This park is a hidden gem! We stopped in town to grab lunch, and we were looking for a place to…read moreeat and for the kids to get their energy out. The gentleman who checked us out at the register recommended this park, so we drove this way, and we were pleasantly surprised! The park is scenic, has an amazing jungle gym for kids to play, plenty of benches, beautiful walkways, public restrooms, and much more! The kids loved the all wood jungle gym. The park is very clean and well kept. We will definitely be back!

Love this park in downtown West Branch!! They have a little something for everyone. Walking…read moretrails, basketball courts, tennis courts, a covered bridge, a giant playscape, a little stream with ducks, a pavilion, and lots of green grass. Kids and adults can sled on the hill in the winter and ice skate on the court in the winter as well. A definite community gem!

I absolutely love this park! Amazing views, lots of smooth hiking trails and plenty activities for…read morethe whole family.

My husband and I took our fat tire bikes on a ride during December of 2018 here. Beautiful place…read moreto ride and enjoy nature. We rode on the seasonal road and enjoyed a leisurely ride through the park. You should definitely drive through this gorgeous area when in Rose City. It's well worth it. Looking forward to going back in the spring, summer and fall.

300 stairs. From the top of the springs to the Au Sable river below, that is how many stairs it…read moretakes to descend the nearly 200 foot vertical drop at this local North Eastern Michigan outdoor adventure spot. And while it might not seem like much while you are walking DOWN them, in this antigravity paradox just remember, what goes down must also come back up--unless you plan on sleeping down there. Once you've descended the 300 stairs (actually, even on the way down), the views are absolutely spectacular. The setting is tranquil and relaxing, and there are several placards along the way which tell the story of the Springs and describe so many interesting aspects of this Huron National Forest site. Feel free to take your time meandering about in the shade of the canopied forest--for your looming ascent will have you longing for that serene setting. Once you've read all the informational signs and committed the gorgeous views to memory (or at least snapped some memorable phots thereof), its time to climb. Yep, those same 300 stairs that seemed so innocent on your decent now become your nemesis. In the mid summer heat, you also gain a deep appreciation for the perspiration-evoking power of Michigan's humidity. And, for those ultra-tough cross fit types out there that may scoff at those panting, wheezing, sweating souls such as, perhaps, me, maybe you should attack the 300 stairs Rocky Balboa style and enjoy yourself a victory dance at the top (after which, if you are feeling a little humanitarian urge, you could send down a tow rope or some other means of pulling my kind up the 186 stairs I still need to climb).

I guess I'm really only reviewing the 22 mile river road scenic byway. A beautiful late winter day-…read more60 degrees and sunny, left water over ice on all walkways and lookout points. Tennis shoes weren't going to allow that to happen. Turned into a nice drive, nonetheless.

Tawas Point State Park was the destination for our annual friend camping trip this year. We try to…read morepick a different state park or campground each year and our friend had mentioned this spot. We camped in early May and it was pretty chilly - it got down to the upper 40s the first night and was a bit rainy. There was a strong breeze off the water which made it feel colder. But we still had a great time and the campground was at about 1/3 capacity. When we arrived, the employees at the check in station were really friendly and helpful. Like most campgrounds, they had plenty of brochures for the area and campground maps. They also gave us a birding checklist! They told us that it's a great area for bird watching, so we had fun checking birds off. We did not see all 230 birds listed, but quite a few. The campground has electric hookups at most, if not all, sites, and is fairly small compared to some other parks we've visited. The spots were mostly grassy and decently sized. There's not a ton of shade here, so keep that in mind for sunny summer days. One of the bathrooms was closed while we were there, but the one that was open was clean. Shower facilities are available, and there is a camp host that has books and games to borrow, as well as free coffee on weekend mornings. The highlight for our friend's 2 year old were the playgrounds - there is one at the campground and another near the lighthouse. There's a small beach at the campground and a much larger one near the lighthouse. I really liked the yurt and cabins - if we came back to this park I'd try to reserve one of those, specifically one of the two cabins that overlook the lake. There's not a ton in Tawas, but there's fast food, a Walmart, a couple gas stations, and a very small downtown with some shops and restaurants. We typically like more options for afternoons outside of the campgrounds we stay at, but we enjoyed our time at Tawas Point State Park.

Such a lovely state park that my friends and I camped at last weekend! It's definitely a super…read morepopular one, given it's wonderful location and proximity to so many awesome cities and things to do, so you'll find that throughout the summer months, it'll always be busy and full for the most part. For us, we booked a campsite at the far end of the campground, which was PERFECT for us! It was right by the path that leads to the Tawas Point Lighthouse, so it was just mostly foot traffic and a lot of people taking their dogs to the nearby dog beach down that same path a little bit, so we got to do plenty of people and dog-watching, which was a dream to us giant group of dog people! I love this campground as well for its wonderful beaches, both dog and human alike, the easy access to the lighthouse, and its proximity to Lake Huron! There were a ton of kite surfers on the big lake and a ton of beach to walk and relax on there. The weekend we were there was pretty windy, so Lake Huron was gorgeous, but the waves were pretty choppy and not conducive to swimming/laying out and enjoying the beach. Thankfully, Tawas Point SP also has a the entire Tawas Bay area lining the other side of the park, so you have your pick of beaches! The water on the bay side was way more calm and ideal for perfect beach days, so we got the best of both worlds here truly! A+ all around to everything this state park had to offer - water, trails, beaches, campsites, amenities - it was lovely! The town of East Tawas and Tawas itself was also wonderful and such a quick trip over with some cute restaurants and bars to take advantage of! I can't emphasize enough how wonderful this state park is. It's a new favorite of ours and we'll definitely be coming back to camp here soon! We had a lovely time with perfect weather conditions as well, so it was truly a perfect weekend!

Beautiful scenic picnic area... Beach, play area, picnic tables, pavilion, boat launch, fishing…read morepier...

Beautiful campground you would never know was downtown Gladwin. Had a great time at the art show!read more

I made the unfortunate decision to reserve site #16 at this park. It was listed as E/W/S. There…read moreis no sewer hookup on site #16. What they did was put a "Y" pvc fitting on the sewer hookup on site #18 and wallah, a new sewer port. The problem being it's 50 - 60 feet from your rig when backed in properly on site #16, let alone you would need to jack your trailer up a good foot to get enough downhill slope of your sewer hose. Besides that, who carries 50 - 60 feet of sewer hose unless you are a long-term seasonal. This is not an over site by the park as it has been this way for a number of years according to a seasonal resident. It is wrong to list and charge for a sewer hookup for site #16.

A nice state campground,well maintained very clean and right on the water. Plenty of large camping…read morespots with fire pits. The state park also has a large picnic area with grills over looking Higgins lake .

Both state parks are awesome on Higgins lake. North is a calmer park, more relaxing, family…read moreoriented. South is more active, on the lake and when camping

2017-12-03. Located just across from the river from the Midland Farmers Market is Chippewassee…read morePark. Bordered on the east by the Tittabawassee River, and on the south by the Chippewa River, this multi-featured 35-acre park is home to paved biking and walking paths; picnics; field sports; a childrens' playground; the Trilogy Skatepark; and a dog park at the far end. The park is visible from the highway bridge, but not conventionally accessible. You have to travel north of the park and take a left to loop back around underneath the bridge. Plenty of free parking is available. The Farmer's Market runs on Wednesday and Saturday mornings May through October. Of course, the salient feature is the wooden foot bridge that spans the confluence of the Chippewa and Tittabawassee Rivers, also known as "The Tridge". The dog park is fenced-in, and has a combination of wooded and open areas where dogs can run free. Various agility courses are provided to challenge your pet and there are a couple of sections so you can choose who your dog mingles with. Waste bags are provided free of charge for use, as are trash receptacles. The park is open from 8 a.m. until dusk. There are two visible pavilions with BBQ's nearby. They're the small BBQ's that are cemented into the ground and use charcoal for fuel. There are picnic tables in the pavilion and Port-o-Potty's a short distance away. Like most public parks, you are free to use it via squatting, but if you plan on an event, you should register with the city and get a permit to ensure you have rights to the facility. The Trilogy Skate Park is a 15,000 sq ft of concrete fun for in-line skaters, skate-boarders, and bikes. Hills and ramps of varying degrees, rails, and curved slopes help you hone your skills or perfect that trick. No equipment or rentals are available so you'll have to bring our own. The facilities at Chippewassee Park are unsupervised by municipal staff, but are patrolled by Police. I would like to thank the Officer that was nice enough to take the time and chat with me and provide me with all this info for my review (sorry, I didn't get your name! But you know who you are...) I didn't post this review sooner as I was unable to find the place when trying to check in because the park was not named, and Trilogy didn't come up in my search (that and the fact that I'm behind on my reviews... but I do have my notes!). If you would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Happy Trails!

Really great park, with plenty of space, benches to rest and watch the river, or tables to sit and…read moreeat in good weather. It also appears to be well maintained, which is encouraging. Outside of featuring The Tridge and various trails intersecting through here, there's also a nice playground and skate park nearby, although that area of the park is currently under construction and appears to be in the process of having new walkways put in.

I came here to camp (car camping/tents) for the first camp of the summer and what a great kickoff…read moreto camping season it was for me and my group! Everything here was top notch and well maintained, probably above average from the many state park campgrounds that I have camped at through the years! What that tells me is that this is probably one of the more highly trafficked campgrounds, so there is a lot of maintenance done on it! This campground had the most "modern" bathrooms. Everything was automatic, the toilets, the sinks, the hand dryers. This is by main indicator that the bathrooms are the latest and greatest update! We also loved our campsite. We had a few of Higgins Lake peeking out from around other campsites from ours and were able to enjoy the lake breeze and sunset view from our campsite alone. It was also an easy walk to the lake, where there was a little playground/swing set AND a dog-friendly beach just right off of that playground area as well! Super dog-friendly, which was great because I brought my dog along! Lots of trailers/RVs at all the neighboring campsites, which is to be expected, especially of a more popular campground! This campground also had the most campsites that I've seen as of late (minus Ludington, I'd say)! South Higgins Lake State Park also had some great hiking trails that we took advantage of! Marl Lake Trail is a trail that is very customizable for any of your time/energy level needs - 1, 3, or 5 mile loops can be done on this trail! Other than the hiking and the camping (spent 3 days and 2 nights here), we didn't do much else at the state park, opting instead to rent a boat (from the South Higgins Lake State Park Store - see my review there for details on boat rentals and our experience!) to spend a whole day on the actual lake, so I can't attest to the other amenities this state park has to offer. But for our purposes on this wonderful weekend, it was darn near perfect and we really enjoyed our time!! Hope to be back soon! :)

Park store charges $5 for a skimpy scoop of ice cream. Old owners gave you much more for your…read moremoney. Got a bad case of swimmers itch yesterday. Would be helpful if the park had nice feet washers and showers to wash the parasites off but instead that have a dribbling high in the air "washer" where the ground is covers with piles of sand and essentially of no use. The grass is long which makes it a haven for bugs. The beach area is so small and crowded. Need to clear more edging for beach use. Overrun with boats and have to wade through them all to get to a deep enough area to swim in. Lucky if you get in the park at all on the weekends.