Marquette Tourist Park Campground

We stayed in the city-owned park for two nights late September. Our spot was in a great wooded spot with easy electric hookup. The staff were super nice. Didn’t use the showers or bathrooms, but the campground was very clean. The weather was lousy so we couldn’t ride bikes on the trails. We did walk on some lovely trails to the lake and enjoyed walk along the shore during a wild rainy, windy day. There were some trains passing by, but weren’t too loud. The maintenance shops nearby were a bit noisy. Cell service was good, but WiFi was weak.

Stayed here for 5 nights in September. We had an electric-only site tucked back in the trees. Privacy was great. Campground was quiet by day but the trains nearby were pretty loud at night. The showers are old and could use some help but the water was hot and that’s what matters! Loved being close to town for groceries and going out to eat. Good cell signal, too.

The park was easy to find. There is pavement all the way. The interior roads are. Signage is adequate. Check in was efficient and friendly. The rules are fairly basic.

Our site, 58, was a back in that was just long enough for our Coach and Towed. Services (30 amp, water and sewer) were to the left side. Distancing is good for an urban park. Some sites had a vegetation privacy barrier but very few. Each site has a table and a fire pit. Our site was flat and even. Overall the park was neat and tidy.

The park included wifi worked well enough for e mail and browsing. The is no cable TV. We did find a few OTA TV. Satellite might be difficult because of the trees if you don’t have a portable dish. We did not use the washrooms or showers but we checked and found them clean.

There are trails from the park as well as a beach.

There are no restaurants or stores within easy walking distance but just a short drive away you can find food, shopping and convenience stores. We found this park to be a great overnighter. We paid $40.00 per night plus a $5.00 reservation fee and we feel we received good value. We will be back if in the area.

The campground is really close to the NMU campus. That’s a positive. Also the sunset over the water was gorgeous.

But there was little privacy afforded at this campground. The bathrooms and shower stalls were dirty. And it appeared as though fellow campers were experiencing homelessness. We left after one night to go somewhere else.

This is a great campground to stay in if you want to explore Marquette. Close to the bike path and Presque Isle. We stayed for 14 days and biked 180 miles. Campground is busy, but quiet with a great staff. Some of the sites are difficult to figure out where to pull in and hook up to amenities. This isn’t too big of a deal though.

Would definitely stay again.

I love this place. I actually live in Marquette, and yet camp here anyway a few minutes from home. I have camped in Tourist Park (what a terrible name for a campground!) twice in a small tent during the Hiawatha Music Festivals, and once car camped to make sure sleeping in my SUV was going to work with my new set up. (Just in case I forgot something so I could quickly drive back home and get it before taking off on my trip). It is so close to everything! You can easily bike, or drive of course, to anywhere in and around Marquette. I like the sites away from the water best as many of them are larger and slightly more private.

In the winter when there is no camping this is a wonderful dog park:)

Location was great for downtown, hiking and mountain biking trails. Waterside campsite layouts were tight with zero privacy and awkward fire pit placements. Exception was site 13 which was very private. If we stayed again would choose outer loop sites furthest away from water. In addition, there were limited showers and poor timing by staff who cleaned during peak use hours 8-9 am. Would not stay again.

Only downside first: the sewer hook up is on the passenger side. Water and electric, on driver side, are very far apart. Our water hose & electric cable we’re pulled out to max to be able to reach the sewer with 2 sewer hoses linked together. Be prepared!
Our experience based one one night transit stay. We dropped out tow loaded with vehicle in a grassy field per helpful suggestion from reception staff, so we were able to unhook and back in to our site with ease. Our site was next to boathouse, very clean and well-maintained. Loved the campground, would stay again.

Stayed here one night at the end of September, and took advantage of the location to resupply. Park is crowded with little to no distance or privacy between sites. Several other campers had dogs running loose, including one that nipped at somebody riding a bike. The Marquette PD made at least two patrols through the park that I saw; don't know if that's a regular occurrence or if something special was going on.

The water here, and farther up the peninsula has a subtle but unmistakable taste to it that we don't care for and ended up buying some bottled water for our coffee. Water pressure was good, though, as was the electricity.

The big benefit to this place is its location: Meijer, Target, Menards, Best Buy, and Walmart are all just over five minutes away. The best thing, though, is Vango's Pizza is also only about five minutes away.