Plan Your Stay at The Oaks: Arrival, Rules and FAQs

Check-in and check-out

Check-in is 2:00 PM and check-out is 11:00 AM. Our team uses the time between to get sites ready. If your site is open the night before or after, you can add early check-in (10 AM–2 PM) or late check-out (11 AM–5 PM) for a flat fee.

The license-plate gate (live for 2027)

A license-plate gate is being installed at The Oaks and goes live for the 2027 season, the same system our guests already use at Walnut Hills. We collect your plate when you book, so you’re checked in before you arrive: drive up, the gate opens for your plate, and you head straight to your site. No Friday-evening line at the store. The gate also keeps the park limited to registered guests and visitors, which helps parents feel comfortable letting kids ride ahead to the beach or the fishing lake.

Arriving after hours? Call the store ahead of time to pre-check in, and we’ll activate your plate. Until the gate is live, follow the arrival instructions in your confirmation. Each site includes one vehicle; extra vehicles park in the lot and are registered and paid for at the store.

The camp store

The store at the front of the park stocks what campers forget: groceries and snacks, ice, firewood, pop, bait (including worms) and fishing supplies, camping gear, RV upkeep supplies, and hats, shirts and sweatshirts. It also has hand-scooped and novelty ice cream and tie-dye shirts. Pick up your Aquaglide wristbands here, and rent a golf cart for the trails. We don’t loan fishing rods, so bring your own.

Firewood: buy it here

Please don’t bring firewood from home. We sell local firewood at the store and will deliver it to your site. Firewood moved from other areas can carry insects and diseases, like emerald ash borer and oak wilt, that kill healthy trees. The State of Michigan advises never moving firewood more than 10 miles from where it was cut. If you’re coming from Ohio, Indiana or another state, note that beginning January 1, 2027, untreated firewood may no longer be brought into Michigan. Our old-growth oaks are what give the park its name and its shade, and we want them here for generations.

Campfires belong in the fire ring on your site. Keep them attended and put them out fully before bed.

Golf carts

Rentals: rent a golf cart by the day at the store; reserve ahead online or by phone, or ask when you arrive. Rates are dynamic, and multi-day rentals get a much better daily rate. A cart is the best way to explore our 120 acres of trails through forest and grassland.

Bringing your own: electric carts only. Short-term campers pay a $25 per night pass, show proof of golf cart liability insurance and sign a waiver; we’ll give you a window sticker. The park carries its own insurance so guests can have carts, and the pass helps cover it. Golf carts are the only motorized vehicles allowed on our trails.

Carts park for the night at dark, because headlights shine into camper windows and it’s harder to see kids and walkers. Golf carts can’t get to Haehnle Sanctuary, but you can hike from our back trails to the back side of the sanctuary; the public viewing area is a short drive out the front of the park. More in our golf cart guide.

Visitors

Friends and family are welcome. Visitors check in and register at the store, and a small fee applies; there are passes for a day visit to your site, for the beach and water areas, and for overnight guests. Visitors leave by 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday and 8:30 PM on weeknights unless they’re registered overnight. State rules limit how many people can be on each site and in the park, and registration keeps us within those limits.

Dogs at The Oaks

• Dogs stay leashed in the campground.
• They can run off leash in the dog run at the front of the park and on the back trails, as long as they’re under your control.
• Dogs can swim in the fishing lake, which is downstream of the swim lake, but not at the swim beach or in the swim lake.
• No pets in the store or other buildings, and please don’t leave a dog alone outside. Clean up after your pet.
• We don’t restrict breeds, but any dog that shows aggressive behavior must leave the park.

More tips in our guide to pet-friendly RV camping at The Oaks.

Quiet hours and the 5 mph speed limit

Quiet hours are 11 PM to 8 AM. Families with little ones go to bed early, and the quiet is one of the things guests praise most about The Oaks. Kids and bikes are back at the site by dusk, and night security helps keep evenings calm.

The speed limit is 5 mph everywhere, for cars, trucks, RVs and golf carts. With kids on bikes all over the park, 5 mph means a driver can always stop in time.

Bikes and e-bikes

Bikes are welcome everywhere, and mountain bikers can explore narrower single-track that the golf carts don’t use. E-bikes are allowed for adults only, and only pedal-assist models; throttle-only e-bikes behave like small motorcycles, and our insurer allows only pedal-assist bikes ridden by adults. ATVs, side-by-sides, minibikes, go-carts and motorcycles aren’t allowed on the trails.

No fireworks

Fireworks aren’t allowed at The Oaks, on holidays or any other time. A wooded campground full of tents, RVs, pets and small children isn’t the place for them. Our big holiday weekends bring a fishing contest, bike and golf cart parades, bingo and DJ Dave at the pavilion; see the events page.

Cancellations and changes

If you cancel more than two weeks before arrival, you’re refunded minus a cancellation fee of $15 or 15% of the reservation, whichever is greater. Within two weeks of arrival, reservations can’t be refunded or rescheduled, and we can’t refund early departures, weather or no-shows.

Here’s why: most summer weekends fill, and many families plan their season around a specific site. When we hold a site for you, we turn other families away, and with less than two weeks’ notice it’s very hard to rebook. One consistent policy keeps it fair for everyone.