Are you in search of a quiet, secluded retreat on your tenting enjoyable? Consider tenting at Michigan’s Clear Lake State Park.
This 290-acre State Park, situated inside the Mackinaw State Forest, contains an expansive lake with sandy seashores, trails for mountaineering, mountain biking, snowboarding, snowmobiles, and a lot extra. It gives scenic routes the place you will notice plentiful wildlife, resembling deer, elk, black bears, and so forth.
Keep studying to be taught the whole lot you want to know on your Clear Lake State Park tenting journey!
History
Established in 1966, Clear Lake State Park is situated within the Mackinaw State Forest, which consists of 258,000 acres of State-owned land.
Home to an unlimited array of wildlife, the park is understood for its elk inhabitants, which may be seen and heard all through the world.
Elk have been native to Clear Lake State Park after they disappeared from Michigan almost 100 years in the past. Starting in 1918, elk populations have been reintroduced to the park, and now they are often present in abundance.
What to Expect When Camping at Clear Lake State Park
Clear Lake State Park options 290 acres of secluded land, with a 133-acre lake accessible for numerous leisure actions. The park is contained in the Mackinaw State Forest, dwelling to biodiverse wildlife and flowers.
The park covers about two-thirds of the Clear Lake shoreline. The water close to the shore is fairly shallow, so it’s good for letting your kiddos wade round within the water on the 300-foot-long seaside. Along with swimming, the seaside space gives water snowboarding, jet snowboarding, boating, and extra leisure actions.
Pets are allowed in your tenting journey to Clear Lake State Park, however they should be saved on a leash not than 6 ft lengthy, and their proprietor should accompany them always. Pets should not allowed inside buildings or on the seaside.
Fees
A recreation passport is required to enter all state parks in Michigan, and to entry recreation areas, State boat launches, campgrounds, and State path parking tons.
This passport will value you $13 for normal automobiles and $7 for bikes and mopeds. There can be a business car choice for $20.
Your recreation passport is legitimate for one yr after buy, with the choice to buy a two-year passport. If you wait till you arrive on the park to buy your passport, you’ll pay a $5 comfort charge for entry.
Michigan State Parks even have tips for tenting and different in a single day lodging charges, so analysis these charges earlier than you head out!
Clear Lake State Park Camping
Registration and Access
You is not going to be granted entry to the park or any areas inside it with out your recreation passport, so don’t overlook it! It can’t be bought on-line so you will have to buy it on the entrance to the park on the day of your outing.
These passports are legitimate for a yr and as much as two years, if requested. They are legitimate for all Michigan State Parks.
Campgrounds
Clear Lake State Park Campgrounds has 200 campsites, starting from small to giant, and even a small cabin is on the market for reservation. Six visitors per website are allowed, and there may be sufficient parking house for six automobiles.
Campers can spend as much as 15 consecutive nights on the Clear Lake State Park Campgrounds and should make reservations as much as six months forward.
The campgrounds have websites for tent tenting, RV tenting, a mix of the 2, and group tenting, and there may be additionally a cabin on the grounds that you may reserve forward of time.
Camping at Clear Lake State Park is on the market from April by means of November. Campground facilities embrace restroom services with flushing bogs and showers, electrical hookups, and ingesting water.
The campgrounds additionally supply firewood for buy on your campfires. The space encompasses a playground, picnic space, horseshoe courts, and extra.
Activities and Recreation
Fishing
Fishing is on the market when tenting at Clear Lake State Park, within the 100-foot-deep spring-fed, glowing clear waters. Several fish species have been added to the lake, however trout and smallmouth bass are your more than likely catches.
Picnicking
The campgrounds at Clear Lake State Park embrace a picnicking space outfitted with hearth pits, firewood accessible for buy, and grills.
Activities to Enjoy When Camping at Clear Lake State Park
Boating/Waterskiing
Break out the jet skies, water skies, and boats! Clear Lake State Park has two paved launch websites for boating entry to Clear Lake. There are canoes, kayaks, and rowboats accessible for summer season rental.
Swimming
Sunbathe on the 300-foot-long white, sandy seaside or take a dip within the crystal clear water. The designated swimming space has shallow spots good for young children to wade in and splash round.
Metal Detecting
Camping at Clear Lake State Park is exclusive as a result of it gives a not often acknowledged leisure exercise – metallic detecting!
When completed correctly, with out inflicting harm to pure or cultural assets within the park, metallic detecting is a enjoyable exercise to take pleasure in at this park. It is necessary to notice that your findings are topic to evaluation by park employees and may be confiscated for an investigation if essential.
Trails
Hiking/Biking
There are two trailheads within the State Park: Clear Lake Scenic, which is a 48-mile scenic route the place you’ll be able to observe the native and migrating wildlife; and Clear Lake-Canada Creek Nature Trail, which is 4.5 miles lengthy and is on the market for mountaineering and mountain biking.
There is entry to over 70 miles of mountaineering trails from the trailheads. The Canada Creek Trail Loop gives 4 miles of trails excellent for mountain biking, however hikers additionally use them, so warning is necessary.
Cross-Country Skiing
During the winter months, the paths can be found for cross-country snowboarding, however it’s important to recollect that you’re sharing the identical trails with hikers, cross-country bikers, snowmobiles, and different campers.
Snowmobiling
The trails are nice for snowmobiles when coated in a blanket of snow. Keep a watch out for skiers, hikers, and cyclists.
Relax and Unwind Camping at Clear Lake State Park
From miles and miles of winding trails with attractive surroundings to the 300-mile-long white, sandy seashores, Clear Lake State Park has just a little one thing for the entire household to take pleasure in.
Interested in studying about different state parks to go to? Check out the State Park Camping part of our web site!