Bay Ridge RV Park & Campground

We enjoyed this quiet little campground. It is a bit off the beaten path, just outside of the town of Garden (teeny, no-stop-light/no-grocery kind of town) down a gravel road. It was very clean, and we had full hook ups, plus a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan. Campers seemed to gather on the road to watch the sun go down over the lake in the evenings. Our kids thought the big windmill farm all around was neat. There was no cell service here for Verizon, and the WIFI was pretty spotty/unreliable. The lots are not all level, as the campground is built on a slight hillside. It took us just a few tries to get level enough for our rig, but I could see how some rigs on some sites would really struggle. We enjoyed visiting the nearby Fayette Historic Town & Harbor.

We arrived for our 7-day stay with high expectations as this CG was highly recommended by a member of our RV owners’ group. The website and email gave us precise instructions on where to turn off the main road to get to the CG so be sure to follow those instructions versus GPS. We picked up our welcome package at the unmanned office (due to COVID) and proceeded to pull thru site 24 with FHUs. The turns to the sites were tight due to trees but doable. Getting into pull thru site 24 was tight and we had to back and adjust forward to get placed on utilities. The $39 per night for a week’s stay included the 50 AMP fee. The price w/out the 50 AMP fee would have been $34. We normally do not use the Pros/Cons format in our reviews, but due to our mixed feelings on this CG we want to be fair.

PROs: Sites had a large picnic table and the largest fire pit we’ve seen to date, lake views on many of the sites, no formal dog area but could let the dogs run in a large farmer’s field at the CG turn in, there’s a path down the hill from the CG to Dock Bar and Grill that had excellent food, Garden Golf Course 1/2 mile away, WiFi was above average, & CG was well off the main road so no highway noise.

CONs: Some sites had utilities on the wrong side, not much for kids to do/no playground (actually a Pro for us), there were only 3 sites (27, 26 w/great lake view or 12, but no lake view) that provided privacy and spaciousness, 1 bar each Verizon and AT&T, poor water pressure & no direct water access for fishing or kayaking.

A lot of locals enjoyed this CG and came yearly to socialize, which this CG was well suited with many sites’ fire pits sitting right on the road. We verified with camp host FedEx & UPS do deliver to the CG, but for USPS post office in town will provide general delivery address. This campground worked okay for a one time visit to the area.

This appears to be a fairly new RV park and seems to be well maintained. The sites are situated on a hill that provides a nice three-dimensional aspect, but our site, was not level and it took all of our "orange blocks" to get close.

Moreover, the sewer drain was uphill from our site and was so close to the level of our black tank connection I ended up having to disconnect our sewer hose from the trailer and "walk" the end over to the park drain to get the hose emptied. And this is despite using our Camco Sewer Hose Support along with a few large flat rocks.

As with most of the RV parks we've visited, there is very little space or privacy between sites. For many sites, though, there is a view of a sheltered picturesque bay on Lake Michigan. We were also surprised by the view from the park including a few of the huge utility windmills as well, but we're fine with those -- we just didn't expect to see them.

Access is good and I saw a number of large fifth wheels coming and going although the last mile or so is down a dirt road. I rated the noise as two stars due to the proximity of all the sites and lack of any meaningful trees or other barriers and for a time, someone quite a few sites from ours was "sharing their music" with everyone else. The bathrooms and other facilities were closed due to Covid but the onsite restaurant, which we did not visit, was open and apparently busy. We had little to no Verizon signal until we turned on our WeBoost cell booster but then despite having one or two bars of boosted Verizon LTE, the cellular signal was virtually useless for data, probably because Verizon's network in that area was swamped with traffic. The park does have WiFi, and once connected, it would occasionally work alright, especially in the morning when the other campers weren't all trying to stream Netflix.

For a couple seeking peace, quiet, beauty and seclusion, this is paradise. For a family looking to reconnect, also a great choice. For parents wanting kids activities, this is not your place. Mom loved our site #13, it felt like we were in the Porcupine Mountains! There are some excellent sunrise and sunset spots. Well designed and engineered campsite, not one site on top of another, and EVERY site is full hook up. Clean landscaping but yet retaining that forest feel. And the restaurant just down the short path is a great plus. Staff super friendly, good menu and also well designed / furnished.