Family Adventures Outdoors

Overview Lake Hudson Recreation Area is a semi-modern and fairly bare-bones 2800 acre state park that sits just north of the Ohio/Michigan border about an hour west of Toledo. There is a single campground with about 50 sites. The park also has a boat launch and day use area, which has a rentable pavilion. The main attractions here are fishing and hunting. However, the park has also been designated a dark sky preserve due to its location and lack of…

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Overview Newaygo State Park sits between Grand Rapids and Big Rapids in the Huron-Manistee National Forest area. This park is around 250 acres on the south side of Hardy Dam Pond, and is easy to gloss over when scanning through the extensive Michigan park system. However, this is my second stay here (first with the full family), and I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up back here again. The park is fairly no-frills. I was actually surprised how divisive…

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Overview Murray Lake is in the Brighton State Rec Area, which sits about a half hour outside of Ann Arbor and is a short trip off either US 23 or 96 depending on your route. The park includes camping as well as a day use area. Most regular campers develop a default or “fall-back” campground close to where they live. Campgrounds at this park have tended to be that for me, and now, my family. I’ve lost track of how…

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Overview If you take I-96 west past Grand Rapids until the interstate ends and then keep going until you hit the water, you’ll find Muskegon State Park. This park is about 1200 acres nestled between Lake Muskegon and Lake Michigan. One of many Michigan parks boasting dunes and the usual summer fun. This is also home to numerous winter activities including the Muskegon Luge Adventure Sports Park. There are two main campground areas. One near the shore of lake Michigan,…

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For many of you searching for articles on rustic camping, I likely don’t need to convince you that camping is a positive. I might not even need to convince you that it’s a wonderful thing to do with the family. I know I always felt this way. In fact, the first camping trip my wife and I did as parents was rustic camping with our first born as an infant. In cloth diapers no less! That said, when confronted with…

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