Golf Cart Friendly Campgrounds in Michigan: Rentals and Your Own Cart

Yes, you can bring a golf cart camping at both of our Michigan parks, and you can rent one if you don’t own one. The Oaks Campground in Munith and Walnut Hills Family Campground in Durand are golf cart friendly campgrounds: electric carts only, a $25-per-night pass plus proof of insurance to bring your own, daily rentals from the camp store with discounts for multi-day rentals, and no cart driving after dark. The Oaks is the one to pick if you want somewhere to ride, with about 120 acres of golf cart trails through forest and grassland.

Here’s how rentals and your own cart work, where you can ride at each park, and the rules that keep carts welcome.

Can you bring a golf cart camping?

At The Oaks and Walnut Hills, yes, with a few conditions that are the same at both parks:

• Electric carts only. Gas golf carts, side-by-sides, ATVs, minibikes and go-karts aren’t allowed at either park. Golf carts are the only motorized vehicles allowed on The Oaks trails.
• A golf cart pass: $25 per night for short-term campers. You register the cart at the store, get a window sticker, and submit your golf cart insurance documentation. You also sign a waiver.
• Proof of insurance is required. The campground carries its own policy to allow private carts on the property, and cart owners need their own liability coverage as well.
• Seasonal campers have a different arrangement. At Walnut Hills the seasonal golf cart fee is $300 a season. The Oaks doesn’t charge a seasonal cart fee yet, though our team expects one in the future to cover trail upkeep and the insurance policy.

Rates and the pass are listed on The Oaks rates page and the Walnut Hills rates page.

Campgrounds with golf cart rentals: how renting works at our parks

Both parks rent golf carts from the camp store. A campground employee described the system this way:

• Reserve ahead on our website or by phone, or ask at the store when you arrive if any carts are left. On busy summer weekends, reserve ahead.
• Rentals are by the day, and the daily rate drops the more days you rent. Our team discounts longer rentals, so a cart for your whole stay usually costs far less per day than a single Saturday.
• Pricing is dynamic, like the campsites: a holiday weekend costs more than a quiet weekday. We don’t publish a single rate here because it moves with demand; check the rates pages or call the store for your dates.
• Pick up at the store at the start of your stay. At Walnut Hills, the store is at the front of the park next to the beach; at The Oaks it’s at the front near the pavilion and Kangaroo Jumper.

Renting makes the most sense for stays of three nights or more, for families with small kids or grandparents who’d rather not walk the whole park, and at The Oaks for anyone who wants to ride the trails.

Golf cart trails at The Oaks

The Oaks is 155 acres, and about 120 of those acres are trails. They’re mostly forest with stretches of grassland, laid out in several loops, and shared by golf carts, bikes, hikers, dog walkers (dogs can run off leash on the back trails) and the occasional horse. In a cart you can cover more of them in an afternoon than you could on foot in a weekend.

• The wetland loop runs toward the marsh that borders Haehnle Sanctuary. Sandhill cranes wander over from the sanctuary, and it’s the best stretch for birds.
• The forest loops cover miles of woods where deer are easy to spot, especially toward evening when they head out to the neighboring farm fields. There’s no hunting at the campground, and our team says the deer seem to know it.
• Narrower single-track branches off the cart trails for mountain bikes and pedal-assist e-bikes. Carts stay on the wider loops.
• Fall color along the trails is the reason many seasonal campers keep their carts out through October.

Two things to know before you ride. First, golf carts can’t get to Haehnle Sanctuary. The campground shares a border with it, which is why so much wildlife spills onto the property, and you can hike from our back trails to the back side of the sanctuary, but there’s no cart access; the public viewing area is a short drive out the front gate. Second, trails are shared, so slow down for walkers, bikes and horses, and give horses a wide berth.

On event weekends, carts are part of the fun: decorated golf cart welcome parades on holiday weekends and a Golf Cart Rally, where families follow riddles and clues around the park to find a hidden object.

Golf carts at Walnut Hills

Walnut Hills doesn’t have a trail network of its own; it’s a 42-acre park with 201 RV sites, and a cart is mainly a way to get around a property that is, in a campground employee’s words, “very large and spread out.” Families use them to run between their site, the beach and Wibit, the store for scooped ice cream, the dog park and Pavilion 2 for the evening events.

There’s also a nature ride that most first-time guests don’t know about. Years ago a farmer donated a piece of land to the City of Durand just around the corner from the campground, down Reed Road. The property runs back through the woods to the Shiawassee River, downstream from the campground, and seasonal campers with golf carts use it for a trail ride. Ask at the store for directions and the current rules on getting there.

Walnut Hills also puts carts in its themed weekends: a golf cart decorating kickoff and parade on Memorial Day weekend, a golf cart race on the Fourth of July weekend, and a Christmas golf cart parade for Christmas in July. Details are on the Walnut Hills events page.

Golf cart rules at our campgrounds

• No driving after dark. This is the question we get most. Everyone sleeps better without headlights sweeping across camper windows, so carts park at dusk at every GatherGrounds park, and the evening events are an easy walk or bike ride.
• 5 mph on campground roads. Kids and bikes are everywhere, and a slow cart keeps the roads relaxed for them. Quiet hours start at 11 PM.
• Drivers 18 and older. It’s an insurance requirement at every GatherGrounds park.
• Electric only; no gas carts, side-by-sides or ATVs.
• Insurance and a signed waiver for private carts.
• Stay on the roads and marked trails. Sites are your neighbors’ living rooms, and the beach is for feet.
• Roads close to carts during trick-or-treating on Halloween weekends and some parade events.

Michigan law treats public roads differently from a private campground. Golf carts are only allowed on public streets where the local government has authorized them, on roads with speed limits of 30 mph or less, driven by licensed drivers 16 and older, and not around dusk and dawn. Inside the campground our rules apply; the moment you leave the gate, state and local rules do. Full rules are on The Oaks map and rules page and the Walnut Hills map and rules page.

Rent or bring your own?

If you camp at The Oaks a few weekends a season and want the trails every time, owning starts to make sense, and seasonal campers can store the cart on site all summer. For a one-off trip, renting is simpler. For a sense of what a cart day looks like, our team describes a typical Oaks Saturday as the beach and Aquaglide through midday, a cart run to the store for scooped ice cream, then a late-afternoon ride through the trails spotting deer and cranes before a food truck dinner at the pavilion.

Golf cart camping FAQ

Are there golf cart friendly campgrounds in Michigan with trails to ride?

The Oaks Campground in Munith has about 120 acres of shared-use trails open to golf carts, which is unusual in southern Michigan. Most campgrounds allow carts on their roads only.

Do I need insurance to bring my golf cart to a campground?

At our parks, yes. You submit proof of golf cart insurance when you register the cart and sign a waiver. Check with any campground before you haul a cart; many have the same requirement.

Can kids drive the golf cart?

No. Golf cart drivers must be 18 or older at all of our parks. Michigan issues driver’s licenses at 16, but our insurance company requires cart drivers to be 18, and carts share the roads with kids, bikes and walkers.

Can I drive the golf cart to the pavilion for the evening dance party?

Drive over before dark and walk back, or walk both ways. Carts aren’t driven after dark at any of our parks.

Can I rent a golf cart for one day?

Yes, if one is available, but a single day costs more per day than a multi-day rental. If you’re staying three or four nights, rent for the whole stay.