Lake Macatawa Campground

The only remotely acceptable sites here are on the outer portion of the loops in Macatawa, where there is a modicum of privacy and site separation, and fortunately we had one of those. It wasn't particularly level, however. If we had an interior site we would have pulled out and found other accommodations. Sites are mostly just dirt (a few are paved) with little delineation or separation, and campers were on top of each other. Campers had laundry lines hanging from trees, many sites with multiple vehicles, and it was totally chaotic. This park had the close proximity of a commercial campground but without any rule enforcement, so basically the worst of both worlds. Camp hosts were not a visible presence, and there were plenty of sites left in a poor condition for the next campers to deal with (especially picnic tables moved to spots that would make it very hard to park). The bathhouse was nice, however, with newer facilities and individual unisex shower rooms.

The park amenities are also not great. The beach area is pretty small considering how many visitors there are in the summer and the swimming area was limited to a tiny roped-off area close to shore with thigh-deep water. There is a woodsy trail around Mount Pisgah that can be accessed from the campground, which we liked, but it's only a mile long. Overall, this was a terrible value at $38 weekdays / $41 weekends.

The campground by the beach is literally a parking lot, but it's paved and sites are striped, so there's that.

The site was a little bit unlevel, had to use 2-inch levelers. Pine Loops has more trees, more shaded and sites are more spaced out. The bathroom building is nice, it is a newer bathroom with 6 unisex showers. The Woodstock loop is more open. We did not check the bathroom at this loop. The CG has a nice foot path thru the loops. There is a barrier-free path just outside the CG, which leads to the beach, about .6 miles. Good for biking or walking. This is nice campground if you want to visit Holland, MI. But I expect, it gets very busy on the weekends.

This state park is ‘dry’. No alcohol allowed.

Very well maintained campground with newly paved roads and clearly marked sites. Bathhouses are in great shape as well. The sites are all shaded, however you are sandwiched in with everyone else, if you are just here for an overnight its fine, but aware you will not have much privacy. Seems a bit pricey for a state park @ $38/night and Michigan makes you purchase a passport to enter any state park so for out of staters its $9/day or a yearly pass of $33.

You are right close to Lake Michigan and the beach with amazing views and a lighthouse is just a quick drive away. I will warn you it is very tourist laden so that short drive could take 20 mins in traffic but worth the trip.

The campground is ok if you don't want privacy. It was full the entire time lots of big family reunions. We love family & kids but it was over the top. We were fairly close to the playground and the kids played late & very early in the morning so no sleeping in. I'm glad we stayed in this campground not the beach campground they have it's a paved parking lot, hot & no privacy.

Our site was big but the neighbor behind us had a tent up behind their camper & it was in our site so we couldn't back in like we wanted to. It's a noisy campground, yet everyone is having fun.

The beach is close, it's a very busy beach, we went in & walked the dock getting pictures of the famous lighthouse, people were flying big kites 50 foot long it was cool to see. When we left we drove through the beach campground I'm so glad I didn't book there it's really a parking lot. We went to leave & the line coming in to the beach was so long and they fill up parking space wise. If you camp at the beach campground keep that in mind.

There are three options to camp at Holland State Park: Beach Campground (very close to the beach but with no views of it and basically a huge paved parking lot with NO privacy), the Woodstock Loop and the Pines Loop (both of these are about a mile from the beach). We stayed in the Pines and the sites are fairly generous in size with some of them paved and some with 50 amp electric (others have 30). No sewer or water which we did not need. The bath house in this section is probably the cleanest in the campground I’ve ever seen! Best to arrive before park personnel leave (if you don’t have a reservation), otherwise you have to use the dreaded yellow phone to secure a site! (Cannot pay for same night on line or by cell phone) after 5pm!

We escaped the late-September heat with a trip to the beach at Holland State Park. I grew up in the area and this was my first return to Holland State Park since the late-1980s. If you’ve never been a Lake Michigan Beach, it is a wonderful experience and one you won’t regret. Holland State Park was every bit as enjoyable as it was when I was a teenager. We debated between the Beach Campground and the Lake Macatawa Campground and since we were meeting another full-time Airstream Family, we decided on Lake Macatawa because of the bigger sites, newer restroom facilities, and individual fire pits. The Beach Campground, while closer and easy walking distance to the beach, is located in what is essentially a large parking lot and does not offer a view of the beach. The Lake Macatawa CG is approximately one mile from the beach and is an easy walk/bike via the Ottawa Beach Road bike trail.

We stayed in the newer Pines Loop of the Lake Macatawa CG. The sites are all very large and provide ample opportunity to spread out. While the loop is called The Pines, it isn’t really in the woods; there are several pine trees scattered around, but they don’t provide much privacy between campsites. Most sites are a combination of sand, dirt, and grass. You do hear a fair amount of background noise from Ottawa Beach Road, the Lake Michigan channel (boats), and the nearby restaurant (ventilation and A/C), but it wasn’t overwhelming during our stay—it may be a different story in the middle of a summer weekend. The highlight of the Pines loop is clearly the Bathhouse. It is the nicest State Park Bathhouse we’ve seen in 16-months of fulltime travel. We never visited the other bathhouses, so I can’t comment on them.

Like most Michigan State Parks, the sites in the Lake Macatawa CG had electric (we managed to secure 50amp sites for us and our friends), but no water or sewer hook-ups. If full hook-ups are a priority, then head down the road to the Beach Campground which has several with water and sewer. The Lake Macatawa dumpstation has two holes and can be accessed from either direction. It is small and quickly fills up during the checkout window.

If you’re not a state resident, Michigan State Parks can be pricey because of the daily access fee. A non-resident pass can be purchased for a little over $30 and will pay for itself with a few uses.

There are several dining options nearby and downtown Holland is less than 6-miles away and provides a great brewery (New Holland), some good dining, and lots of shopping. The local Farmers’ Market was one of the best ones we’ve visited and is well worth the drive (close to downtown Holland).

Most recent stay was 6/30/16 - I'm "late" in posting my review ~ We camp in a Little Rig “Tear Drop” style RV only 15' long w/o toilet or shower ~ plus we like to eat outdoors using the picnic table and set up our dining canopy for sun and weather protection and thus rely on condition of campgrounds facilities and being nearby our site ~ so our critique is focused in that area.

We were close to restroom/shower building which were ok and typical of state park. No hooks or shelves for your stuff but shower stalls were separate private rooms accessed from outside separate door (unisex style) all tiled walls w/small bench but no rubber mats on floor (wear your clogs). Access to toilets and community sink area through separate door. Area was very messy and dirty – didn’t have hooks or shelves for your stuff – no paper towels for visitors use to clean up after themselves – only air dryer and probably reason for it being messy – not a pleasant experience . .

Park was very crowded during our stay; sites very close together/cramped very minimal privacy between sites not typical of state park. Gravel site pads fairly level asphalt interior roads.

Disclaimer: As I write this review it occurred to me that there might be 2 sections (old & new) and most likely we were in older section sites 117 thru 172 [Woodstock loop]? I Believe the Pine Loop Sites 001 thru 116 might be larger w/more privacy not squeezed and restroom/showers were more modern.