This was a fun, quaint little place. It is literally right across the street from Warren Dunes State Park- which is awesome. The staff was extremely friendly as well as some of the seasonals. The sites were small but maneuverable. The final night we were there, they happened to be having a pot luck dinner right by the pond located in the middle of the campground. The showers and toilets were clean. The only negative is, you have to pay a quarter per 6 minutes of water for the shower. The water was hot and the pressure was good. And, quite frankly, I didn't even need 6 minutes :-) We would definitely stay here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
While the campground is nice, some spots are very small, others are a nice size. The beach is very nice. The Bathrooms could of been cleaner, and stocked better. My husband went to use the bathroom, and only one stall had toilet paper. Now this campground, like all the campgrounds on the west side of state is alcohol free. You see signs coming into campground, and it is stamp on your pass. I MUST WARN you if you do bring ANYTHING in be very careful. We pick up my son & his girlfriend from the train station in Indiana, and did stop to pick up a case of beer (cheaper there, no deposit). We got back to the site, it was dark out, and we had the case of beer in the trunk-trunk was open less than 5 min, DNR drove by saw it. They stopped, made them empty every can, plus they found a few in the cooler (emptied those too). The guys had also just open there first beer, which were in coolies on table. The DNR found those---both guys got a ticket for $160 each! And were told they could kick us out of the park (which they didn't). None of us were loud, drunk (they hadn't even had a first beer yet). We met others in campground that said they had alcohol--and we warn them to careful. We are all adults age 24-54, and we just like to enjoy a drink or 2 at night. We chose this campground because my son and girlfriend live in Chicago, and they could take a train to meet us. I don't know why at some of the state parks you can't have alcohol at your site. The bathrooms could of been cleaner too. There are no camp hosts. Some sites are very close and narrow (not deep). We would go back again, but chose our site more carefully, and back our car in (instead of having the trunk facing the road). We camped here in a Tent.
We camped here for 4 nights with family in 2 adjoining sites. The campsites were shallow but wide and ours were shady. There were only a few other campers in the park this early in the year. The dunes are great for hiking and for children playing on. The beach must be hiked to as the road is closed due to a bridge being washed out last fall. The restrooms were not as clean as I would have expected for as few campers as there were, and did not seem to be maintained well. One toilet would not flush as was that way for several days. The showers looked nice, but all except one had cold water. If you knew which one to get you could get a hot shower, but the others were cold. The shower floor drains did not drain well, and water ran out into the dressing area. The one night, there was a half an inch of water in the area I was standing in to dress. Also, with all of the sand, they needed to be cleaned more than just in the morning. Maybe they were not geared up yet with staff, but if the park has these kinds of troubles with a handful of campers, what will it be like in the summer? I would only come again if the family really wanted to spend time at the dunes. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Sites were small and close together or else this park would have gotten a higher rating. The beach is one of the best on a lake. The dunes make for fun hiking and are quick to wear kids out (means they sleep well at night! Nearby towns offer many things that you might have forgotten. Be sure to check out St. Joe, as it has some good beaches and a great little downtown shopping area. We camped here in a Tent.
This is a nice state park. Our kids loved climbing and exploring the sand dunes. The bathrooms were ok, and the individual shower rooms were nice. The commute to Chicago was reasonable. We enjoyed our stay. The only negative was the daily motor vehicle permit fee which was in addition to the camping fee. We would stay here again. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Loved camping here for the beach, a beautiful beach in Michigan, not too far from Chicago. We stayed in #36 with extended family in two adjacent spots. #38 was an awesome site, very private with trees. It was a bit loud at night with many college kids (didn't seem to be too much ranger interaction there.) The bathrooms were not the best...very muddy due to the sand but I don't think the appropriate steps were taken to keep it clean. Would I stay here again, yes but just for the beach..the campground was just ok. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Besides the rather steep fee for electric only, no water or sewer, they get you for $8.00/day vehicle permit. Nothing special about the campground. One loop is generally open, which makes it warmer in winter. The other loop is shaded, to make it nicer in summer. The shaded loop has larger spots for bigger rigs. You are still a mile from the beach in either loop. Campground was practically empty when we were there mid-May. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Did not like this campground at all. It was very dusty, dirty and kids roaming at all hours of the night. There was no host for the campground which always makes me a little uncomfortable. The bathrooms left a lot to be desired. The dunes were really nice, and we may visit them again but would find a different campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
The only thing good about the Warren Dunes Campground is the location in Warren Dunes State Park. We had to pay a daily entrance fee on top of the camping fee so it ended up costing and extra $23 on top of the $25/day fee. The roads are dirt, not paved and full of large potholes. The sites are small, sandy dirt or gravel some had grass. If I had a trailer larger than 22 feet I would not plan to stay here, too difficult to navigate. Our site was infested with poison Ivy... There was a site by the bathroom that appeared to have nests of hornets in the ground, several of them. We had a good location near the only bathroom/shower house in the loop, and there are not enough facilities for the size of the campground. You always had to wait in line for the very dirty showers. I expected everything to be sandy because of the dunes but this was not just sand, it was dirty and they didn't clean them nearly enough. We arrived on Saturday and stayed till Monday; I was awaken about 4am Monday morning to the sound of trucks from nearby I-94, Monday morning rush hour...I didn't hear it at all the first night so it must be a weekday phenomenon. It's a very smoky campground, it was mostly tenters and there wasn't a breeze so the smoke stayed in the campground. The benefit of this place is the dunes/beach located in the park, it was fabulous. Nice beach, fun to swim in Lake Michigan. Nice shop/concessions, and the kids loved to hike to the top of the dune. But I truly felt the campground left a lot to be desired. If I returned it would simply be day use of the Dunes/Beach. The location is convenient to the Chicago area tho; only took about 1 1/2 hours to get there. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Very crowded on weekends, mostly tents. The tents had fires all night which made the place very smoky and smelly. The campground is very close to the beach, though. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.