South Branch Trail Camp Group Site
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:42 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
South Branch Trail Campground Group Site is ideal for equestrian camping. The group area impresses with its beautiful scenery and convenient access to horseback riding and hiking along the 240-mile Michigan Shore-to-Shore Horseback Riding and Hiking Trail. Priority will be given to campers with horses, however everyone is welcome. The spacious site holds up to 250 campers and features a day-use horse parking area. Keep reading
Recreation
Hike or horseback ride on the Michigan Shore-To-Shore Riding and Hiking Trail. The trail begins in the town of Empire near Lake Michigan, on the west side of Michigan and ends near Oscoda, Michigan on the Lake Huron eastern side of the state. The eastern part of the trail follows the historic AuSable River to its end in AuSable, just south of Oscoda.
Facilities
Facilities include at the South Branch Trail Campground Group Site include three sets of vault toilets, an electric water pump - which requires campers to furnish a 5,000 watt generator, one garbage bin and picket posts. Parking allows for up to 65 vehicles.
Natural Features
Campsites are situated in a stand of oak and pine at an elevation of 880 feet. The campground is adjacent to the South Branch River and is also not too far from the AuSable River. The magnificent Lake Huron is only a short drive east of the campground.
What the agency tells you
Your permit is subject to forfeit and a violation notice may be issued for failing to follow these rules: • Occupancy limits apply to your site • Keep all camping equipment and vehicles within your designated camp site. • Keep all vehicles, trailers and RVs on camping spur. • 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. • Quiet hours are from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and keep noise reasonable all other times. • Pets must be on leash or under voice command at all times. • If potable water is available at your site, please be sure to wash your dishes and clothes away from the water source. If watering livestock or pets, please water them away from the water source. This will help protect the water source from contamination. • Pack it in, pack it out. Leave the site clean for the next campers. Do not leave trash in fire rings, and do not burry or burn trash or recyclables. • Be careful with fire. Do NOT leave hot campfires unattended. Make sure your ashes are cool to the touch before you leave. • You may use downed wood for firewood. Keep fires within the fire ring. • Fireworks and use of fireworks are NOT permitted. • Do not tie/tack anything to standing trees, including (but not limited to) horses, pets, laundry lines, garbage bags. • ORV’s may only be operated on trails signed as open for their use. ORV’s may not be used within campgrounds. • 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 • Other rules and regulations apply. For questions, late arrivals, or early departures please contact Lumberman’s Monument at 989-362-8961, or visit the Huron-Manistee National Forests website www.fs.usda.gov/hmnf.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 group, 1 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…Group Site include three sets of vault toilets, an electric water pump - which requires campers to…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…three sets of vault toilets, an electric water pump - which requires campers to furnish a 5,000 watt…”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Winter sports
2 of 2 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:42 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
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 · 10
What you actually pay
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
recreation.gov availability, read 16:42 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| SOUTH BRANCH TRAIL CAMP GROUP SITE | 001 | group equestrian | 1,097 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Rollways CampgroundHuron National Forest · 2.2 miHorseshoe Lake Campground and Boat LaunchHuron National Forest · 8.0 mi
Monument CampgroundHuron National Forest · 9.5 mi
Gabions CampgroundHuron National Forest · 9.6 miPine River CampgroundHuron National Forest · 11 miBear Island CampgroundHuron National Forest · 11 miSouth Branch Trail Camp is located in northeast Michigan. If traveling from the south, go US-23 north to M-65. Stay on M-65 north through the city of Hale. 6 miles north of Hale turn north on Rollways Road. Travel 3 miles to the campground entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sand Lake, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 58°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 10°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
South Branch Trail Camp Group Site 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 →