The best Michigan campgrounds with hiking trails put the trailhead at your campsite. In southern Michigan, The Oaks Campground in Munith has about 120 acres of its own trails on a 155-acre property, in several loops through forest and grassland, and it sits next to Waterloo Recreation Area, the largest state park in the Lower Peninsula at more than 20,000 acres, with the 36-mile Waterloo-Pinckney Trail and the 22-mile DTE Energy Foundation Trail a short drive away. Farther afield, Michigan’s standout hiking campgrounds are Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park (90 miles of trails) and Ludington State Park (21 miles), both a long drive from the Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing area.
This guide covers the trails at The Oaks, the Waterloo and Pinckney trails next door, the best places to camp in Michigan for hiking statewide, hike-in camping, tent sites with trail access and what to expect at our sister park, Walnut Hills.
Hiking trails at The Oaks Campground
Our team has visited hundreds of campgrounds and hasn’t come across another with 120 acres of its own trails; we think it’s a one-of-a-kind property in southern Michigan. The trails are mostly forested with some open grassland, laid out in several loops, so you can take a short walk from your site or spend a morning out there.
- The wetland loop. One loop runs toward the wetlands that border Haehnle Sanctuary. This is where you’re most likely to see sandhill cranes, along with herons, hawks and eagles that drift over from the sanctuary.
- The forest loops. Others wind for miles through the woods. The area is known for deer, and because there’s no hunting at the campground, the deer act like they know they’re safe here; you’ll often spot them bedded down before they head out to neighboring cornfields in the evening.
- Narrow single-track. Branching off the main loops are narrower trails that golf carts don’t use, including the old 1990s mud-pit area that longtime campers still tell stories about. It’s for mountain bikes and e-bikes now; see our campgrounds with mountain bike trails guide.
The trails are shared use: hikers and dog walkers (dogs may be off leash on the back trails), mountain bikes, adult pedal-assist e-bikes, golf carts (the only motorized vehicles allowed) and day riders who bring their own horses from the many stables around Waterloo. Golf carts rent at the store if you’d rather ride than walk, and there’s no cart driving after dark. Tent sites 178 and 179 sit near the trailhead, and the trail system is the reason the campground stays open through October: fall color on the wooded loops is the quietest, prettiest time to be out there.
One thing to know: although The Oaks shares a border with Haehnle Sanctuary, golf carts can’t get into the sanctuary from the campground, but you can hike from our back trails to its back side. To see the public viewing area, with its benches, bleachers and history boards, take the short drive out the front gate and around a couple of corners. Our bird watching and nature camping guide has more.
Hiking near The Oaks: Waterloo-Pinckney Trail vs the DTE Energy Foundation Trail
Waterloo Recreation Area is less than five minutes from the campground, and its two headline trails suit very different days. A Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry to state park trailheads.
| Waterloo-Pinckney Trail | DTE Energy Foundation Trail | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | About 36 miles point to point (Portage Lake to Silver Lake in Pinckney Recreation Area) | 22 miles in four stacked loops: Green Lake 5.2 mi, Big Kame 4.8 mi, Winn 8 mi, Sugar 4 mi |
| Built for | Hiking first; some sections open to horses and bikes | Mountain biking (purpose-built single-track), also open to hikers and runners, with bikes and foot traffic in opposite directions |
| Terrain | Glacial eskers, kettle lakes, swamps, old-farm meadows, oak and pine forest | Rolling, mechanically cut flow trail; Green Lake loop is the beginner option |
| Best for | A long out-and-back day hike, or a 2-to-4-day thru-hike using the nearby campgrounds | A morning ride or a 5-mile family hike, then back to camp for the beach |
| Trailheads | Portage Lake end is closest to The Oaks | Three lots off M-52, Cassidy Road and McClure Road near Chelsea |
Also in Waterloo: about 20 miles of equestrian trails from staging areas off Loveland and Maute roads, 11 inland lakes including all-sports Portage Lake (public boat launch about nine minutes from The Oaks), and the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center on Bush Road in Chelsea, which covers the area’s glacial geology and habitats and is one of the places our guests visit most. For the state campgrounds inside the park, see our Waterloo Recreation Area camping guide.
Best places to camp in Michigan for hiking
Michigan’s top hiking destinations are spread across the state, and most of the big ones are state parks with modern or rustic campgrounds. Here is a shortlist, with The Oaks as the private-campground option in the southeast.
| Destination | Region | Trails | Camping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park | Western Upper Peninsula | 90 miles through 60,000 acres of old-growth forest; Lake of the Clouds overlook; North Country Trail | Union Bay modern campground (100 electric sites), Presque Isle rustic, 65 backcountry sites, rustic cabins and yurts |
| Ludington State Park | West Michigan, Lake Michigan shore | 21 miles of marked trails between Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake; the 1.8-mile Lighthouse Path to Big Sable Point | Three modern campgrounds (360 sites) plus 10 rustic walk-in tent sites |
| Pinckney Recreation Area | Southeast Michigan | More than 40 miles of multi-use trail, including the 17-mile Potawatomi Trail loop | Bruin Lake modern (161 sites), Crooked Lake rustic, Blind Lake hike-in sites |
| Waterloo Recreation Area | Southeast Michigan | Waterloo-Pinckney Trail, DTE Energy Foundation Trail, ~20 miles of horse trails | Portage Lake and Sugarloaf Lake modern, Green Lake rustic, equestrian campground |
| Yankee Springs Recreation Area | Southwest Michigan (Gun Lake, near Middleville) | Hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails among 10 lakes | Gun Lake modern (200 sites), Deep Lake rustic, equestrian campground, group cabins |
| The Oaks Campground | Southeast Michigan (Munith, next to Waterloo) | About 120 acres of private loops for hiking, biking, golf carts and horses, from your site | Water/electric RV sites, 50 amp on short-term sites (the largest in our two parks), 20 tent sites, beach, Aquaglide, fishing lake, laundry, events |
The Porcupine Mountains and Ludington are worth the drive, and the state parks near Waterloo are good, well-run campgrounds; see our northern Michigan campgrounds guide for the long trips. What a state park campground generally doesn’t have is a beach with a water park, a store with scooped ice cream, weekend events and a food truck a short walk from the trailhead. The Oaks puts the trails and the amenities on the same property. Public parks are funded and priced differently (fees, the Recreation Passport and public capital investment) and offer fewer on-site amenities, while a private park pays for its amenity stack, staff and utilities through the site rate. Our private vs state park campground guide explains the trade-off.
Hike-in camping in Michigan
If “hike-in camping” means carrying your gear to a walk-in site, Michigan’s real options are public: the Blind Lake hike-in sites about halfway around Pinckney’s Potawatomi Trail (one-night stays), the 65 backcountry sites in the Porcupine Mountains, and rustic walk-in tent areas like Ludington’s Jack Pine sites. The Waterloo-Pinckney Trail can be hiked over two to four days using side trails to the campgrounds along it.
The Oaks is drive-in, not hike-in. The trade-off is that you park at your site, pitch your tent under old-growth trees and walk straight onto 120 acres of trail with a shower, laundry and a beach waiting when you get back. For many families that’s the right version of hiking and camping, especially with young kids. See our rustic camping in Michigan guide for the primitive end of the spectrum.
Tent campgrounds in Michigan with trail access
The Oaks has 20 tent sites, grouped in their own sections rather than tucked between RVs. Sites T1 to T12 have 20-amp electric and plenty of trees, near the store, pavilion and playground; T13 to T18 are primitive sites (no electric or water) in an open field near a bathhouse with showers and laundry; and sites 178 and 179 have electric and water and sit nearest the trailhead, with another bathroom-and-laundry building close by. Every tent site has a fire ring and picnic table, and tent campers use everything RV campers do. Tent sites start in the mid-$40s a night and vary by date; see The Oaks rates page. Our tent vs RV camping guide compares the two.
What a hiking weekend at The Oaks looks like
A campground employee describes it like this: coffee at the site, then a morning on the trails before it gets hot, on foot, by bike or in a rented golf cart with the kids on the back seat. Midday is the sand beach on the spring-fed swim lake, with the Aquaglide floating water park for anyone with a wristband and campground lounge chairs for anyone who got there early. Late afternoon, scooped ice cream at the store while the kids burn off energy on the free Kangaroo Jumper. Then a food truck dinner, a band or family dance party at the pavilion, and a last loop of the trails at dusk when the deer come out. “Every weekend can look different,” our team says, “because you can’t do everything at the campground in one weekend.”
The Oaks is a traditional, somewhat rustic campground with modern touches: bathhouses, laundry, a renovated store, water and electric sites (50 amp on short-term sites, 30 amp on seasonal) with a gray-water drain and honey-wagon service, and the biggest sites in either of our Michigan parks (from 35 by 65 feet up to 55 by 120). Quiet hours run 11 PM to 8 AM, kids and bikes are back at the site by dusk, and the season is May 1 to October 20. Dogs are welcome: leashed in the campground, off leash on the back trails and in the dog run. The 25% monthly discount (non-beachfront sites, 30-night minimum) is offered here only.
Southeast Michigan campgrounds near trails: who should pick The Oaks
The Oaks works best for families and grandparents from Jackson, Ann Arbor, Lansing and the Detroit suburbs who want woods, wildlife and a trail from the site without the six-hour drive north. It’s an easy drive from Ann Arbor and Jackson, and close enough to Chelsea and Dexter for a downtown or cider-mill afternoon. Michigan International Speedway is about 24 miles away, roughly a 40- to 45-minute drive. Reserve on The Oaks Campground page.
Hiking at Walnut Hills Family Campground
Our sister park in Durand, Walnut Hills, is a water park: a spring-fed lake with a 14-piece Wibit, the Shiawassee River with canoe, kayak and tube floats, 80 full-hookup 50-amp sites and two camping cabins. It doesn’t have a trail network. It does have a nature trail along the river inside the park, and seasonal campers know a public nature area on Reed Road, just around the corner, that runs through forest to the Shiawassee and can be reached by golf cart. If hiking is the point of the trip, pick The Oaks; if you want trails plus the river and a bigger water park, Walnut Hills.
Michigan hiking and camping FAQ
Are the trails at The Oaks free for campers?
Yes. Trail use is included with any site. Golf cart rentals and the Aquaglide are the paid extras.
Can I bring my dog on the trails?
Yes. Dogs may be off leash on the back trails and in the dog run near the front of the park; in the campground itself they stay leashed. Dogs can swim in the fishing lake (not the beach).
Do I need a Recreation Passport to hike Waterloo from The Oaks?
Yes, for vehicle entry to state park trailheads and the Discovery Center. You don’t need one for the trails at The Oaks.
When is the best time to hike at The Oaks?
Mornings and evenings in summer, when the deer are moving and the beach can fill the hot middle of the day. October is quiet with fall color, and sandhill cranes gather at Haehnle by the thousands from late October into November.
Are there campgrounds with hiking trails in southwest Michigan?
Yankee Springs Recreation Area near Gun Lake is the main one, with hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails and a 200-site modern campground.
