Tawas Point State Park

My wife and I had a cabin up north here for fifteen years. I was born and raised in East Tawas. It had been four years since we sold our cabin and left for what we thought was for good. But we returned this summer to spend around sixteen nights in Tawas Point State Park. We were just kids when they built this campground. The trees were all small and there was no shade at all. Sixty years or so later things have changed. Last year there was extensive flooding and much of the beach was washed away. Birch trees and pines were drowned and died. Half the campground was flooded and they almost shut it down. The landscape had drastically changed. This year much of the beach has returned but it is likely not permanent. Still, the park is a special place for us and many memories live on.

We had never camped in this park prior to this trip. Because of the length of our stay we had to move four times, four different sites, but all in all it was a very good experience. Our biggest complaint are all the massive RV’s that park parallel to the road and make it dangerous for everybody, especially the kids on bicycles. It’s like driving through a tunnel at times. The showers were good, clean, and plenty of fresh water spigots were situated around the park. The dump station is a two-sided affair which gets plenty busy on the weekends so it is best to plan ahead or plan on getting in a very slow line.

There is plenty of good bicycle riding around the Point and a nice trail into town. Tourists like to shop on Newman Street. Restaurants were always pretty bad but there are a couple decent ones these days. The Tawas Bay Pizza Company and the craft beer joint called The Boathouse both have good food and are located in Tawas City. Out in National City is the iconic Rainbow Gardens which has Saturday night specials as well as bluegill and walleye on the menu. Their half-pound fresh hamburger is the best one in the area.

This campground was nice, but crowded on a weekend. Recommend staying during the week. Our site was large and very wide, but rude campers parked too many cars too close to road making things very tight for big rigs. Twice I had to ask people to move cars/trucks and bikes. Rangers need to enforce vehicle limits on site and have people move vehicles within 3 feet of road through campground so people can back into sites. The area is beautiful and light house area is very nice. There is a tiny crowded beach at the campground. East Tawas City downtown had some nice shopping and dining. A convenient stop over going from N to S or S to N while visiting MI.

We camped here over Labor Day weekend, so the campground was packed. Sites offer no privacy. I think ours was the most private site in the campground with one side being up against some bushes.

The walk to the lighthouse and the trail to the point is nice, in spite of all the mosquitoes.

We were disappointed by the "camper beach" and didn't realize that there was a bigger beach in the park until later in our stay. There is also a dog beach, that isn't big enough to play ball on but is nice if your dog wants to go swimming.

This is probably a great campground in the shoulder season, but next time I would try to get a spot at East Tawas City Park which has a wonderful beach and full hookups.

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