The difference between seasonal vs nightly camping comes down to one thing: whether your RV stays at the campground. A seasonal campsite is rented for the whole season (May 1 to October 20 at our Michigan parks) and your camper sits on it, set up, all summer. A standard or nightly site, sometimes called a transient site, is booked by the night; you tow in, camp, and tow home. Seasonal costs more up front ($3,000 to $5,500 a season at Walnut Hills Family Campground in Durand, with most sites $3,000 to $4,000) but less per weekend if you camp often. Nightly keeps your options open and starts around the high $40s a night.
Here’s how the two work, what seasonal campers get that nightly campers don’t, how the cost compares, and who each one suits.
What is a seasonal campsite?
A seasonal site is a campsite you rent for the season instead of the night. At Walnut Hills that means:
- Your RV stays on the site from May 1 to October 20. Some Michigan parks use a “membership” model where you camp two weeks and then move the RV to a storage lot; a Walnut Hills seasonal site isn’t that. As one campground employee put it, “all they have to do is grab their family and their food for the weekend and head to the campground in their car.”
- Free winter storage. Returning seasonals leave the RV on the site through the off-season at no charge.
- Metered power. The site fee covers the site; electricity is billed monthly by what you use.
- Room to settle in. A deck up to the footprint of your camper (not attached to it), a shed up to 99 square feet, and your own golf cart for a $300 seasonal fee.
- Neighbors. The same families are on the sites around you all summer. It’s common to see one neighbor mow everyone’s lawn one weekend and another take the next.
Seasonal sites at Walnut Hills are RV sites. Full-sewer sites and gray-water-drain sites are both available, with 30- and 50-amp power. See the Walnut Hills seasonal sites page for what’s open for 2027.
What is a standard (nightly) campsite?
A standard site is the ordinary campground booking: pick your dates, pick a site, pay a nightly rate, and bring your RV or tent with you. Nightly sites at Walnut Hills come in several campsite types:
- Full-hookup 50-amp sites (there are 80 of them) with sewer at the site, many 70 to 80 feet long for rigs up to 45 feet.
- Water-and-electric sites, including the beach-side circle (sites 118 to 131) and pull-throughs for one-night stopovers (site 118 and sites 47 to 51).
- River-view, river-frontage and lakefront sites. Sites 27 to 42 sit right on the Shiawassee River; sites 1 to 26 look down on it from 10 to 25 feet up.
- 18 tent sites (4 with electric) and 2 camping cabins that sleep four with air conditioning.
Nightly rates are dynamic: a base rate plus a premium on holiday weekends and waterfront or full-hookup sites, and a discount on slower dates. May before Memorial Day, the weekend after Memorial Day, the weekends around Labor Day and October are the deal windows. Current prices are on the Walnut Hills rates page.
Seasonal vs standard campsites: side by side
| Seasonal campsite | Standard (nightly) campsite | |
|---|---|---|
| How long | Whole season, May 1 to Oct 20 | By the night, as little as one |
| What you pay | One seasonal fee ($3,000 to $5,500 at Walnut Hills) plus metered power | Nightly rate (from the high $40s), higher on holidays and waterfront sites |
| Your RV | Stays on the site all season and over winter | Comes and goes with you |
| Setup | Once, in spring | Every trip |
| Site extras | Deck, shed, your own golf cart, lawn to keep up | Fire ring and picnic table; rent a golf cart if you want one |
| Flexibility | One park, one site, all season | Any park, any weekend you can book |
| Amenities and events | Same as everyone | Same as everyone |
| Best for | Families who camp most weekends within an hour or two of home | Occasional trips, travelers, first-timers |
What amenities do seasonal campers get?
At Walnut Hills, seasonal amenities are the campground’s amenities. Seasonal and nightly campers use the same spring-fed swimming lake and beach, the Wibit floating water park (free for all campers Tuesday through Thursday, a wristband fee Friday through Sunday), the fenced dog park, the Kangaroo Jumper, the arcade, the playgrounds and the weekend food trucks. Nothing is roped off for one group.
That’s deliberate. We don’t fund seasonals-only events, because the campground is at its best when seasonal families and weekend campers share the same pavilion. What has happened instead is better: seasonal campers now host their own events at the pavilions, a karaoke night for example, and invite the whole campground. If everyone’s welcome, the pavilion is free. Our team says these seasonal-hosted events grew noticeably this year.
What seasonals get that nightly campers don’t is the site itself: the RV stays set up, the deck and shed, the cart, free winter storage, and an online billing portal with autopay for site and power bills.
How does the cost compare?
The quick test is seasonal fee divided by your average nightly rate. If a weekend night averages around $60 after holiday premiums (an illustration, not a quote), a $3,500 Walnut Hills site breaks even near 58 nights, about 19 three-night weekends. The season has roughly 25 weekends, so a family that camps most of them, or spends part of the summer at the park, comes out ahead; a family that camps five weekends a year should stay nightly.
Count the extras honestly on both sides. Seasonals pay metered power, $19 per honey-wagon pump-out on gray-water sites (about six a season, from 2027), the $300 cart fee if they bring a cart, and optional lawn service at $65 a month. Nightly campers pay for golf cart rentals, $25 a night to bring their own cart, and often off-site RV storage at home. Our seasonal site fee guide works through the full math for both of our Michigan parks.
Pros and cons of seasonal camping
Pros
- No hitching, setup or teardown; the weekend starts when you park the car.
- Lower cost per weekend if you camp often, plus free winter storage.
- Your spot on the lake, the river or the back fence line is yours all season.
- A neighborhood: kids find the same friends every weekend, and grandparents get grandkids who ask to come back.
- Weekday access. Some seasonal families, teachers especially, stay most of the summer while a spouse commutes from the campground.
Cons
- You commit to one park. If you like exploring Michigan’s campgrounds, nightly is the better fit.
- Site upkeep is part of the deal. A mowed lawn and a washed, well-kept camper are what keep the whole park looking cared-for, and campers more than 15 years old get a quick review before they come in.
- The site is for the family on the agreement: someone named on it is there whenever it’s used, and visitors register at the store and pay day rates.
- A big payment in the fall (deposit by October 1, then six payments November through April).
Nightly’s trade-offs run the other way: total flexibility and no upkeep, but every trip includes setup, popular weekends fill early, and the per-night cost adds up for frequent campers.
Is seasonal camping the same as long-term camping?
Not quite. “Camping long term” covers three different things:
- A seasonal site: you rent the site for the season and come and go as you like. Your RV lives there; you don’t.
- A monthly stay: you camp continuously for 30 nights or more. The Oaks Campground offers a monthly discount of 25% off nightly rates on non-beachfront sites; Walnut Hills takes monthly stays at its regular nightly rates. See our monthly stays at The Oaks guide.
- Living at a campground: not an option at Michigan campgrounds. State rules keep campgrounds in tourism rather than housing, which is why sheds are limited to 99 square feet and mailboxes and rooms built onto campers aren’t allowed. Our guide to long-term camping in Michigan covers what is possible.
Who should go seasonal, and who should stay nightly?
Our team sees camping as a progression: a tent first, then RV weekends, then, for a lot of families, a seasonal site. A seasonal site makes sense when:
- You already camp most weekends and you keep coming back to the same park.
- You live within a comfortable drive. Walnut Hills seasonals come mostly from Flint and Genesee County, Lansing, the north Detroit suburbs and the Saginaw, Bay City and Owosso area.
- Your kids would rather see the same friends every weekend than see a new campground.
- You’re tired of paying for RV storage and spending Friday night setting up.
Stay nightly when you camp a few times a year, you like variety, or you want to test a park first. We’ve also welcomed back seasonal families who tried another park for a year and returned because their kids had more to do here. Price matters, and so does what fills a weekend.
How to try a seasonal site before you commit
- Book a nightly stay, ideally Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday, so you see a quiet weekday and a full weekend. The Wibit is free midweek.
- Walk the sections you’d consider. Lakefront (sites 101 to 103) and river frontage (27 to 42) are the premium seasonal spots. The back fence line (74 to 170B) has no rear neighbors, a 30-foot band of old-growth trees, and a farm field where deer graze most mornings. The site map on the map and rules page shows them.
- Talk to seasonal neighbors at the pavilion on a Saturday night.
- Call the office. Seasonal sign-ups aren’t done by email; a team member talks through what you want and matches you to the right part of the park. Premium sites go first every year, so ask early.
Seasonal vs nightly FAQ
Can I switch from nightly to seasonal partway through the season?
Yes, if a site is open. In-season sign-ups are prorated so you pay only for the part of the season that’s left.
Can I reserve a seasonal site for part of the season?
Seasonal sites are sold for the full season. For a longer stay without a seasonal agreement, The Oaks offers monthly stays with a 30-night minimum.
Do seasonal campers have to move the RV when they leave?
No. The RV stays on the site all season and over the winter if you’re returning.
What’s the difference between public and private campgrounds here?
Michigan state park campgrounds cap stays at 15 nights in peak season and don’t offer seasonal sites. Public parks are funded and priced differently (fees, the Recreation Passport and public capital investment) and offer fewer on-site amenities; a private park pays for its amenity stack, staff and utilities through the site rate, and can offer seasonal sites. Our guide to private vs public campgrounds compares them.
Is a “seasonal pitch” the same thing?
Yes. “Pitch” is the British word for a campsite, so a seasonal pitch is a seasonal site.
