Bowman Bridge
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $30–$60Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 17All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Bowman Bridge Campground is perfect for true nature immersion. Campers come here for easy access to the Pere Marquette National Scenic River and for the delightful views of the great outdoors. Keep reading
Recreation
The top three activities for campers at Bowman Bridge are canoeing, fishing and hiking. Anglers cast for brown trout, salmon, steelhead and rainbow trout. Watercraft rentals are available at two nearby liveries in Baldwin. A permit is required to float the river from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through Monday of Labor Day weekend. Watercraft hours during the permit season are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hikers can head up the campground's connector trail to the North Country National Scenic Trail. This "north country" trail weaves through many scenic, historic and cultural areas across seven states, measuring 4,600 miles end-to-end.
Facilities
Campsites are in a wooded setting, but due to a tornado that passed through in 2005, tall trees and shade are less dense than in neighboring campgrounds. The campground has a single loop 16 paved family campsites. There are also 4 walk-in family campsites and 4 tent-only group sites that can accommodate up to 20 people each.
Natural Features
The campground is situated along the Pere Marquette National Scenic River, a 66-mile stretch of clear, unspoiled waters within the Huron-Manistee National Forests in Michigan. Large blocks of public land offering opportunities for hiking, birdwatching, photography, and hunting can be found in the surrounding area. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (801) 226-3564.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors enjoy exploring the extent of the Pere Marquette National Scenic River. Other nearby attractions include the Bowman Lake Foot Travel Area and the historic community of Idlewild.
What the agency tells you
From the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend to the Monday of Labor Day Weekend, a special watercraft permit is required from Forks Landing to Indian Bridge Landing
This campground has first-come, first-serve sites
Limit 2 vehicles or 1 RV per campsite; A fee will be charged for additional vehicles Site capacities are: 2 vehicles, 2 camping units, only one can be wheeled (e.g., two tents or a camper and a tent) All tires need to fit on the spurs! Limit 8 people per campsite
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Group sites are tent camping only
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.
Any accepted senior passes must be entered for the discount at the time of booking for single sites only.
Click here to learn more about Huron-Manistee National Forests
Check in time is 2:00pm and Check out time is 11:00am It is imperative that you are clear from the site at 11:00am on your check out day so the host can come prepare the site for the next event. Please don't be the group that makes the incoming group have to wait.
Customer Service Contact 801-226-3564 or Help.Huron.Manistee@AmericanLL.com
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 17 · 4 tent-only, 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Fishing
- Night sky · 170th darkest of 192 in MI
- Bortle 4
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$60 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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
17 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 17 mapped sitesAll 17 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 17 of the 17 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. 17 of the 17 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 001 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 99 ft | 899 ft | 1,045 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 002 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 99 ft | 934 ft | 979 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 003 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 106 ft | 994 ft | 1,131 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 004 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 126 ft | 1,041 ft | 1,140 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 005 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 126 ft | 929 ft | 1,015 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 006 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 163 ft | 791 ft | 955 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 007 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 96 ft | 574 ft | 815 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 012 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 163 ft | 328 ft | 583 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 013 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 100 ft | 468 ft | 564 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 014 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 69 ft | 521 ft | 664 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 016 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 69 ft | 588 ft | 692 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 08/09 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 96 ft | 574 ft | 886 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | 10/11 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 175 ft | 400 ft | 800 ft | $30–$60 |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | GS1 | group tent only area nonelectric | 271 ft | 657 ft | 1,135 ft | $110 | |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | GS2 | group tent only area nonelectric | 190 ft | 709 ft | 1,394 ft | $110 | |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | GS3 | group tent only area nonelectric | 72 ft | 783 ft | 1,581 ft | $110 | |
| BOWMAN BRIDGE | GS4 | group tent only area nonelectric | 72 ft | 838 ft | 1,583 ft | $110 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Gleasons LandingManistee National Forest · 1.6 miClaybanks CampgroundManistee National Forest · 3.2 miSulak CampgroundManistee National Forest · 4.3 miFrom Baldwin, turn west on 7th Street, then left onto Cherry Street. Take the first right, W 52nd Street, and drive 5 miles. Look for signs into the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Baldwin, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 60°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 14°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
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
Bowman Bridge is in Michigan’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, John Moolenaar (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →