Carp River Campground, St. Ignace, MI

Carp River Campground is located in the St. Ignace Ranger District, Hiawatha National Forest (2 hrs 23 min northeast of Traverse City, MI) with an elevation of 628 feet. There are a total of 20 campsites. The campground is normally open from mid May to the beginning of October. Sites can accommodate RVs and trailers between 25 and 45 feet. All sites are currently reservable. Reservations can be booked up to 6 months in advance. There is a fee of $20.00 per night. Activities include biking, fishing, hiking trails.

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Campsite Reviews (35)

4.2 out of 5

5 star		54%
4 star		20%
3 star		6%
2 star		11%
1 star		3%

@KristoferD84F1 · Camped on Aug 12, 2024 at Campsite #6

A beautiful campground with big well wooded sites.

@Christoph47204 · Camped on Jul 26, 2024 at Campsite #19

Hidden gem, nice camp ground: small, and isolated spaces, providing more privacy for each site. Water and pit toilets, not the worst facilities Ive encountered while camping, but unfortunately the campground staff didnt make an effort to clean or replenish toilet paper or sanitizer on a consistent basis. I intermittently saw the campground host making rounds but had not direct interaction with him. No firewood is sold at this location. In spite of the cleanliness of the restrooms, I would still recommend this campground, due to its proximity to St.-Ignace, expressway and camp ground layout.

@TracyB1260578 · Camped on Jul 4, 2024 at Campsite #13

Beautiful campground! Some sites are right on the river.

@RyanM4917925 · Camped on Sep 21, 2022 at Campsite #17

Campground hosts were very rude and their site appeared as though I was coming to stay at a trailer park. Made the whole place look very run down, had 2 trailers parked there and at least 4 cars at one point. I enjoy camping at campgrounds, but it felt like coming to stay in someone’s personal yard- especially with the way they acted. We have stayed here many times but it just keeps getting worse and worse.

@MichaelJ550489 · Camped on Aug 15, 2022 at Campsite #18

It's a quiet, well-maintained campground located close St. Ignace and lots of other attractions in the area, like Les Cheneux islands where we kayaked, or the "Narnia" that doesn't seem to be on any map but all the locals tell you about. Spent two nights there, will come back next year.

@ChandraK791005 · Camped on Aug 1, 2022 at Campsite #9

Sites very clean. Toilets vwere VERY well maintained. 4G from Verizon throughout. Not to easy to access river with kids, very close but steepish. Would definitely go back.

@JimS2180263 · Camped on Jul 29, 2022 at Campsite #7

Private sites, good spacing between them. Clean area and pit toilet was clean as well. Convenient water stations, water tasted great. Camp host Randy is a good worker and reps an eye on things well. There is a free dump station about 10 minutes away as the Casino outside of St. Ignacio. Looking forward to another stay here.

@ThomasD6597226 · Camped on Jul 20, 2022 at Campsite #9

Beautiful campground. Spacious, wooded, quiet, private sites, plenty of space between you and your neighbors. We were in Site 9 and it was gorgeous. Easy access to drinking water. We chose a site along the Carp River, but there wasn’t really easy access to the water. We didn’t bring the kayaks this trip, so we were ok with that, but don’t plan on putting in the river from the campground. The biggest negative was the pit toilets. We were in the middle of the campground, and the only toilets were quite a walk to either end of the campground. That was easy enough to get over, but the stench of the toilets was just too much. We rustic camp. A lot. I’ve been in hundreds of pit toilets, and NEVER have I smelled one as disgusting as these were. They appeared clean, but the smell was overwhelming. Just one more comment, neither positive nor negative, just left us with a bad taste. The people camping one site down and across the road stopped by our site as they were leaving and said they left quite a lot of wood for the next campers, and we were welcome to it. Within 15 minutes after they left, the camp hosts rolled up in their golf cart with a trailer and scooped up all the wood that they had left behind for the next campers. It just didn’t sit right.

@MikeS6104174 · Camped on Jul 14, 2022 at Campsite #20

Located just north of Michigan's Mackinaw Bridge. Quiet, with easy access from I-75. This is a good place to overnight before continuing your Upper Peninsula travels.

@JenniferM11870 · Camped on Jun 23, 2022 at Campsite #8

So this campground is beautiful and quiet and the sites were nice and roomy. However the bugs were horrible from the moment we stepped out of the car. So bad that we spent very little time at the site. We were there for the car show anyway. On the second night it rained down bright green pollen from the pine trees and covered everything, it was so thick in the air the next morning it looked like green snow. We left early again that day and it was raining when we got back so the air was better by then, however taking down a wet tent covered in wet mushy pollen did a number on my allergies for weeks after. But like I said, beautiful site, another time if year might be better.

@ArnoldK1294067 · Camped on May 15, 2022 at Campsite #7

Up to Friday before scheduled to camp, received emails to be sure and make reservation day May 15. When I arrived campground was closed and remained closed for two days. I camped out in parking lot for two days. There were no courtesy calls to cancell. I drove 300 miles for nothing.

@MicahW663 · Camped on Oct 2, 2021 at Campsite #6

Great place to get away, great centralized place to set up camp to go fishing at the river and other rivers

@AliceH828 · Camped on Sep 16, 2021 at Campsite #15

Large sites, always very clean, Camp host are wonderful, loaner games for kids to play. Just a beautiful place to stay.

@KamieW793 · Camped on Sep 10, 2021 at Campsite #13

The campground was very clean. Outhouses kept clean and stocked. Host/Hostess friendly. As with other rustic campgrounds I’ve camped, the 10pm quiet hour was not adhered to. I would attempt to camp here again despite that because of the location and cleanliness of the campground.

@GregB810 · Camped on Aug 12, 2021 at Campsite #10

Arrived August 12th ‘21 slipped right into our #10 camp sight found to be clean well kept. Fire pit dinning table all in great condition. Location close to river which had the access to the river been better we would have been able to launch our kayaks but as the grade we to steep we did not use them. Very surprised that the mosquitoes and ticks were very much nonexistent so we enjoyed both dinner and later fireside S’more’s not having done bug spray. Late night great time. Highly recommend this camp sight as it also was close to fly fishing spots along old logging roads.

@THOMASB911 · Camped on Aug 6, 2021 at Campsite #10

We had a fantastic time tent camping on site 10. Bathrooms were to be expected and I'm thankful for them. It was a joy seeing the camp host driving around, he waved to us as he passed. Campground is very well kept. I would 100% stay there again!

@StaceyM495 · Camped on Jul 30, 2021 at Campsite #7

Would have rated higher but all of the generators.

@MirandaM253 · Camped on Jul 26, 2021 at Campsite #13

We love staying at this campground. The host came around and was very friendly and the bugs weren’t even that bad!

@JonathanE180 · Camped on Jul 17, 2021 at Campsite #7

Easy in and out, easy to find and clean and well kept campground.

@AlanB911 · Camped on Jul 11, 2021 at Campsite #9

Nice enough and clean campground. But they were out of campfire wood and it was not clearly stated that you really could not access the river from the camp sites. Once you get down to it, there is a steep drop off that would be a struggle for most to get back up. If they make it down safely at that.

@TinaR992 · Camped on Jul 2, 2021 at Campsite #6

It was quiet for being close to a highway. Carp river was too shallow at spots to kayak, but it was July and we knew the water would be low. Still fun though, had to carry the kayaks over some downed trees too.

@DelaineC960 · Camped on Jun 27, 2021 at Campsite #6

Clean and very quiet. The camp host was very nice and helpful.

@AnneW227 · Camped on Jun 10, 2021 at Campsite #6

Our overall impression was disappointing. Although the campsites were private and well-designed for dispersed camping, the Carp River itself is a rather ugly brown due to the tannins in the water. It's not very scenic, after experiencing the lovely greens and blues of the Great Lakes. It is, however, a great place for mosquitoes, who were quite aggressive. The other downside to the campsite was that there aren't any trailheads or unique features to make your stay something to write home about. It's also within hearing distance of the Interstate, not that it was loud, but it was there. It wasn't a horrible experience, but it wasn't that great, either. Perhaps it is good fishing (?), but it was not what we were hoping for.

@DustinP475 · Camped on Sep 25, 2020 at Campsite #13

Good campground, it was nice a clean, sites need to be a little softer ground for tents had a hard time setting stakes but other than that great campground

@ErnestH972 · Camped on Sep 7, 2020 at Campsite #8

Bathrooms were very clean. Campground maintained well, Host was friendly.

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