McLain State Park

We visited McLain SP while traveling through the Michigan Upper Peninsula and around Lake Superior. The park is located directly on Lake Superior and provides wonderful views and sunsets over the lake. There is a dog friendly beach at the far end of the park which we walked to via some small trails, but you can also drive there if you choose. There is a lot of erosion in what appears to be the older section of the park directly on the lake front, so they have closed those sites for camping, but now that area provides a peaceful and an enjoyable walking path. There are tete-a-tete chairs along the water front so you can just sit back and enjoy nature. The park is a great location to day trip up to Copper Harbor (be sure to take route 26 along the water edge and enjoy the views), or back into the towns of Houghton/Hancock. The Sites are all divided with trees/bush. We had enough room for 36' RV, tow dolly, and car - but it is tight. You may need an extension cord for electric hook up as the pedestal was located 30+ feet away from pad. Our site was 30A only. We use Verizon but no service at camp site - need to go into town (20 min drive) to get cell service.

Highly disappointed in Park. The views are great. The campsites in the new section not yet open look good. Enjoyed riding my bike on camp main road. But where we stayed the site had not been cleaned and we had to ask them to take out the garbage in the fire pit.

There was only one modern restroom. The closes to our site was a set of vault toilets that you could smell 2 sites away! Noticed this while riding my bike by they area - seriously they can be well maintained!! To get to restroom most people ride their bike or drive. So much for good environmental practices! They are new but they are not well maintained. Again this is too bad.

Kids were riding bikes everywhere, even through our site. Also walked into a kid as I stepped out of the van. Had I been plugged into electric, there would have been kids running over my cord the whole time.

Camped first week of May, 2019
Booked the park because it was the only campground open this early in the season.
Reserved a site for up to 35 foot rigs. Our 35 foot fifth wheel fit nicely and was easy to back in.
Our site had a great view of Lake Superior, and we were only about 30 yards from the shore/path. Sites are wooded, and spacious.
Due to the early time we stayed, the water and dump station were not open yet.
The rangers let us fill our water from the hose on the guard shack.
Out houses were open, and quite nice. They were checking them every morning and clean and stocked.
Just in case you haven’t visited the area this time of year, we had snow the night we left (May 9th). It was chilly and our furnace ran every night.
There are nice paths and you can walk them down to the breakers.
Cell coverage without a booster wasn’t great. You could go to the path by the shore and pick up one bar of LTE or 3G, but in the sites, it was non-existent.

This is a beautiful area with easy access to Calumet, Houghton, Copper Harbor, waterfalls, and Lake Superior. The campground is OK. The sites close to bathroom are crowded and very open. The sites further away are nicely separated with asphalt pads. The lakefront sites are first come first serve. Shower/bathroom facilities are in fair condition and only one building for large CG. There is one vault toilet (kind of nasty) in a central location.They are preparing to undergo renovations. Another review mentions that you'll need a long electrical cord. Our cord was not long enough but the park had long cords available for free checkout. Michigan state parks require a DNR pass for nonresidents $9/day or $32 for annual. The balance of the park is nice with trails, Lake Superior access and nice walkway for viewing the sunset.

Popular state park all late summer into autumn leaf peeping time. Mainly grass sites, some asphalt and gravel. As of 2012 they were getting ready for a major revamp of all sites.

Bring long extension chords if you want elec. Water and dump station available. Popular and expensive if not a state resident and/or have annual pass. Outstanding Lake views make up for this.