Secluded campgrounds in Michigan don’t have to mean a six-hour drive to the Upper Peninsula. The Oaks Campground in Munith sits on 155 acres about 20 minutes from Jackson and 40 minutes from Ann Arbor, with roughly 120 acres of forest and grassland trails, a spring-fed swim lake, a fishing lake and a shared border with the Haehnle bird sanctuary, next door to Waterloo Recreation Area. The drive in passes more woods than houses, and the oldest section of the campground sits under old-growth oaks a long way from the store.
This guide covers what makes a campground feel off the beaten path, where to find secluded and rustic camping in Michigan (including the public options near us), and why The Oaks is the unusual case of a hidden-feeling campground that still has a beach, hot showers and laundry.
What makes a campground secluded or off the beaten path?
Four things, in our experience:
- The approach. If the last ten minutes of the drive are farm fields, state land and forest rather than subdivisions and gas stations, the campground feels remote before you’ve parked. One campground employee describes the drive to The Oaks this way: “While it’s not a far drive from the highway, it feels like you’ve driven into the middle of nowhere. You really don’t see many homes on the way. Just a lot of forest and nature surrounds you.”
- Space between sites. A typical campground site is about 33 feet wide by 60 feet long, and tighter parks run 25 by 50. Seclusion is mostly a function of how far your neighbor’s awning is from yours.
- Land you can disappear into. A trail system, a back lake or a marsh gives you somewhere to go when the campground itself gets lively.
- Quiet you can count on. Remote scenery is only half of it; quiet hours that are actually kept matter as much as acreage, because they’re what let you hear the woods at night.
Why The Oaks is one of the most secluded campgrounds in southern Michigan
The Oaks checks all four boxes, which is rare this close to Ann Arbor, Jackson and Lansing.
The biggest campsites in either of our parks
The original builder had acreage to spare and used it. The smallest sites at The Oaks are 35 by 65 feet, and the largest run 55 feet wide by 120 feet long. The row from site 46 to 61 has the largest lots in the park, 40 to 55 feet wide and up to 120 feet long, with no neighbors behind you. Site size is one thing you can’t renovate into a campground later, so this is the feature our team was most excited about.
A quiet old-growth section away from the amenities
Sites 22 to 109 make up the older part of the campground, known for its old-growth trees and quiet. The newer north section near the store, beach and pavilion suits families who want to be close to the action; the older section is where you book when you want peace. Many sites in the park are a mix of open and wooded, so the site map is worth a look before you choose.
120 acres of trails behind the campground
About 120 of The Oaks’ 155 acres are trails, mostly forest with some grassland, laid out in several loops for hiking, mountain biking, golf carts and day riding on horseback. One loop runs toward the wetlands that border Haehnle Sanctuary, where sandhill cranes wander over from the marsh. Others wind through miles of woods where deer bed down during the day; there’s no hunting on the property, and the deer seem to know it. Narrow single-track branches off for mountain bikers who want something rougher. Our team has visited hundreds of campgrounds and hasn’t found another in southern Michigan with a trail system like it. See the campgrounds with hiking trails guide for the trail details.
Wildlife at your site
Because The Oaks shares a border with the 1,008-acre Haehnle sanctuary, its wildlife spills onto the campground: sandhill cranes, deer, turkeys, herons, hawks and the occasional eagle. In summer and fall, bird watchers park along the campground’s entry road just to watch the field across from the sanctuary side. Golf carts can’t get into the sanctuary itself, but you can hike from our back trails to its back side; the public viewing area, with benches, bleachers and history boards, is a short drive out the front gate and around a couple of corners. Peak crane viewing is late October to mid-November in the hour before sunset, when several thousand birds come in to roost. More in our bird watching and nature camping guide.
Dark skies
Both of our Michigan parks are remote enough that light pollution is minimal. You don’t need a special spot at The Oaks; step away from the campfire anywhere on the property and the stars and meteor showers are easy to see.
Room for the dog
Dogs can be off leash on the back trails and in the dog run, and they’re welcome to swim in the fishing lake (not the swim beach). Everywhere else in the campground they stay on a leash.
Secluded, but not roughing it
Most secluded campgrounds in Michigan are rustic by design: vault toilets, no showers, hand pumps. The Oaks is different, and it’s an honest trade-off. You get bathhouses with hot showers and laundry, a sand beach on the spring-fed swim lake with the Aquaglide floating water park (a paid wristband) and the free Kangaroo Jumper, a fishing lake with a dock, a camp store with firewood, bait and hand-scooped ice cream, and weekend events at the pavilion. What you don’t get is full hookups: sites are water and electric (30 or 50 amp on short-term sites) with a gray-water drain, and a honey-wagon service handles black tanks. Our team calls it “traditional camping with some fun amenities”: rustic compared with a resort, comfortable compared with a state forest campground. For the fully rustic end of the spectrum, see our rustic camping in Michigan guide.
Quiet is part of the stay. Quiet hours run 11 PM to 8 AM, so kids actually sleep; kids and bikes are back at the site by dusk; golf carts park after dark; and a license-plate gate (live for the 2027 season) means only registered guests come through. Our guide to quiet campgrounds in Michigan goes deeper on what to ask before you book anywhere.
Unique campgrounds in Michigan: what sets The Oaks apart
“Unique” gets used a lot. The things that are genuinely unusual about The Oaks are structural:
- A private campground that shares a border with an Audubon sanctuary and sits next to the largest state park in the Lower Peninsula.
- 120 acres of on-site trails you can ride by golf cart, bike or horse without leaving the campground.
- A fishing lake fed by the spring-fed swim lake, with an outlet into the Portage River watershed. Campers have sent us photos of catches nearly as tall as the kids who landed them. Kids do best from the dock; the back shore is for anglers who want to be alone.
- Old 1990s mud pits deep in the woods, left from an earlier era of the property and now a destination for mountain bikers who know the way. (The trails are for hikers, bikes, golf carts and horses; no ATVs or side-by-sides.)
For scenic campgrounds with water views, including our river-and-lake park Walnut Hills, see unique campgrounds in Michigan with scenic views.
Other secluded and off-the-beaten-path camping near The Oaks
If you want the fully remote version, the public land around us delivers, and The Oaks works well as the comfortable base camp.
| Option | What it offers | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Waterloo Recreation Area | Over 21,000 acres, 11 lakes, more than 50 miles of trails, two modern campgrounds, a rustic campground and an equestrian campground, plus backpack-only sites | Rustic sites have no electric; modern campgrounds fill on summer weekends |
| Michigan state forest campgrounds | More than 140 rustic campgrounds in the northern Lower Peninsula and UP, every one on a river or lake, mostly first-come, first-served | Vault toilets and hand-pump water, no electric; a long drive from southeast Michigan |
| The Oaks Campground | Wooded sites up to 55 by 120 ft, 120 acres of trails, a swim lake and beach, showers and laundry, 20 minutes from Jackson | 50 amp on short-term sites; no full hookups |
Our Waterloo camping guide compares the Waterloo campgrounds with The Oaks in more detail.
Hidden campsites to ask for at The Oaks
- Sites 46 to 61: the largest lots, no rear neighbors, in the old-growth section.
- Sites 22 to 109 generally: the quiet section, farthest from the store and pavilion.
- Tent sites T7 to T12: 20-amp electric under a stand of old-growth trees (pictured on the rates page).
- Tent sites 178 and 179: electric and water, next to the trailhead.
- Tent sites T13 to T18: primitive, with no electric or water, for the simplest setup in the park. Tent sites T1 to T12 have electric.
- October: the quietest month. Mostly seasonal campers, fall color on every trail loop, and the cranes gathering next door. The season runs May 1 to October 20.
Frequently asked questions
How far is The Oaks from Ann Arbor and Detroit?
About 40 minutes from Ann Arbor and roughly an hour and a half from Detroit, west of Chelsea off I-94. See campgrounds near Ann Arbor for directions.
Is The Oaks a good campground for a quiet getaway without kids?
Yes, if you book the older section (sites 22 to 109) or come midweek or in October. Summer weekends are family weekends with events at the pavilion, but the trails and the back of the fishing lake stay quiet even then.
Does seclusion mean no cell service?
Coverage is generally fine, but neither of our Michigan parks offers Wi-Fi. Download your maps before you arrive if you plan to ride the far trail loops.
What about Walnut Hills?
Our sister park, Walnut Hills Family Campground in Durand, is the resort-style option on the Shiawassee River with full hookups, 50-amp sites, cabins and the Wibit floating water park. It’s peaceful and shaded with old-growth trees, but at 201 RV sites on 42 acres it’s a lively family campground rather than a secluded one. Water lovers, Walnut Hills; nature seekers, The Oaks.
