Camping Activities for Kids: What There Is to Do at Walnut Hills

The best camping activities for kids are the ones you don’t have to invent yourself: a place to swim, something to climb, a game that pulls in the whole campground, and a campfire at the end of the day. At Walnut Hills Family Campground in Durand, Michigan, that’s the weekend plan. Kids move between a 14-piece floating water park on a spring-fed lake, a free Kangaroo Jumper, a river float, pavilion crafts and a Saturday-night dance party, and parents mostly watch from a lawn chair.

Here’s what there is to do, how the themed weekends work, and a few things to know before you bring the kids.

Water activities for kids at the campground

Water is where most kids spend most of their camping trip, and Walnut Hills has two natural water features: a spring-fed swimming lake and the Shiawassee River.

• The Wibit floating water park. Fourteen pieces on the lake, including an Action Tower XXL, two slides, monkey bars, a trampoline, a rock-climbing wall, a rope hill and jump-off platforms. It’s for ages 7 and up, and the campground provides the life jackets, which are designed not to snag on the pieces (personal jackets aren’t allowed). Kids check in at the store for a wristband, sign the waiver and watch a short safety video. A Wibit monitor is on duty to check wristbands and jacket fit and keep everyone playing safely; there is no lifeguard, and riders under 16 have a parent on hand. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday and free for campers Tuesday through Thursday; weekend wristbands carry a fee, listed on the rates page.
• The beach and swimming lake. The lake is spring-fed, so the water is clear and stays cool. Our team says you’ll feel “cold pockets of water jetting up from the spring underneath” while you swim, which kids love on a hot day. The sand runs out into the water, so little ones step onto sand, not mud. Parents set up on the beach next to the store or in lawn chairs by the dock and watch the Wibit from there.
• A river float. Cheff’s Canoe Rental, an independent outfitter working out of the Walnut Hills launch, runs canoe, kayak and tube floats on the Shiawassee and provides life jackets. Parents with small children usually take a canoe so the kids ride with them. There’s also a short float inside the park, from one end of the campground to the other, that takes 30 to 45 minutes, which is about right for a shorter attention span. More in our tubing guide.
• Fishing. The campground lake and ponds are catch and release. The store sells bait. (For a fishing dock where kids are nearly guaranteed a bite, see our sister park, The Oaks Campground in Munith.)

A campground tradition worth knowing about: campers on sites 1 through 15 hold up scorecards, 1 to 10, for the dives and belly flops off the big Wibit pieces. Grandparents go on the water park too.

Fun campground activities on land

The Wibit is tiring, so kids alternate it with the dry-land stuff. Most of it is clustered around Pavilion 2 at the north end of the park:

• The Kangaroo Jumper, a big bounce pillow added in 2026. It’s free for campers.
• A new playground, installed a few years ago, next to the pavilion.
• The gaga ball pit, plus basketball, sand volleyball, horseshoes and a ball field where staff bring out a giant kickball for “Super Sized Family Kickball.”
• The arcade room in the camp store, a favorite while kids recover from the water park, and hand-scooped ice cream at the counter.
• The dog park, a fenced quarter acre with tunnels, a real fire hydrant and a dog selfie frame, and the one place in the park dogs run off leash. Kids and dogs both burn energy there, and dogs can cool off with a swim in the river.
• Bikes and golf carts. The campground roads make easy bike loops, and families rent golf carts at the store to get around the 42 acres. Kids and bikes are back at the site by dusk and golf carts park for the night, which is part of why evenings here are calm.

Kids’ camping activities on themed weekends

Every weekend from Memorial Day through September has staff-run activities, and the events calendar lists the schedule. A typical Saturday looks like this:

• 11 a.m. kids’ craft at Pavilion 1. Over the season that’s included sun catchers, wind chimes, pinwheels, watercolor butterflies, birdhouses, rock painting and Christmas ornaments. Tie-dye runs almost every Saturday (shirts are sold at the store).
• Afternoon lawn games by the dog park and ball field: kickball, three-legged race, potato sack race, tug of war, water balloon wars, cornhole.
• Evening at Pavilion 2: a DJ dance party with DJ Dave, karaoke, family or kids’ trivia, or kids’ candy bar bingo. There’s a food truck every Saturday, often Friday dinner and Sunday breakfast too, so nobody has to cook.

The big weekends add more: a kids’ bike parade and golf-cart parade on Memorial Day, “Family Olympics” (tug of war, hula hooping, egg race, potato sack) over the Fourth of July, a Christmas social with Santa for Christmas in July, limbo and beach water wars on Beach Party weekend, and a Seasonal Campers vs. Short-Term Campers tug of war in August. There are no fireworks at any of our parks, which makes the holiday weekends calmer for young kids and dogs.

Halloween weekends

Walnut Hills runs three Halloween weekends in late September and early October, and they book far ahead. Daytime is for kids: a candy search in a haystack, pumpkin painting and Halloween crafts at the pavilion, and a family costume contest at 5 p.m. Trick-or-treating runs 6 to 7 p.m. with the campground roads closed to traffic. The haunted trail opens at 7:30 and starts mild while it’s still light, so young kids can walk it, then gets genuinely scary later with costumed actors. DJ Dave’s Halloween dance party follows at Pavilion 2. Details in our fall and Halloween camping guide.

Things to do while camping with kids at your site

Not everything needs a schedule. The quiet activities are the ones kids remember too:

• Campfire and s’mores. Every site has a fire ring. Firewood is sold at the store and can be delivered to your site; outside firewood isn’t allowed at our Michigan parks.
• Stargazing. The campground is remote with little light pollution, so meteor showers and the Milky Way show up from any site. Walnut Hills has a fleet of telescopes and a stargazing event on the calendar. See our stargazing guide.
• A short nature hike. A nature trail runs along the Shiawassee inside the park, a good morning walk with kids. Deer graze the farm field behind the back row of sites most mornings.
• Golf-cart nature ride. Around the corner on Reed Road, a tract of public land donated to the City of Durand runs through woods to the river. Savvy campers with golf carts know about it.

Camping activities for families: a sample weekend

Our team’s advice is to come in Wednesday or Thursday and stay through Sunday, because you can’t fit it all into two nights. The pattern they suggest: Thursday on the free Wibit and the beach, with arcade and ice-cream breaks; Friday on the river with Cheff’s; Saturday for the crafts, lawn games, Kangaroo Jumper and the evening dance party. A campground employee put it this way: “What we find is that the water park is very tiring, so it’s nice to alternate between an hour on the water park and then going over to the beach to relax for a little while with your family.”

For a quieter, more wooded trip with 120 acres of trails to bike and a fishing dock, The Oaks Campground, an hour south near Jackson, is the sister option. Walnut Hills is the water-and-events park.

Good to know before you bring kids

• Wibit riders must be 7 or older; under 16 need a parent supervising.
• Under-13s swim with an adult; the beach has no lifeguard.
• Kids and bikes back at the site by dusk, and quiet hours from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., so your kids actually sleep.
• E-bikes are for adults only, pedal-assist only.
• Rates cover 2 adults and 2 children; extra kids ages 3 to 17 are $9 a night, extra adults $13.
• Two camping cabins (air conditioning, sleep 4, bring linens, no pets) suit grandparents joining a family trip.

Walnut Hills is within about an hour of Flint, Lansing and the north Detroit suburbs; see campgrounds near Flint or campgrounds near Lansing for directions, and our guide to kid-friendly campgrounds in Michigan for how we compare.

Camping activities for kids: FAQ

What are fun things to do at a campground at night?

At Walnut Hills: the Saturday DJ dance party or karaoke at Pavilion 2, a campfire with s’mores, and stargazing (bring a blanket; the telescopes come out for the stargazing event). Kids need to be back at the site by dusk unless they’re with you at an event.

Are campground activities free?

The crafts, lawn games, dance parties, Kangaroo Jumper, playground, beach, gaga ball and courts are included in your stay. The Wibit is free Tuesday through Thursday and paid on weekends. Golf-cart rentals, Cheff’s floats and food trucks are paid separately.

What age is the Wibit for?

Ages 7 and up, with a campground-provided life jacket. Younger kids use the beach and the Kangaroo Jumper.

What do kids do if it rains?

The arcade, the store’s ice cream counter and the covered pavilions carry most rainy afternoons, and the crafts are usually under a roof. Site fees and wristbands aren’t rain-checked, so if the Wibit is the main draw, pick your dates with the forecast in mind.