there were several open spots all weekend. Rain in the forecast may have kept tent campers away. Overall, we like the park, the dunes, nearby attractions, etc. and hope to come back again, but will do several things...

Beautiful campground with campsites that highlight the forest within it. Sites in the RV electric hookups are clean and well maintained. They include a tarmac to park on, and an area to enjoy a campfire. The campground sells wood that is approved for use in the park. Please leave your own wood at home . There’s also room to pitch a tent or screen house. Bath house/washrooms are cleaned twice a day and sprayed for bugs. Showers are clean and hot water plentiful. The building also includes a room to wash dishes for campers in tents or pop-ups. No dumping of grey water on the sites is allowed, or in the restrooms or showers. Water faucets are located throughout every camping ring if extra water is needed. Washing dishes or dumping grey water at the faucet sites is strictly forbidden. Campsites are spaced far enough apart to allow some decorum of privacy and quiet. Park personnel drive each camping ring throughout the day checking empty campsites for any debris left behind by visitors who have checked out. The tarmac is also blown clean of sand etc. Outside the park is a quant store/snack/mini grocery and gas station. Stop by for a ice cream or tasty lunch! Their main business is renting out kayaks, canoes and inflatable’s for the campers and the public to rent for use on the Platte river. You can also bring your own kayak etc and use the Platte River boat launch just inside the park itself. A park passport sticker is required inside the park boat launch area. The river is gentle and offers beautiful views of the forest surrounding it. The ride down the river is about 2 1/2 hours long. Bring sunscreen! About 7 miles north is gorgeous Empire beach voted one out of ten most beautiful beaches in the U.S. by Good Morning America. It offers panoramic views of Sleeping Bear Dunes lakeshore. Further north is beautiful Glen Arbor a must see village of small shops and eateries. Or take a lovely afternoon walk around the town of Frankfort just a short ride to the south of Platte River. There’s so much to see and do in and around Platte River campground! Make a reservation today and come enjoy the beauty and majesty of...

We had a misunderstanding while booking the group site because we had a dog camping with us. They were not accommodating or empathetic in any way. We were 5.5 hours from home. When asked if there was anything we could do, the ranger looked at us with a blank gaze and said " You will have to find and pay for a kennel. We do not offer refunds" When asked "Why are dogs allowed throughout the campground but not on a "group site" the ranger said " I am guessing because of wear and tare on the site? But honestly I don't know." They had us take down our tent and repack all our gear and relocated us to a hike in site. The hike in site (6+7) was 300 yards from the parking lot and the bathrooms. More importantly, these two sites could not accommodate the number of tents we had (they must have known bc they asked the number of tents and their size before moving us). We were fine with moving sites bc we didn't want to break any rules. We had to pack up and leave and pay for a motel. They refunded us the difference in price for the sites from group to s normal site, but refused to refund. We drove past our group site on our way out, it was vacant. This was a horrible experience, we will never stay in this campground nor will our 8 other guests and there families.We are all very active in the camping community and all plan to spread the word about how poorly we were treated at this location. We understand policy, especially to protect the parks! We take accountability that we must have missed the writing on the site that specified group sites are exempt from the campgrounds dogs are allowed policy. We are shocked at how callus and rude the staff was towards us. It was an honest mistake. We paid $50 a night and had no where else to go. This ruined what was supposed to be a lovely trip. We had all had been looking forward to visiting for...