U.S. Forest Service · Hiawatha National Forest · MI

Clear Lake Campsite

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 15 opens May 15.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
Sites
1All of them booked ahead
20 ftLongest rig
780 ftElevation
107 ftWater · Clear Lake
14.5 miSE of Munising, MI
65%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices

In the agency’s own words

The Munising and Rapid River/Manistique Ranger Districts of the Hiawatha National Forest offer a variety of camping experiences. Many are located on inland lakes in a rustic forest environment with no drinking water. The rustic environment offers a wonderfully serene and peaceful setting for your next camping experience. Keep reading

Recreation

Visitors will be able to enjoy swimming, berry picking, and fishing at these campsites. Licenses are required for fishing in Michigan waters. Clear Lake boasts a great fishery of yellow perch, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass. Occasionally, splake may be caught as well. There is a back-in boat launch located adjacent to the campsite. It is used as public access point, so campers can expect users to cross their site to access this launch.

Facilities

There is NO drinking water. There are NO primitive toilets. Lake Name: Clear Lake Number of Sites: 1 Maximum Number of People: 8 Toilets: No Boat Access: Back-In Lake Size (acres): 109 Natural Features Clear Lake hosts a single campsite in an open area, located on the eastern side of the lake. This site measures 50 ft x 30 ft and can accomodate 2 families and trailers. There is a boat launch located adjacent to this site that is used by the public. Campers can expect public use of this boat access. Contact Info For local information, please call (906) 474-6442 or call (906) 387-2512 for general information.

Nearby Attractions

There are a number of horse, bike, and hiking trails within minutes of several of the sites. In over a mile from these campsites, visitors can expect to find: bait shops, general and grocery stores, gas, a pay phone, trailheads, a fishing pier, biking, and kayak/canoe rentals.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Pack-In, Pack-out policy

Rule

There is a 14-day stay limit.

Rule

No drinking water provided.

Everything else this campground posts · 5
Rule

Campsite must be occupied the first night.

Rule

Campsite cannot be left unattended for more than 24 hours.

Rule

You are welcome to collect firewood from the area surrounding your campsite. Just remember that any firewood that you collect must be DEAD AND DOWN

Rule

Click here for more information on the Hiawatha National Forest

Rule

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.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
1
Hookups
None
Longest rig
20 ft
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
None. Pack out what you bring in
“Toilets: No”
Drinking water
None, bring your own
“…in a rustic forest environment with no drinking water. The rustic environment offers a wonderfully serene…”
Boat ramp
Yes
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, River
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Night sky · 66th darkest of 192 in MI
Bortle 2
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

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.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 15, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 15, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
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’ll write once, when the season that starts Sat, May 15 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 10

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service publishes no per-night rate for this campground that we can read, so there’s no sign price to print. That’s a gap in the record, not a free campground.
Rates for the season the campground is in now, May 15, 2026 to Oct 15, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
The agency publishes no nightly rate for this campground, so there’s nothing to add the $8 booking fee to. We won’t total a receipt with a number missing from it.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 · 4

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

1 sites · the site map

All 1 sites

1 of 1 sites located
Standard1
Aerial · Esri World Imagery
SleepsTakes a
CLEAR LAKE CAMPSITE001standard nonelectric20 ft107 ft

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate46.24472, -86.41389
The phone906-474-6442 OR 906-387-2512
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From M-28 in Shingleton: Head South on M-94 for 11 miles to Clear Lake Road (Forest Road 2246). Turn left and follow for 3 miles to FR 2246J (on the left).

From US HWY 2 in Manistique: Head North on M-94 for 24 miles to Clear Lake Road (Forest Road 2246). Turn left and follow for 3 miles to FR 2246J (on the left).

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today48°Rain Showers75% rain
Tonight24°Chance Rain Showers44% rain
Saturday56°Sunny1% rain
Saturday Night33°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Munising, MI

Typical weather

Typical October night 39°F, day 55°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical February night 12°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

80°32°0°

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.

Measured at: MUNSING LAKESHORE, MI (USW00054813), 16 miles away and 168 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it

Who answers for this land

Jack Bergman, official portrait

Clear Lake Campsite 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.