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 this was when looking at some of the comments on Google. Including some saying it couldn’t even be considered a state park because it doesn’t have running water.

I think a lot of this negativity comes from not knowing what you’re getting yourself into, so I’ll get a little more info out there by describing our stay at the park. First off, yes, it is completely rustic, meaning only vault toilets and hand pumps. That said, these were some of the nicest vault toilets my family has used. The park has a boat launch, beach, and rather large disc golf course for a park this size. The park also has a trail system that hooks up to a larger local system. A short drive away in Croton is access to the Muskegon River and a North Country Trail trailhead.

Our Most Recent Stay

We made the decision to do an extended weekend adding Sunday night on. I really only did this because I had been here once before with my middle son and knew that there was enough to keep us occupied. Unless you have a boat, on paper it doesn’t necessarily look like the park has a ton to offer. However, if you’re actually camping to enjoy the outdoors, Newaygo has what you need for a long family weekend.

There are two campgrounds, one on either side of the small inlet where the boat launch is located. Poplar tends to be the more popular campground, since it hooks up directly to the boat launch parking lot and is adjacent to a small beach. We stayed at Oak, which is just a short walk away and circled by the disc golf course. 

After arriving and setting up camp the first thing we did was hit the trail that connects to the boat launch, beach, and other campground to checkout the area. The walk is a short one, but because of the terrain it is almost all either up or down hill. There are multiple stairways that are built into the hills that you traverse going down to the boat launch, then back up, then down to the beach, then back up.

If you continue past the beach area you are greeted by one of the many beautiful views of Hardy Pond that you find all along the trail system. This is truly a highlight of this area. Even if you’re not going to tackle any of the longer hikes, just walking out from the campgrounds to the trail takes you to some wonderful overlooks.

Day two was swimming and hiking at Hardy Pond. The swimming area at Newaygo isn’t a large one, but this isn’t a surprise given the size of the park. We had given all three boys new swim goggles this summer and this was the first chance they had to try them out in a lake. With that in mind, the size of the swim area was hardly a concern. After two hours of exploring underwater and playing with new friends it was hard as always to get them to leave.

The second main activity for the day was the one I was excited about. Something new was in the works since my last stay, The Dragon. This is the hike/bike trail that will circle Hardy Pond. It’s named after the shape of the pond, which does somewhat resemble a dragon on a map. When fully completed this will be a 47 mile trek connecting Newaygo State Park to three other camping areas and making the potential of an interesting backpacking trip in the future.

As of summer 2022, about 25 miles were complete. We headed anticlockwise around the lake and went until we ran out of trail. Granted it’s a new system, but it was very well maintained. Do a little research before you go to see if/when this is done and how much is walkable. When we hit the end of the line a pair of mountain bikers also stopped after us, and neither of us were exactly sure if there was a way to connect up to the next complete section. In the end they backtracked, and we headed back to camp.

In my opinion, this will be a pretty cool loop once it’s finished. Aside from the beautiful views of the lake that I keep mentioning, we were also lucky enough to catch sight of a bald eagle coasting over the water alongside the trail. The trail itself had a moderate level of difficulty. There was enough ruggedness to keep it interesting, but my three boys (age range 4-10) managed it with minimal complaining:). My only concern is maintenance. Much of the trail we walked is set on the edge of a hill into the water, erosion will be a big factor. Only time will tell there though.

At the end of day two we settled in by the campfire for some hard boiled egg experimenting. It was the first time the boys had seen the paper cup trick. They were fascinated and decided to see what other ways they could cook an egg over an open fire. The final results often needed to be picked clean of ash and sticks. A surprising percentage were actually edible though. I highly recommend this. As food and entertainment goes, a dozen eggs is crazy low cost and provided a great inventive outlet for the evening. We’ll certainly be doing it again.

Day three was our day out of the park. We took the short drive over to Croton to check out the dam, the Muskegon river, and the North Country Trail. The first stop was the overlook of the old Croton Dam. This hydro-electric plant was built in 1907 and is still in operation. Not a ton to it, but the boys found it cool and it made for a nice photo op.

The real reason we made the drive out this way was for a little fishing on the river. The boys have only just started getting into fishing and this was their first opportunity to wade in and give it a shot standing in the water. As I somewhat expected, we never actually caught anything, but fun was had all around.

This spot is also a popular launch for canoeing/tubing down the river, with multiple rental places nearby.

Our last activity before heading back to camp was doing a quick trip on the NCT. I think we only did about a half mile in and back, but I always like to do at least a little hiking on this trail any time we’re near one of the trailheads. If nothing else it usually spurs thoughts and conversations about long through-hikes in the future:).

On the final evening we decided to make the short walk out to the nearest scenic overlook as the sun set. This felt the perfect way to cap off our trip. 

Site Info

In general not all sites are created equal, however, there isn’t a ton of variety in the style of site at this campground. As I mentioned before, the Poplar campground is more popular, or seems to be. It has been more crowded the times I’ve been here. We stayed at 31, outside the second loop at Oak. This does put you back to back with another campsite, despite what the map looks like. We still felt like we had enough room though, even with that site occupied for our stay. This could actually be a plus if you are looking for more than one site. There is a thin tree line between back-to-back sites, but usually a small trail or clearing connecting them.

The end sites looked to be great options, meaning those at the tip of the loops by the water. This is true in both Poplar (85 and 83) and Oak (37,35, 15, and 13). In particular 37, 83, and 85 put you pretty much right at the trail and scenic overlooks near camp. The downside naturally being that you will have people consistently walk by (if not through:( ) your site.

Overall, I didn’t see any I would necessarily warn against. All seemed to have a decent amount of shade and were private-ish given the style of campground.

Wrap-up

We all thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Yes, it is completely rustic, so if you need to have running water and flush toilets I obviously wouldn’t suggest staying here, which is fine. On the other hand, if you don’t mind a bit of a no-frills outdoor experience this is a nice little stop. If you’re going for the trails, boating, or just enjoying the water and the views it’s worth a look. Once the full Dragon trail is completed this area will become even more of an attraction. I know I’m thinking about giving it another go.