We stayed here over Memorial day. It`s an OK campground. We had a full hookup site. The hookups were in good shape. Was a little on the tight side for getting into, but OK. Most sites are shaded. No full hookups along the river. Not a lot to do here except for canoeing on the river which was fun, kids had a blast! They have an indoor pool which is small. It would be nice to also have an outdoor pool. They have a small minigolf which is run down. The space would be better served as an outdoor pool. We would go back again if in the area. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
It features friendly staff, a nice, woodsy type atmosphere. The sites are plenty big with lots of shade. We did a kayak trip and it was great. The weather was great, so we would have preferred an outside pool instead of the indoor pool, which is very loud when the kids are playing. We camped here in a Motorhome.
My family recently visited Indian Valley Campground and we all had an excellent time. We have a large age range in children and they all had something to do. The showers, restrooms and indoor swimming pool were all very clean. There are quite a lot of seasonals there, but the campground keeps them separate from the daily rentals so everyone can enjoy their privacy. The large playground was great and my younger children really enjoyed playing there. The pond with roped off. The beach was obviously for very little ones who were too small for the pool. The site we had was right next to the boat launch but we really were not bothered by it at all as there were scheduled times that it was being used. Just having the river right outside your camper made it all worth while. The staff and other guests were even giving our 12 year old son fishing tips. In all my whole family very much enjoyed our stay and plan on coming back again this summer. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This campground was mainly seasonal campers. And most of those campers were run down, dirty, and need to be retired. There were families living there in their van for weeks. The campsites are extremely close and there isn't much room to park your vehicle. There were A LOT of drunks and a lot of barking dogs. I would not recommend this campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Park has a nice indoor pool that is warm and a well equipped playground. Staff was courteous and friendly during check in. Sites in the full-hookup part of the campground (sites 100 - 118) have a row of trees/bushes that provide some shade/privacy from the adjoining sites and once on the sites they are grassy and spacious. This campground, however, was not designed to accommodate larger units. The roads and camp-site entrances are very narrow and trees close to the roads make it difficult to maneuver. I have a 34 foot travel trailer and found maneuvering into and out of a pull-through site to be very difficult. I do not believe I would be able to maneuver my trailer through or fit into any of the non full-hookup sites in the campground. There are many seasonal sites in this campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This review is a tough one. I must preface this by saying that we had a good time this weekend. First the good stuff. We had a nice site that was well shaded. We were right next to the play ground that also had a fairly nice sand volleyball court. This was nice because our young children spent a lot of time at the play ground. Indian Valley also has a canoe livery. On Saturday we took a 2.5 hour kayak trip down the river. My kids had a blast. Saturday night they also had a live band come in (according to seasonals this was the first time in 2 years). The band sounded good and it was fun. Now for some negatives. This campground is at least 80% seasonal. I mean were old campers go to die seasonals. There were a few nice campers, but for the most part the majority looked bad. The roads were very narrow. Some one would have to pull over to the side to let the other vehicle pass. This was a little aggravating try to maneuver a 31" fifth wheel. On their web site they advertise a beach, bur you could hardly call it a beach. There might have been 3 or 4 feet roped of for swimming with a water slide that didn't hit the water. We drove 45 min to Holland to visit a beach. With all of the other nice campground in Michigan, I don't think we will be back. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This is by far the best rustic campground on the face of the earth. Some sandy, some grass with 3 loops of 120 campsites. Lot's of woods and old oak trees 100 years old! I started camping here 5 years ago with the family and it is a true family campground. Rangers are very polite and well patrolled to ensure this stays a family setting. Each loop has a hand pump for water, and latrine. Park is well taken care of, not one leaf out of place! The Michigan Mountain Bike Association has done a wonderful job to make it one of the best 10.5 miles of riding. Please, if you walk the trails make sure you walk the same way as bike traffic. Make sure you stop at Sam's Joint and get a rack of rib's to cook over a open flame. Or Sunny Jim's pizza can deliver to your campsite as well. If you want to fall off the face of the earth than this is the place. You can also drive to the Gun Lake modern campground 4 miles away to take a hot shower, just tell the park ranger you are camping at deep lake. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
July 2008
$12
Deep Lake is the rustic campground in the Yankee Springs Recreation Area. Fantastic place to camp to "get away from it all". Most sites are in the deep woods along with a few more sunny sites. There are quite a few smaller sites or sites for tents only so be sure to check. Sites range from grassy to sandy and a few overlook the lake. Our site only had one other site within 100 yards of it. On check-in you can go thru the campground and choose a site. There are 120 sites, only half are reserveable and they are typically only full on holidays. Being rustic there are no hookups but there are several vault toilets (clean) and well water via pump available. You can use a generator during the day so long as it’s quiet. Wood available at the ranger station. There is a dump station over at the modern Gun Lake campground that you can use, less then 10 miles away. Lots of hiking trails and mountain bike opportunities. Very, very quiet. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
We very much enjoyed our stay and Yankee Springs. The sites were big and wooded, the beach and fishing pier were very excellent. The playground was a bit dated but the kids still enjoyed it. My only complaint was the lack of water to each site. We knew that going in but it was a bigger issue for us than we originally thought it would be. Also I expected parking for my tow vehicle would have been included but it wasn't so I had to pay an extra $24 for a season parking permit. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Nightly rate includes $8 non MI resident fee. This large campground would likely be noisy during peak season, but was very quiet at this offseason time. Restrooms/showers are not yet open. Only a few sites on water but there is a large sandy area for beach games. Has limited waterfront access. Could have a boat at some sites. Has a very nice view across large lake. We camped here in a Truck Camper.
We stayed here in mid April, though it was a little chilly, the park itself was pretty empty except for people camping for the same event. The bathroom were clean and park officials where very accommodating. This is a state park and a must stay. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This campground doesn't have all of the bells and whistles, but it is a great family atmosphere. It has an excellent beach for swimming especially with small children because the water is so shallow. It is a great recreation lake and has many activities in the surrounding area. We camped here in a Motorhome.