Rifle River Recreation Area: Our Stay at the Spruce Campground

Rifle River Recreation Area: Our Stay at the Spruce Campground

Overview

The Rifle River Recreation Area occupies about 4500 acres just east of Rose city along its namesake river. This waterway itself obviously offers canoeing, kayaking, and tubing opportunities, but there are at least 10 other bodies of water within the park. This makes for an ideal fishing location and some nice swimming. There are numerous camping and lodging opportunities. This includes 80 sites at the modern Grousehaven campground, nearly 60 rustic sites at Devoe Lake, another two dozen at the rustic Ranch campground, and finally 16 sites at Spruce rustic. In addition to these camping opportunities there are also five private rustic cabins available as well as a group campground.

Our Most Recent Stay

There is far too much here for one visit or one post. My family has been up twice in as many years and we’re planning a trip for next summer as well. This year we decided to try out the small Spruce rustic campground, which sits near the end of the road so to speak, at the southern part of the park. We set up at site 181 this trip. It was one of only a few sites left when we decided on the trip on fairly short notice. I was a little unsure about booking it since it sits on the corner at the entrance to the campground. This can be a bit of a traffic/privacy issue, but this was not the case here. The site was large by rustic standards and surrounded by a fairly wide section of woods separating it from the entrance and from the neighboring site.

Camp site set up at Spruce Rustic in Rifle River Recreation Area, surrounded on all sides by trees
Surprisingly Secluded for a Corner Site

We thought one advantage to the location was convenient access to water from the pump across from the site. Unfortunately this ended up not working out. The pump was waiting on repair due to a broken seal at ground level. Water did come up, but with the lack of good pressure to run smoothly it was a bit brown even for my taste. We ended up making stops at the neighboring Ranch campground to use the pump there to fill up any time we left the site.

Our first morning we set out fishing. We remembered having a good experience at the Grebe Lake fishing pier so decided to start with what we knew. It did not disappoint. The weather was perfect and the conditions were just right for a display of morning mist on hanging over the water.

Early Morning Mist Over Grebe Lake in Rifle River Recreation Area
Mist on the Water of Grebe Lake Fishing Pier

This is a beautiful and peaceful location with the advantage of also having enough small fish seemingly eager to be caught to keep three small boys content.

Next up was swimming. There are beach areas at both Devoe and Grousehaven campgrounds as well as the day-use picnic area. We chose Devoe Lake beach since it was closer to Spruce and seemed like it would be the least crowded of the three.

The three boys swimming in Devoe Lake at Riffle River Recreation Area
Swimming at Devoe Lake

The boys had a blast as usual, and we even spotted what looked to be a bald eagle at the top of one of the trees across the lake.

Adjacent to the beach is a small boat launch area for canoes and the like. Devoe Lake campground is also rustic. It’s larger and a bit busier than Ranch and Spruce, but there’s still a nice northern vibe and the proximity to the beach, launch, and a playground area make this another good option.

On our way back to camp we took a closer look at an empty field between Ranch and Spruce campgrounds. There was a sign posted for “No Target Shooting” and “No Off Road Vehicles” but nothing that actually said what the area was designed for. Only one thing came to mind to me though, which was stargazing. After dark the whole family made the brief trip back out here to take in an incredible night sky from the middle of the field.

Our next day we decided to tour the park a bit. Our original goal was to see if there were any fishing piers other than the one we used the previous day. Now, I’m fully aware this is something that you could just ask about, but that takes the exploration factor out of it.

Observation tower on the site of Jewett Lodge in Rifle River Recreation Area
The Observation Tower Between Lodge and Grebe Lakes

During our trip along Ridge Road, we stopped at the observation tower between Lodge and Grebe lakes. This sits at the former location of Jewett Lodge, the summer home of the private owner of the park before it was sold to the park system in 1945. It offers some pretty good views of the surrounding lakes, and I have to imagine this would really be something in the fall when the colors come in.

We didn’t end up finding a second fishing location, but we did decide that next time out we will definitely need to bring a canoe to check out some of the small lakes better. Possibly even stay at the Scaup Lake cabin, which looks to have that little lake all to itself.

The three boys standing on the shore of Jewett Lake in the morning at Riffle River Recreation Area
The Shore of Jewett Lake

Then it was on to checking out the trails. There are almost 15 miles total of hike/bike trails of varying degrees of difficulty across the park. We started with the one mile trail section that connected our campground with Lost Lake. This was a nice low difficulty hike and the leg of the trail we took dead ends at the small lake’s marshy shore. This area is actually one of the nature sanctuaries set up by the Michigan Nature Association

A view of Lost Lake in Rifle River Recreation Area
Seems Like Half the Places I go Have a “Lost Lake” 🙂

We also ventured down to the southern tip of the trail system to checkout the swinging bridge that was mentioned on several of the trail markers. One of my boys thought it said “singing” bridge and at that point we just had to check it out.

Family walking across the swinging bridge over Rifle River
Crossing the Swinging Bridge

This is a suspension foot bridge that goes over the rifle river and although it doesn’t sing, it definitely swings. Obviously it is completely safe, but I fully admit that with the five of walking across and getting it good and moving, it gave a little bit of a thrill.

The last trail we stopped in for was the Pintail Pond Trail. This is a very nice little nature trail with numerous signs and seating areas. It comes in at less than a mile and offers some beautiful boardwalk areas.

Site Info

All of the sites around the outside of the loop at Spruce were fairly similar to ours. They’re well wooded and have a decent level of separation from their neighbors. Site 169 is one slight exception. This is close to the river access point, so it’s a touch more open, and you might have some additional traffic of people heading past you to pop down to the shore. The three sites in the middle of the loop (166, 175, and 176) could be a good option for a multi-party group. They’re slightly more connected than other adjacent sites, but still separate enough that knowing your neighbor certainly isn’t a requirement.

Although we didn’t stay there, I will also mention a bit about the nearby Ranch campground. We went around the loop here multiple times to fill up on water. Pretty much across the board the sites here are rather open when compared to Spruce. You’re by no means in a field and there are tree lines in most cases, but it definitely feels far less out in the woods.

Between the two campgrounds I definitely recommend Spruce for a more secluded feel. However, Ranch is a good backup option. Ranch also has the advantage of an actual boat launch area onto the river, and the more open sites are better suited if you have a larger trailer or RV.

Wrap Up

Mother and son enjoying the lake with trees reflected in the still water
Enjoying the Calm of the Water

Overall, River River State Recreation Area might be on its way to becoming one of my family’s go-to options when looking for north, but not too much of a drive north, camping. Given the large number of sites, there is usually something available even if you’re planning only a couple weeks out. We did that this time around and still got this site on a weekend in August. There’s some luck there, but it’s still nice to have so many rustic options to choose from.

The park as a whole has a ton to offer. Obviously, bring a boat/canoe/kayak if you have one, since the large number of water options make it ideal for fishing or just hanging out on the water. If you don’t, there are obviously rental options if you want to cruise the river, but we went without either this time around and still had a full long weekend. Great trails, great night skies, and great fishing fun. We’ll more than likely be back again next summer.

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