Bay Furnace Campground
1Heads up1 fire 45 mi away
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $26From, per site
- Sites
- 49All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 9 – October 8Open May 9 through October 8
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bay Furnace Campground is located on the south shores of Lake Superior, near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Favorite to many, the campground is centered to various waterfalls, as well as other sightseeing attractions, including boat tours and visits to Grand Island. Keep reading
Recreation
Fishing in Lake Superior is best by boat. There is no access to the lake at Bay Furnace, but there is a boat ramp approximately 10 miles west, at AuTrain, and in Munising. Anglers can enjoy a variety of lake trout and salmon fishing. Visitors can access the popular Grand Island via a 10-minute ferry ride or by private boat. This scenic island is a favorite for hiking, mountain biking and exploring. Various boat excursions are offered near the campground at an additional cost, providing a great way to explore the crystal clear blue-green waters of Lake Superior and view the stunning natural rock formations.
Facilities
The campground offers multiple reservable single sites for tent and RV camping. Additional campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each site is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A day-use picnic area is also available at the campground, located near the lake shore. Multiple tables, drinking water and accessible vault toilets are included.
Natural Features
Visitors can enjoy the scenic views of Lake Superior, with its spectacular sunrises, sunsets and occasional northern lights displays. Amid forests of deciduous trees, some sites overlook the lake while others are near Furnace Creek.
Nearby Attractions
Boat ramps are available in Munising, less than 5 miles from the campground, or at AuTrain, which is about 10 miles away. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (906) 767-1111.
What the agency tells you
Insect repellent is encouraged for visitors to Grand Island
Off-road vehicles not permitted
Two pets per site
Everything else this campground posts · 8
No switching sites upon arrival
Please Note: One RV with tow vehicle per single site or one vehicle per tent site. Most sites can accommodate 1 extra vehicle that is not included with the reservation fee. Extra vehicle will be charged an $8 per night fee and collected at the campground if you did not pay for the Extra Vehicle Add On. Extra vehicles must fit on the parking spur at your site.
Reserved Sites will be held until checkout time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of the second day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests.
Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation.
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity).
Don't move firewood: To limit the spread of invasive tree-killing pests, firewood from outside the area is not permitted. Some states have quarantines and may confiscate your firewood. Please help protect our forests from invasive species by obtaining your firewood at or near your camping destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org for more information.
Hiawatha National Forest - West Day Use Fees: Day Use $8.00 Day Use Annual Pass $40.00
Check OUT is at 12:00 PM Check IN is at 2:00 PM
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 49
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 65 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…campfire rings with grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A day-use picnic…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…grills. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A day-use picnic area is also…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, Creek, Coast
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Swimming
- Night sky · 136th darkest of 192 in MI
- Bortle 3
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
“Extra vehicle will be charged an $8 per night fee and collected at the campground if you did not pay for the Extra Vehicle Add On.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $26 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
49 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 49 mapped sitesAll 49 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 49 of the 49 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 49 of the 49 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 001 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 165 ft | 561 ft | 222 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 002 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 82 ft | 582 ftLake Superior | 244 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 003 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 82 ft | 528 ftLake Superior | 263 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 004 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 84 ft | 413 ftLake Superior | 149 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 005 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 84 ft | 436 ftLake Superior | 233 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 006 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 100 ft | 323 ftLake Superior | 315 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 007 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 100 ft | 297 ftLake Superior | 231 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 009 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 100 ft | 157 ftLake Superior | 318 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 76 ft | 141 ftLake Superior | 277 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 011 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 68 ft | 216 ftLake Superior | 195 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 012 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 162 ftLake Superior | 235 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 013 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 53 ft | 206 ftLake Superior | 188 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 014 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 74 ft | 275 ftLake Superior | 124 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 015 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 53 ft | 252 ftLake Superior | 146 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 016 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 61 ft | 305 ftLake Superior | 110 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 017 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 97 ft | 422 ftLake Superior | 29 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 018 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 72 ft | 374 ftLake Superior | 87 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 019 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 100 ft | 493 ftLake Superior | 135 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 020 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 100 ft | 522 ftLake Superior | 129 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 021 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 109 ft | 602 ftLake Superior | 223 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 022 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 109 ft | 642 ftLake Superior | 249 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 023 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 109 ft | 711 ftLake Superior | 323 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 024 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 138 ft | 800 ft | 249 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 025 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 138 ft | 690 ft | 154 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 026 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 110 ft | 579 ft | 92 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 027 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 110 ft | 493 ft | 139 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 028 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 98 ft | 347 ft | 233 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 029 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 99 ft | 303 ft | 139 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 030 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 98 ft | 399 ft | 230 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 031 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 112 ft | 396 ft | 199 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 032 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 112 ft | 480 ft | 240 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 033 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 85 ft | 407 ft | 137 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 034 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 85 ft | 489 ft | 174 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 035 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | 73 ft | 505 ft | 157 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 036 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 66 ft | 469 ft | 125 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 037 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 66 ft | 419 ft | 98 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 038 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 51 ft | 343 ft | 81 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 039 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 51 ft | 293 ft | 90 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 040 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 84 ft | 334 ft | 17 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 041 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 94 ft | 225 ft | 124 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 042 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 84 ft | 297 ft | 98 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 043 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 93 ft | 197 ft | 209 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 044 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 89 ft | 285 ft | 184 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 045 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 107 ft | 184 ft | 229 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 046 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 96 ft | 277 ft | 152 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 047 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 96 ft | 197 ft | 129 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 048 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 164 ft | 156 ft | 103 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 049 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 113 ft | 191 ft | 108 ft | $26 |
| BAY FURNACE CAMPGROUND | 050 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 147 ft | 260 ft | 261 ft | $26 |
25 of 49 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Grand Island National Recreation AreaHiawatha National Forest · 2.1 mi
Grand Island CabinsGrand Island National Recreation Area · 3.5 mi
Au Train Lake CampgroundHiawatha National Forest · 7.0 mi
Cliffs Individual Backpacking SitesPictured Rocks National Lakeshore · 7.0 mi
Cliffs Group Backpacking SitePictured Rocks National Lakeshore · 7.9 mi
Potato Patch Individual Backpacking SitesPictured Rocks National Lakeshore · 9.4 miBay Furnace Campground is located in Alger County, about 3 miles west of Munising on Highway 28, at the village of Christmas, across from the Kewadin Casino.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Munising, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 38°F, day 52°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 38°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Bay Furnace Campground is in Michigan’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Jack Bergman (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →