Lake of the Clouds seen from the escarpment ridge in the Porcupine Mountains, a long dark lake held in a forested valley with unbroken old-growth hardwood to the horizon under low cloud, Michigan Upper Peninsula, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
Trekkr Trail Journal · No. 072 · The Porcupine Mountains

The Porcupine MountainsMichigan — old-growth hardwood, a fault-block escarpment, sixty-five numbered campsites & the copper peninsula beyond

The largest tract of old-growth northern hardwood west of the Adirondacks, wrapped around a fault-block ridge that looks like nothing else in the Midwest, and a copper peninsula reaching a hundred kilometres out into Lake Superior. The Porkies have changed how they work: the Michigan DNR has eliminated dispersed camping, and every backcountry night is now at one of sixty-five numbered, site-specific pitches you reserve in advance. This issue plans both halves honestly — including the fee we refused to print, because two sources disagreed and the DNR’s own page would not answer.

Michigan · USA Lake of the Clouds · the Escarpment · Presque Isle Copper Harbor · Brockway Mountain · Fort Wilkins Backpacking · drive-in · cabins & yurts
65Numbered backcountry sites. Dispersed camping no longer exists here.
15 May – 15 OctThe backcountry reservation window, and the honest season.
72 hrsThe latest you can reserve — from six months out to three days before.
1Campground in the park with electric hook-ups. There is no second option.
00 / READ FIRST

Conditions at press time

Checked in late July 2026. One rule change here invalidates most older advice about this park, and one number we simply would not guess at. The Michigan DNR’s own pages return HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, which shaped what this issue can and cannot tell you — and where that blocked a fact, it is named rather than filled in.

Verified late July 2026 · the camping rule changed and the fee could not be read
  • Dispersed camping in the Porcupine Mountains has been eliminatedThe DNR removed it to protect park resources and improve the backcountry experience. If you are planning from an older guide, a trip report or a memory, you will arrive expecting to camp where you like. You cannot. This is the single most important line in the issue.
  • All backcountry camping is now site-specificSixty-five numbered campsites, each with a metal fire ring. You camp at the site you reserved — not near it, not at the next one along. All backcountry campers require a permit.
  • Reservations: six months out to seventy-two hours before arrivalThrough MiDNRReservations.com or 1-800-44-PARKS. The window covers 15 May to 15 October, during which reservations are strongly recommended.
  • A Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entryTo state parks, recreation areas, boat launches, state forest campgrounds and trail parking. It is annual and per-vehicle, not per-night. Out-of-state visitors are caught by this constantly.
  • We will not print the backcountry feeOne source states $20 per night for groups of one to six; another states $15. Those cannot both be right, neither is the DNR’s own page, and michigan.gov would not serve us that page. Book through MiDNRReservations.com and the system will show you the current figure.
On the missing figureWhy a guide admits that. A $5 discrepancy is trivial to your budget and fatal to your trust. We would rather send you to the booking system than print a number we could not stand behind.
01 / THE HOOK

A mountain range that is not one, over a forest that was never cut

The Porcupine Mountains are not mountains in the sense the word usually carries. They are a fault-block escarpment of ancient volcanic rock, worn down and then scoured by ice, standing a few hundred metres above Lake Superior. What makes them extraordinary is not height. It is that the logging never finished here.

Deep old-growth northern hardwood forest with enormous sugar maple and hemlock trunks, a closed green canopy overhead and an open shaded understorey of ferns and fallen logs, Porcupine Mountains Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
The reason to come. The largest tract of old-growth northern hardwood west of the Adirondacks — sugar maple, hemlock and yellow birch of a size cut out of nearly everywhere else in the region.

Walking under it is the point. The canopy closes overhead, the understorey opens up, and the light goes green. There is very little of this left anywhere: most of the Upper Midwest was logged to the ground between the 1880s and the 1920s, and what stands here survived largely because a campaign in the 1940s got the state to buy it before the saws arrived.

The escarpment itself is the other half of the geology. A hard band of ancient volcanic rock tilted and left standing while softer material eroded away around it, then rounded off by ice. It gives the park something the rest of the Midwest genuinely lacks — a ridge with a drop on one side and a valley you can look down into.

Do not stop at the overlookLake of the Clouds is the photograph, not the park. The overlook above it is a two-minute walk from a car park at the end of M-107 and it is genuinely worth the stop. It is also where most visitors turn around. The park behind it — the Escarpment, the Big Carp, the Presque Isle — is where the trip is.
02 / BACKCOUNTRY

Sixty-five numbered sites, and what that changes

This is the operational heart of a Porkies trip and the thing that has changed. There are sixty-five backcountry campsites. They are numbered, they are site-specific, and each has a metal fire ring. Every backcountry camper needs a permit. Everything below follows from that.

The Big Carp River running clear and tannin-brown through old-growth hemlock and maple, mossy boulders and fallen trunks along the banks, deep green shade, Porcupine Mountains Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
The Big Carp. The classic multi-day route drops from the escarpment to the Lake Superior shore through old growth, past a sequence of waterfalls, with numbered sites strung along it.
Plan site-to-site nowWhat the change costs you, practically. The old way — walk the Big Carp or the Little Carp and stop when you are tired — is over. You now plan the distance between two specific numbered sites and you walk it whatever your knees say. Pick shorter days than instinct suggests: wet clay, roots and rock make Porkies mileage slower than the map implies.

The booking window

Six months ahead down to seventy-two hours before arrival, at MiDNRReservations.com or 1-800-44-PARKS.

The seventy-two-hour tail is genuinely useful — late cancellations do appear, and this is not a park where everything is gone in January.

Group size

One source gives a cap of six people per site. We could not confirm whether that cap applies to every site, so treat six as the working assumption and check at booking if your party is larger.

Cabins and yurts

Scattered through the backcountry and along the shore, and they book harder than the tent sites. If your trip depends on one, six months out is the moment to act, not an option to consider.

River crossings

The Big Carp is crossed more than once on the classic route. After heavy rain or in spring melt these decide whether your itinerary works.

There is no way to know from home. Ask at the visitor centre on the day.

A small rustic log cabin among northern hardwood forest with a woodpile beside the door and green light through the canopy, Porcupine Mountains Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
The cabins are the hardest booking in the park. They are also the reason a lot of people come back in shoulder season, when a woodstove stops being a novelty.
03 / THE CAMPGROUNDS

Union Bay and Presque Isle, and why they are not interchangeable

Two front-country campgrounds bracket the park and they have quite different characters — and they are a long way apart, linked by a drive around the outside of the park rather than through the middle. Choosing between them is choosing which half of the park you are visiting.

Union Bay

On the Lake Superior shore at the eastern end. Tent and RV sites, yurts and cabins, and the only electric hook-ups in the park.

If you are travelling in anything that needs power, this is the answer and there is no second option inside the boundary.

Presque Isle

Rustic, at the mouth of the Presque Isle River at the far western end, with sixty drive-in and walk-in sites. No electric.

The river here runs over stepped bedrock through a series of waterfalls in a very short distance, and the boardwalk beside it is the best short walk in the park.

A cobble and shingle Lake Superior shoreline at Union Bay with driftwood, small waves on grey-blue water and dark forest running down to the beach, Porcupine Mountains Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
Union Bay. The beach here is stones rather than sand, which keeps it quiet, and the sunsets run straight up the lake.
The 403 problem againNot confirmed. Site counts beyond Presque Isle’s sixty, nightly fees, and exact season dates for both campgrounds come from DNR pages that would not serve us. Confirm at MiDNRReservations.com when you book.

The Lake Superior shore

The park has miles of Superior frontage and it is a different landscape again from the ridge and the old growth: cobble and shingle beaches, driftwood, and the escarpment visible inland behind the trees. It is also where the water is, and the water here is dangerous in a way that catches people from warmer lakes.

What the shore asks of you
  • The water is cold enough to be dangerous all yearCold shock — the involuntary gasp on immersion — is the immediate risk, not hypothermia, and it kills competent swimmers. Superior does not warm up meaningfully at this end of the lake.
  • Wind builds fast across the open lakeAnd the shore offers few sheltered exits once you are on the water.
  • Agate hunting is a local pastime on these beachesCollecting rules differ between the state park and the surrounding land. Check before you fill a pocket.
04 / THE ESCARPMENT

The best view-to-effort ratio in the Midwest

The overlook above Lake of the Clouds is the most photographed thing in the Upper Peninsula and it is a two-minute walk from a car park. That combination — a genuinely great view with no effort attached — is why almost every visitor sees it, and why almost none of them see the park.

A narrow trail running along an open rocky ridge crest high above a forested valley with a long dark lake below, layered ridges to the horizon, autumn colour in the hardwoods, Porcupine Mountains Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
The Escarpment Trail. The drop on your left, the lake below, unbroken forest to the horizon. Walk twenty minutes of it and turn round, or take the whole thing and arrange a shuttle.

Best view per stepThe Escarpment Trail

Runs from the Lake of the Clouds car park along the cliff edge above the valley. You can take as much or as little of it as you want, which makes it the most flexible walk in the park.

It is also the walk that most rewards being done at the right time of day rather than the convenient one.

The edge is unfenced for most of its length and the rock is broken and often wet. Keep a distance you have chosen deliberately rather than one the ground chooses for you.

Out-and-back, any lengthRidge crestUnfenced edge
Two hours to a full day
Best early or late

The thing people rememberInto the old growth

Drop off the ridge into the hardwood and the character changes completely — closed canopy, open floor, green light, and quiet. Most visitors never do this, and most who do rate it above the overlook.

Old growthShaded, coolerWet underfoot in spring
An afternoon
Waterproof boots
Timing beats effort hereGo at either end of the day. Midday flattens the valley and puts the light straight into the lens. Early morning gives mist on the lake; late afternoon gives depth and layered ridges. The car park is busiest between eleven and three, which is exactly when the view is worst.

The rest of the trail network

The trail system here is genuinely large for a state park — enough for a multi-day loop without repeating ground, which is unusual anywhere in the Midwest. Three characteristics shape every route you might plan:

Mileage lies

Wet clay, roots and rock make Porkies distances walk slowly. A map that says six miles means a day, not an afternoon, and after rain it means more.

The river valleys run to the lake

Which means most long routes end on the Superior shore, a long way from where you parked. Shuttle logistics are part of planning here, not an afterthought.

You are pinned to numbered sites

Under the new system the distance between two specific pitches is fixed before you leave home. Build shorter days than instinct suggests and you will enjoy all of them.

Crossings are the wildcard

The Big Carp is crossed more than once. After heavy rain or in melt, this is the thing that decides whether the itinerary works — and it cannot be checked from home.

05 / WATER EVERYWHERE

Tannin-dark rivers over stepped rock

This is wet country. The rivers here run tea-brown with tannin off the forest floor, drop over stepped basalt and conglomerate, and do it in short intense sequences rather than single big falls. The Presque Isle at the western end is the concentrated version.

A tannin-brown river running fast over stepped dark bedrock ledges in a series of short waterfalls, surrounded by dense green hemlock and hardwood forest, Presque Isle River Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
The Presque Isle. Three named falls within a short distance, linked by a boardwalk and stair system. If you only do one short thing here beyond Lake of the Clouds, do this.
A broad tannin-dark waterfall pouring over a wide rock ledge into a plunge pool ringed with mossy boulders and dense northern forest, Michigan Upper Peninsula, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
Time it after rain. These rivers respond fast. A wet week turns them from pretty to genuinely loud; a dry August can reduce some to a trickle over bare rock.
The specific hazard hereThe rock is slippery in a way that surprises people. Wet conglomerate with a film of algae has almost no grip. Stay on the boardwalk and the stairs — the polished rock beside these falls has killed people in similar rivers right across this region.

Underfoot, generally

Heavy clay soils, roots and rock. Trails that read as short on a map walk slowly, and the difference between a dry September and a wet June is not marginal — it is the difference between a pleasant six miles and a grinding one. Waterproof boots are not optional in spring or after rain, and the Big Carp crossings deserve real respect after a wet spell.

06 / THE KEWEENAW

Copper country, and the best half hour of driving in Michigan

North-east of the Porkies the Keweenaw Peninsula runs a hundred kilometres out into Lake Superior. This was the only significant deposit of native metallic copper mined at scale anywhere on earth — copper you could cut out of the rock rather than smelt from ore. It made fortunes, drew immigrants from Cornwall and Finland, and then collapsed.

A roofless sandstone engine house from an abandoned copper mine standing among young birch regrowth, empty window openings and crumbling masonry, overgrown poor-rock piles nearby, Keweenaw Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
One of the most atmospheric industrial landscapes in North America — and much of it is simply there at the roadside.

What is left is a peninsula of small towns that were once large, poor-rock piles in the forest, and roofless sandstone engine houses standing in birch regrowth. It is a landscape that reads as wilderness at a glance and as an abandoned industrial region the moment you look properly.

The set pieceBrockway Mountain Drive

A ridge road above Copper Harbor climbing to a summit with Lake Superior on both sides. It is short, it is paved, and on a clear evening it is the finest half hour of driving in Michigan.

Go in the evening. The point of this road is light, and midday gives you none of it.

Paved & shortEveningLake on both sides
Half an hour, or an evening
Clear weather only
The view from a high ridge road above Copper Harbor with Lake Superior visible on both sides, forested hills falling away and a wide horizon of blue water under evening light, Keweenaw Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
Brockway Mountain. Lake on both sides, and no effort required beyond the drive.
The restored 1844 army outpost at Fort Wilkins with white timber barracks buildings and a palisade beside a calm inland lake, dark forest behind, Copper Harbor Michigan, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
Fort Wilkins. A restored 1844 military outpost beside Lake Fanny Hooe — built to keep order in a copper rush that had largely moved on before the garrison arrived. There is a campground attached.

F.J. McLain State Park sits on the Superior shore north-west of Hancock, with beach frontage and sunset views straight up the lake.

Two closures, four dates, no primary sourceBoth were mid-upgrade in 2026, and the dates conflicted. Reporting on Fort Wilkins gave a reopening of 24 July 2026 in one place and an anticipated East Loop reopening of 4 July 2026 in another, with the West Loop, sanitation station and cabins remaining open throughout. McLain had sites 1–91, the cabins and the tiny house closed for electrical work into mid or late July, with sites 100–135 operating. We could not reconcile those dates from a primary source and do not print a status. Check MiDNRReservations.com for the loop you want before you drive up the peninsula.
A real hazard, casually encounteredMine ruins are not a playground. Shafts, adits and unstable masonry are scattered through this landscape, much of it unfenced and on private ground. Look from the road or from marked sites.
07 / SNOW COUNTRY

What happens here from November

The Keweenaw records some of the heaviest snowfall in the eastern United States — lake-effect snow off Superior, measured in feet rather than inches, over a season that runs long. For a camper this means the usable window is genuinely short and the shoulder is unreliable.

Deep snow lying in a northern hardwood and hemlock forest, snow-laden boughs and dark trunks, blue winter light and untracked white ground, Michigan Upper Peninsula, ultrarealistic photograph representative of the region
Lake-effect country. The park does not close in winter — it becomes a ski and snowshoe destination — but the camping system, the roads and the services all change.
What the snow means for planning
  • The reservation window is the honest season15 May – 15 October. That is a fair description of when this park is straightforward, and treating it as such will not steer you wrong.
  • Spring is late hereSnow lingers in the hemlock shade well after it has gone from open ground, and the trails carry the meltwater long after that.
  • Autumn colour is the peak experienceAn old-growth maple canopy turning over a fault-block escarpment above Lake Superior is a rare sight, the insects are finished, and it is the hardest fortnight of the year to book.
Winter gapsWhat we did not confirm. Winter road maintenance inside the park, which trailheads are plowed, and whether the yurts and cabins are available outside the summer window. The DNR pages that would answer this return HTTP 403 to automated retrieval.
08 / TIMING

A short usable window in a snowy place

The camping season here is short and the shape of it is unusually well defined by the reservation window itself. The table is the honest version; the paragraph under it is the recommendation.

WindowWhat you getWhat it costs you
Mid-May – JuneWaterfalls at full volume, old growth leafing outBlack flies and mosquitoes in force; wet, heavy trails
July – AugustWarmest, driest trails, everything openBusiest; backcountry sites booked well ahead
September – mid-OctHardwood colour through old growth — the best week hereShort days; the reservation window closes 15 October
WinterDeep snow, ski and snowshoe countryBackcountry reservation system closed; access limited
If you only come onceAutumn is the reason to come. Late September into early October, if you can get a site. The colour runs through old growth rather than over scrub, the insects are gone, and the light is low enough to make the escarpment work all day rather than only at the ends of it.
09 / THE OLD GROWTH

What it is, why it survived, and how to walk in it

The phrase "old growth" gets used loosely. Here it means something specific: a northern hardwood forest that was never clear-felled, with trees of an age and size that have been removed from essentially the whole of the Upper Midwest, and a structure that only develops over centuries.

What makes it different

A closed canopy of very large sugar maple, hemlock and yellow birch; an open, shaded understorey; standing dead trees; and enormous fallen trunks in every stage of decay.

That deadwood is not untidiness — it is most of the habitat.

Why it survived here

Awkward terrain, distance from the mills, and then a deliberate campaign in the 1940s that got the state to buy the land before the saws reached it. This forest exists because people argued for it.

The light

Under a closed maple canopy in summer the light goes green and the temperature drops several degrees. It is the single most-reported sensation from people walking here for the first time.

Why the trails are wet

Heavy clay, deep leaf litter and a canopy that keeps the ground from drying. Wet is the default state, not the exception, and it is why boots matter more here than mileage.

Walking without damaging it

Stay on the trail even when it is muddy. Walking round a wet patch is how a single-track path becomes a five-metre scar in this soil.

When to see it at its best

Late September into early October, when the maple canopy turns. It is the reason the autumn fortnight here is the hardest booking of the year.

Worth understanding rather than resentingThe reason the camping rules changed. Sixty-five numbered sites is what it takes to stop a forest like this being loved into mud. Dispersed camping across thin soil under old growth does not scale, and the DNR chose the restriction over the damage.
10 / WILDLIFE & LEAVE NO TRACE

Bears, thin soil and the six weeks of insects nobody plans for

Black bear are throughout this park, the insect season is a genuine planning factor, and the ground under old growth is more fragile than it looks. None of these is dramatic; all three change how a trip goes.

What actually affects your trip
  • The insects are the underrated planning factorBlack flies and mosquitoes are in force from mid-May through June. Head net, treated clothing and a bug-proof tent are not optional in that window. Their absence is most of why September is so highly rated here.
  • Black bears are present throughoutStore food properly at the front-country campgrounds and hang or canister it at the numbered backcountry sites. Each backcountry site has a metal fire ring, not a food locker.
  • Camp on the numbered site, not near itThe whole point of the new system is that impact is concentrated where it can be managed. Spreading out defeats it.
  • Deadwood stays where it isStanding dead trees and fallen trunks are the habitat in an old-growth forest. Use the fire ring and downed small wood, and leave the big material alone.
  • WaterFilter and treat everything in the backcountry. Front-country campgrounds have supply.
Set expectations properlyRain is the normal condition, not the bad day. This is one of the wetter corners of the Midwest and the forest is why. Plan for wet feet, wet mornings and slow miles, and the trip stops being a disappointment and starts being what it actually is.
11 / FUEL, SIGNAL & SUPPLIES

A long way from a supermarket

This is a remote corner of a remote peninsula. Ontonagon and Silver City sit at the eastern approach; Copper Harbor is at the far end of the Keweenaw with a long drive behind it. Neither is a place to assume late opening, and out of season the hours contract sharply.

The four that catch people
  • FuelFill before you commit to the park or the far Keweenaw. Distances between stations are long and hours are short out of season.
  • SignalPatchy at the park edges and absent across the interior. Download maps and reservation confirmations before you arrive.
  • SuppliesFull shopping is a long way off. Buy in a larger town on the way in rather than expecting a village store to carry what you forgot.
  • WaterFront-country campgrounds have water. Backcountry sites do not — filter and treat.
The most common avoidable problemThe Recreation Passport catches people. It is required for vehicle entry to Michigan state parks, and it is annual and per-vehicle, not a nightly fee. Out-of-state visitors routinely arrive without one and are surprised at the gate.
12 / CABINS, YURTS & THE OTHER WAYS TO SLEEP

The bookings that go first, and why people plan a year out for them

Alongside the tent sites, this park runs rustic cabins and yurts scattered through the backcountry and along the shore. They are the most sought-after accommodation in the Michigan state park system for good reason, and they change what the trip is — particularly outside high summer.

What they are

Rustic in the proper sense: a roof, a stove, bunks, and not much else. No plumbing, no power, and you carry water. The appeal is the woodstove and the walls, not the amenities.

Why they book so hard

There are very few of them, they are the obvious answer to a wet week, and they turn shoulder-season and winter trips from an endurance exercise into a pleasure. Six months out is the moment to act.

Backcountry versus shore

Some require a walk in with everything on your back; others are near a road. Those are completely different trips and the booking system will not stop you confusing them.

What we could not confirm

Availability outside the summer window, and current nightly rates. The DNR pages that would answer both return HTTP 403 to automated retrieval.

Worth the planning horizonThe case for a cabin here specifically. This is one of the wettest, snowiest corners of the Midwest, with a genuinely short comfortable season. A woodstove extends that season by months, which is exactly why the competition for them is what it is.
13 / THE SHAPE OF THE TRIP

Four days that survive the booking system

This assumes you hold a specific numbered backcountry site or a front-country booking, because without one you do not camp here. One workable shape, not the only one.

Day 1 — arrive, east end

Get the Passport on the vehicle. Lake of the Clouds late in the day, when the car park has emptied and the light has depth. Camp Union Bay if you need power, or your first numbered site.

Day 2 — the Escarpment

Walk the ridge in the morning while the valley still holds mist. Drop into the old growth in the afternoon — the walking under those maples is what people remember, not the overlook.

Day 3 — west end

Cross to Presque Isle. The boardwalk falls loop first, then the river mouth and the Superior shore. Camp Presque Isle.

Day 4 — the Keweenaw

North to Copper Harbor. Brockway Mountain Drive in the evening. Fort Wilkins if the loop you want is open — check first.

If you have one day only

Lake of the Clouds, twenty minutes of the Escarpment, and the Presque Isle boardwalk. Do not attempt the Keweenaw as well — the drive will eat the day.

If you have a week

Do the classic Big Carp / Little Carp backpack site-to-site, then give the Keweenaw two days rather than an afternoon. It deserves them.

14 / TRIP-READY

The departure check

Run it before you leave. Most of what goes wrong here comes back to two things: the camping rule changed, and the state’s own pages would not tell us some of what you need.

Seven things that actually go wrong here
  • Backcountry site reserved — a specific numbered oneDispersed camping no longer exists in this park.
  • Michigan Recreation Passport on the vehicleAnnual, per-vehicle, required for entry.
  • Fee confirmed at bookingWe would not print it; the system will show you.
  • Distances planned site-to-site, not "until we are tired"The system no longer permits the latter, and the terrain punishes optimism.
  • Keweenaw loop status checkedIf Fort Wilkins or McLain is in the plan — both had 2026 electrical works with conflicting dates.
  • Waterproof boots, and a plan for the Big Carp crossings after rainAsk at the visitor centre on the day; there is no way to know from home.
  • Electric needed? Union Bay is the only optionThere is no second hook-up campground inside the park.
15 / QUICK ANSWERS

Asked at the Porkies trailheads

Six questions we hear at the trailheads, answered straight, with the hedge left in where the honest answer has one.

Can I still camp wherever I like in the backcountry?

No. The DNR eliminated dispersed camping. All backcountry nights are at one of sixty-five numbered, site-specific pitches, reserved in advance.

What does a backcountry site cost?

We could not confirm it. Two sources gave different figures and the DNR’s page would not load for us. MiDNRReservations.com will tell you at booking.

Do I need anything besides the campsite booking?

Yes — a Michigan Recreation Passport for vehicle entry, which is annual and per-vehicle rather than per-night.

Is Lake of the Clouds worth it?

Yes, and it is a short walk from the car park. It is also where most visitors stop; the park behind it is the better half.

Can I get electric hook-ups?

At Union Bay only. There is no second option inside the park.

Are Fort Wilkins and McLain open?

Both had electrical upgrade works in 2026 with dates that conflicted between sources. Check MiDNRReservations.com rather than trusting any date, including ours.

16 / WHAT WE COULD NOT CONFIRM

The honest gaps, all in one place

Gathered here rather than buried. The recurring cause is that michigan.gov returns HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, so the DNR’s own pages could not be read. Compiled late July 2026.

Six things this issue refuses to guess at
  • The backcountry fee$20/night for 1–6 in one source, $15 in another. No figure is printed anywhere in this issue.
  • Union Bay and Presque Isle site counts, fees and season datesOnly Presque Isle’s sixty sites could be sourced.
  • Fort Wilkins and F.J. McLain 2026 statusReopening dates conflicted across sources; no status is asserted.
  • Whether the six-person group cap applies to all backcountry sitesOr only to some of them.
  • Whether the dispersed-camping elimination has an effective date already passed or still pendingThe change itself is confirmed; its precise commencement is not.
  • Keweenaw beyond the named parksThis issue covers Brockway Mountain, Fort Wilkins and McLain. It does not attempt Isle Royale, which is a different trip with a different permit system entirely.
The pattern behind the listWhy so many gaps in this one. A state agency that blocks automated retrieval is entitled to do so, but it means a guide either phones them, guesses, or says nothing. We said nothing and told you where to look.
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