Orchard Beach State Park

Packed in, no views from campsite

On a map, this campground looks ideal - right along the shores of Lake Michigan! But we were highly disappointed when we pulled in after a long days drive.

The campground is a big long loop of multiple lanes of very tightly packed in sites with little distinction between them. Most of them are back-to-back, giving little sense of privacy.

And aside from a handful of sites at the very end that peak over the bluffs, none of a water view. The campground itself is pretty mundane. But it's history is pretty interesting, it did used to be an apple orchard and was turned into a travel park in the 1920s and 30s by the state.

The electric pedestal at our site was very far away - on the other side of our neighbors site. We were unable to reach it, but yet were charged for an electric site anyway. Disappointing.

The beauty to this park is the beachfront below the bluffs, and there's a huge staircase leading down to it.

Our Verizon and AT&T signals were both intermittent. It was an ok stop for a night, but not our ideal sort of location.