This State Park campground is in such a beautiful setting. The bathrooms are regularly cleaned. We stayed in Pines. This location doesn't have a playground, but Cedars does and it's a quick bike ride there. The beach is also accessible by walking, biking, driving. The beach is beautiful and the bathhouse is nicely maintained. I would return.
If you have never been there, you could miss the check in location which comes about two miles before the entrance to the park.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Cleanliness
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Excellent State park for family, dogs, and outdoor activities! We stayed at ponchos pond with a 35’ A-class motorhome & towing a car, but we got a day pass for some hiking & dog beach. There’s 3 campgrounds. Beachwood was under construction (adding cement pads) but we rode through on our bikes and it was beautiful. It was the closest campground to Hamlin Lake where the beach, kayak/ canoes are. The beach is not dog friendly, but the paths throughout the park are suitable for walking your dog. They do have a small dog beach that starts at the concession stand on Lake Michigan and goes to the river, which is very nice, Hamlin Lake was a beautiful area to go kayaking & canoeing with a nice boardwalk all along the edge. The Pines Campground is closest to Lake Michigan for the beach & Dog Beach, a bit of a walk, but a quick bike ride is good. I believe all sites have electric, no water or sewage, but some were quite spacious. The skyline hike is totally bike-able (starting in the park) & great for dogs. It’s about a 7 mile journey via bike to go to downtown Ludington. It was very safe for bikes w/ a big shoulder on the side of the road.. since many cars park there to get to the beach & don’t have to pay a fee to get into the State park.
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Date of stay: June 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Â Pines campground is closet to Lake Mi beach & dog beach. Beechwood campground is Very close to...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I was just looking at the weather channel and stumbled on this travel info. The ludington State Park had no reviews so I thought I would do one. I have been a user of LSP for fifty years for picnicing, camping. hiking, boating and swimming. I have travelled MI extensively and there is nothing to compare to this park. Six miles of Lake michigan beach, 500 campsites, miles of hamlin lake shoreline Hundreds of acres Many miles of trails. If you enjoy any of the above activities, LSP is your place. Even if you don't camp there the day trips are amazing
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at Ludington State Park from July 26-31, 2007, site # 243 in the Beechwood section. Our site was slightly level and half shaded, but very large. There were no camp sites behind ours or across from us either(there is a large wooded hill directly across from this site). Most of Ludington State Park is gently rolling hills with many wooded areas(lots of shade).We picked up a trail from behind our campsite and hiked through the woods and sand dunes to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse, about 4 miles round trip. Then we climbed the 130 steps to see a spectacular view! Worth every step! Numerous deer throughout the park. My daughter counted 19 deer by the time we left. I would recommend bringing along bikes. While there are numerous trails to walk, there are many nice bike rides also. A lot easier to see the whole park this way, too. The beach on Lake Michigan was large & super clean. It also has a Cafe/Beach house. Very nice. Hamlin Lake(closest to Beechwood campground) also has a nice small beach with a concession stand where you can rent a paddleboat, rowboat, canoe or kayak by the hour or day. Hamlin Dam, a very short walk from our campsite, many people were fishing off of it or next to it. Although we didn't do this, we saw many people floating along the Big Sable River, which runs along the south side of the park to Lake Michigan. There is also a "camp store" in the Cedars section, which carries pretty much a little of everything you may need for camping, including ice cream! This campground is very popular, so I'd recommend making reservations 6 months ahead of time, as I did. The only complaint I have is that the two bathrooms I used in the Beechwood section, had no hand dryers or paper towels to dry your hands after you wash. So the sink area and door handle to leave, were constantly wet. Oh well.
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Date of stay: July 2007
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Check in / front desk
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We visited LSP with a day pass on a gorgeous Saturday in August. The park has many hiking trails- we walked the Skyline Trail which is a boardwalk through the woods and marvelous Lake Michigan views. There are extensive bike paths (we didn't bike, but saw lots of families who did), water features (Hamlin Lake, river, The BIG lake). Even on a Saturday in August, the park did not feel overcrowded in the public areas. The campgrounds we drove through were not very inspiring- flat, crowded, RV-on-RV w/ the occasional tent wedged in - but that was the only substandard part of the park. I'm sure the park is gorgeous in the fall- and we'll return to view that!!!!
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I have done a fair amount of camping so believe me when I say that this is the most crowded campground I've ever seen - and likely ever will see. This campground is not for tent campers who want just a little bit of privacy. We went there just for an overnight stay in late August 2011. It's like camping out in a parking lot (RVs of every shape and size and lots of kids). We canceled our reservation right there on the spot and I was going to demand my money back but luckily my wife noticed that there were a few "hike-in" sites that allow you to get away from the masses. We were able to trade for one of these. The "hike-in" campsites were particularly nice - and only about a 3/4 of mile hike in. And cheaper than the campground. You can also gather dead wood to build a fire only at these sites - not in the rest of the campground (because it's so crowded there wouldn't be a blade of grass left if that were permitted). Other than the crowded campground situation the beaches are lovely and a hike to the lighthouse is not to missed. Along the way is informative signs about the dune ecology. One last thing....if you go don't leave until the sun has set behind Lake Michigan - really pretty.
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Date of stay: August 2011Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Michigan, just can't get over that Ludington State Park has a sand mining operation inside its boundaries. Michiganders, WAKE UP! Our Michigan coastline is irreplaceable. Shame on Michigan for allowing this to happen. It ruined my trip.
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Date of stay: May 2015Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Â Hike the dunes surrounding the sand mining operation. The sand mining operation is surrounded by...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I've lived in Michigan most all of my life and have been to a lot of State Parks, but never had been to Ludington, so decided to take a last summer camping trip there after Labor Day. This park has something for everyone - if you want to "hike in" to a campground or pull your big rig, this is the place for you. There are tons of hiking trails, including a skyline trail atop of a dune, where you can see for miles. They have a nice trail out to the historic lighthouse and even a canoe trail. You can rent kayaks, canoes, bikes and who knows whatever else. There's a great beach on Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake, take your pick. Hunt, fish, hike, ski, nature walks, swimming and on and on. The bathhouse was open on Lake Michigan, but the concession stand was not - probably because it was after Labor Day. Deer roam around freely throughout the park and don't even seem scared of humans. Tons of places to ride your bike within or outside of the park. Watching the salmon fisher-people was fascinating and some guy had really good luck with Blue Gills in Hamlin lake the same day. The place is just huge and the beaches are clean. My only complaint was there wasn't quite enough hot water in the showers for my liking, and it didn't much matter what time of day or night I went. Didn't see many rangers patrolling around, but again it was later in the season and not a ton of people. It was very, very quiet when I was there. I can't wait to go back!
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Date of stay: September 2013
Value
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Â No rooms. Some sites are level and some are not.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have camped at Ludington State Park since 1968. The park has 354 campsites at this time. Off season it is a marvelous place to camp. Reservations are extremely difficult to get in the summer. The sites are close together and things can get very noisy. There are thousands of acres to explore if you want to get away. Day use is a good way to see the park for the first time. The ice cream from the concession is wonderful. Tubing the river is a tradition. Fishing is done best early in the season before it gets fished out. There is plenty of beach to go around either on Hamlin Lake or Lake Michigan. The lighthouse is open in the summer and for a small fee you can climb the stairs to the top. Take water along for the mile hike or bike ride out. There is a gift shop at the base.
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Date of stay: September 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This park is so nice, it may have set an unrealistic expectation for future camping excursions.
Firstly, I only visited the Beechwood campground; Cedar and Pines were both under heavy construction. I don't know if either of those two will be open for the 2013 season, Pines has been closed for years now and Cedar must have recently closed. Anyways, Beechwood is the campground nearest Hamlin Lake. It consists of two big loop areas, and the first loop was completely deserted while I visited. The first loop is right off the day-use area, and is closer to those day-use trails, but a large sand-dune separates it from Hamlin lake. The second loop is set deeper into the woods, along the shore of Hamlin Lake. Many campsites back directly to the lake, although there is no beach there and a large board walk separates your site from the lake.
I spent three nights at site 318, which is on the lake almost at the end of the loop. The site is easily big enough to fit two RVs side by side and still have room for the fire pit and picnic table. Backing in was no problem, despite there being a lot of trees, they are not in the way. The site offered 15amp and 30amp connections from a power post set between 316 and 318. The campground was busy when I arrived around 5pm Friday. Lots of people like to drive the loop roads, I don't know if they're looking for friends or just being tourists, but it made me kind of nervous having a string of cars (with no trailers) pile up behind my rig while I was backing in. After sunset, traffic dropped off on the loop road, and everyone has their camp fires going... overall it was very quiet. This is the "off season" so many of the park's amenities are not available yet, like boat rental and the park office / visitors center. Also, some where you are supposed to "self register" when you arrive, but it wasn't clear where or how to do that. I paid my fees online, and Saturday morning a DNR policewoman stopped by to make a note of what site I had selected... the reservation email said someone was supposed to take my info at the gate, but there was no-one there. Anyways, no big deal there.
I have only two complaints worth writing about regarding the campground... First off, I paid $90 for my three night stay, and the only hook-up is electricity. Water is provided by dispensing posts scattered around the loop. The posts have a heavy spring loaded button you push and release the water, and they are very low to the ground. If you are a child, you can use both hands and lean into the post, however, as a 6 ft 6 in. adult, these things were an awful pain in the back. The flow rate is very low, so it takes forever to fill a container, and you're standing there bent over ninety degrees the entire time holding the button. Eventually on my second day, I had cobbled together a band I could strap around the infernal post and hold the button in, without having to hunch over. I didn't see anywhere in the park a dispenser you could hook a hose up to and fill up for your visit, except for the rinse water dispensers at the sani-station. Sure it says safe for drinking, but I'll pass on that thank you!
Secondly, there are no trash cans anywhere in the campground. I understand the State of Michigan is broke, and maybe they can't pay someone to empty trash cans, but in that case, why are there so many trash cans in the day-use area? The day-use area (which costs $11/year to use versus $30 a night), there are cans every 100 yards or so, but in the campground, you get a dumpster right at the entrance and that is it.
Overall, the lake, the trails, the huge camp sites give this park a very strong rating. The lack of water and trash disposal are inconvenient but not a huge negative. On Sunday night, there were only a handful of trailers left in my section of the campground and the evening was sublime. It was so quiet and still you could hear every movement of night time critters. The stars were twinkling away through the trees above, it was great.
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Date of stay: April 2013
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:Â You can't reserve specific sites, so get there as early as possible. Even numbered sites in...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yes, the trails are easy to maneuver, you should check with campground office, they may have a golf cart or something u can utilize to make things easier.
There are more places to choose from in the Ludington area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
ludington state park hotel ludington, state park hotel ludington
LOCATION
United StatesMichiganLudington
NUMBER OF ROOMS
373
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