Gabions Campground
- Right now
- OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
- A night
- $10From, per site
- Sites
- 8All of them booked ahead
- Season
- May 1 – November 30Open May 1 through November 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Gabions Campground offers camping on the National Scenic stretch of the Au Sable River. Natural springs are common on this section of the river, including a small one at the river's edge near the gabions. Gabions are rock-filled wire baskets that are placed along the riverbank to help reduce erosion. The Shore-to-Shore Trail passes near the campground; however, Gabions is not a designated horse camp and horse camping is not permitted. Wildlife and waterfowl viewing opportunities exist; please respect wildlife and observe from a distance. Keep reading
Recreation
Water Activites: Anglers can boat, wade, and fish from shore. Fish species found in the Au Sable River include bass, pike, brown trout, walleye, perch, sunfish, steelhead, and salmon. The water flows at a speed of 2 mph. The Au Sable River provides opportunities for non-motorized boating using watercraft such as canoes, kayaks, and rafts. 4001 Canoe Access is a short drive and provides developed access to the Au Sable river. Alcona Canoe Rental in nearby Glennie and Hinchman's Acres Resort in Mio provide watercraft rentals for canoes, kayaks, and tubes. Hiking: Visitors can walk the Shore-to-Shore Horse Trail which passes through the campground. This trail is open to hiking and horseback riding. Hikers should be aware this is not a loop trail. Additionally, hikers can drive southwest on Au Sable River road to reach the Ruffed Grouse trail head for a short leasurely 0.6 mile loop through the forest. OHV Riding: An OHV trail utilizes Au Sable River road at the mouth of the campground road. Taking the trail to the east will connect riders to the Alcona ATV Trail and taking the trail to the west will connect riders to to the Mack Lake Motorized Trail System and the Bull Gap Hill Climb Area . Additionally, a large majority of Forest Service roads are open to OHV use. Please refer to the motor vehicle use map (MVUM) to understand which roads are open to OHV use.
Facilities
Amenities available include a vault toilet and trash collection. There is no water provided in the campground. Campsites are equipped with picnic tables, campfire rings, and lantern posts.
Natural Features
The Au Sable River is a short walk from the campground where visitors can experience world class fishing and floating opportunities. Each site is shaded by a mixed forest of hardwoods, red pines, and jack pine. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (989) 826-3252.
What the agency tells you
As a visitor to the National Forest, you are asked to follow certain rules designed to protect the Forest, natural resources and to provide for public safety of visitors. These rules are available to you online or at any office of the Huron-Manistee National Forests. Please take time to read and understand them. General Topic orders apply across the Forests. Applicable Orders: - Au Sable National Scenic River Corridor; R904-14-18 - Motorized Vehicle Use of Roads, Trails and Off-road Areas; R904-14-02 - Occupancy and Use - Developed Recreation Areas, Dispersed Areas, Being Publicly Nude, Marine Prohibitions, Parking and Sanitation; R904-14-03
Pets must be on leash at all times.
Quiet hours are from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and keep noise reasonable all other times.
Everything else this campground posts · 4
You must occupy your site within 24 hours of the start of your reservation. Contact the Forest Service to request a late arrival or your site may be forfeited.
Be careful with fire. Do not leave hot campfires unattended. Make sure your ashes are cool to the touch before you leave.
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
Fireworks and use of fireworks are not permitted.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8 · 1 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 99 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…Facilities Amenities available include a vault toilet and trash collection. There is no water provided in…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…a vault toilet and trash collection. There is no water provided in the campground. Campsites are equipped…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Off Highway Vehicle Trails
- Off Road Vehicle Trails
- Paddling
- River Trips
- Snowmobile Trails
- Tubing
- Water access
- Night sky · 125th darkest of 192 in MI
- Bortle 3
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:34 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $10 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
recreation.gov availability, read 15:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites
All 8 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 7 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
South Branch Trail Camp Group SiteHuron National Forest · 9.6 mi
Mack Lake ORV CampgroundHuron National Forest · 11 miFrom the South on M33:
- Turn East onto Curtisville Road and stay on it for approximately 15.5 miles. (Note the name of the road will change to: Au Sable Valley River Rd and then Au Sable River Rd.)
- Turn Left (north) onto Brodie Road. Follow the signs to the campground.
From Mio via McKinley Road:
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Mio, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 35°F, day 57°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical November night 25°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 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
Gabions 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 →