South Manitou Group Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 6All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
South Manitou Group Campground is a tent-only backcountry facility on South Manitou Island in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. Campers must take a 1.5-hour Manitou Island Transit Ferry trip or boat ride to reach it, and must backpack their gear into the campground from the dock. **Booking for individual sites on South Manitou Island are made on a first come/first served basis directly through Manitou Island Transit .** This facility is comprised of three reservable group sites at Bay Campground and three others at Weather Station Campground. Keep reading
Each site is open to groups of nine to 20 people only. Smaller parties must plan to occupy multiple first-come, first-served individual sites at Popple, Bay or Weather Station Campgrounds on the island. Bay is the closest campground to the dock (less than a mile/1.6 km) and a short walk from the beach. Weather Station overlooks Lake Michigan from the bluffs on the south side of the island; the hike from the ferry is about 1.3 miles (2 km). If group sites are full, your group may be able to split up into multiple individual campsites. Be sure to book reservations on the Manitou Island Transit website or call (231) 256-9061 for transportation to the island. Or contact Sleeping Bear Dunes for more information at (231) 326-4700 ext 5010. Summer temperatures range from the upper 70s to 90 degrees F (25° to 32° C) during the day, and from the 50s to 70 degrees F (10° to 25° C) at night. Winters are cold, with daytime highs from 20° to 30° F (-7° to -1° C) and lows in the 10s and 20s F (-12 to -7° C). Snow is usually on the ground from late November through March.
Recreation
There is no shortage of activities on South Manitou Island. Visitors can hike around the 10-mile perimeter of the island via pebble beaches, take a tour of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse during summer months, view the 1960 shipwreck of the Francisco Morazanon or go on a motorized tour to learn the history of the island. Visitors can also hike day-long excursions to unique sand dune formations and old growth cedar forests. Both campgrounds have beach access where campers can beachcomb and swim; group sites are closer to the beach at Bay Campground than at Weather Station.
Facilities
Water is only available in the Village area. Group campsites are secluded and set apart from one another. Each site has a fire pit for open fires (firewood must be purchased or collected in the park). Wooden pit toilets are provided, however campers must bring their own toilet paper.
Natural Features
South Manitou Island is part of an island chain in Lake Michigan that extends north to the Straits of Mackinac. The island consists of a ridge of tilted layers of limestone, buried under a blanket of glacial debris. It features unique sand dune formations, 10 miles of pebble beaches and a grove of old growth white cedars that date back over 500 years. The campgrounds lie on sandy soils among younger forests. Contact Info For local information, please call (231) 326-4700 or call (877) 444-6777 for general information.
What the agency tells you
Each site is open to groups of 9 to 20 people ONLY and a maximum of 10 tents. Smaller groups will be required to occupy multiple first-come, first-served individual sites at Popple, Bay or Weather Station Campgrounds on the island if they show up at Manitou Island Transit with less than the required occupancy.
There is a camping limit of 14 total calendar days per designated campground from Friday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Camping equipment may not remain on a site for more than 14 days, even if used by a different group.
South Manitou Island is accessible only by private boat or passenger ferry. Visitors must book a ticket on the Manitou Island Transit website or call (231) 256-9061 for ferry availability before making camping arrangements. The fee for group camping does not include transportation to the island. Check the park's Plan Your Trip to the Islands page for more information.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Be prepared for diverse weather conditions that may cause ferry delays.
This is a tent-only, backcountry campsite; all gear must be backpacked in; no wheeled vehicles can reach the facility.
Bay, Weather Station and Popple campgrounds have individual campsites available on a first-come, first-served basis on the island; the island is open to camping year-round, but there are no off-season services available.
A maximum of 10 tents is allowed per site.
The transportation of firewood to North and South Manitou Islands is strictly prohibited. This is pursuant to the State of Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine. Campers may collect dead and down wood for personal use during their visit. Unused wood must remain on the island.
Chipmunks frequent the camping area. Food and scented items must be hung from a tree and never kept in tents or backpacks
The campground does not offer electricity. Drinking water is available only in the Village area on South Manitou Island.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore charges an entrance fee (apart from camping fees) for each group. You may pay the entrance fee upon arrival at a staffed location. The park also honors Federal interagency passes (e.g., annual, senior, access, 4th grade, Golden Age pass etc.). For more information visit the park's Fees & Passes web page. NOTE: Effective March 1, 2023, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore accepts card payment only at staffed locations (no cash or checks).
Campers must bring their own toilet paper.
The park has pebble beaches rather than sand; water shoes are recommended.
No pets allowed.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 6 · 6 tent-only, 6 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Pit Toilets
- “…or collected in the park). Wooden pit toilets are provided, however campers must bring their own…”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach, Coast
- Hiking
- Visitor center
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 · 16
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
6 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 6 mapped sitesAll 6 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. 6 of the 6 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Bay Group Sites | BG001 | group tent only area nonelectric | 298 ft | 474 ft | $30 |
| Bay Group Sites | BG002 | group tent only area nonelectric | 252 ft | 413 ft | $30 |
| Bay Group Sites | BG003 | group tent only area nonelectric | 252 ft | 197 ft | $30 |
| Weather Station Group Sites | WG001 | group tent only area nonelectric | 375 ft | 2,147 ftFlorence Lake | $30 |
| Weather Station Group Sites | WG002 | group tent only area nonelectric | 307 ft | 2,197 ft | $30 |
| Weather Station Group Sites | WG003 | group tent only area nonelectric | 307 ft | 2,175 ftFlorence Lake | $30 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Bay Campground - South Manitou IslandSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore · 0.6 mi
Weather Station Campground - South Manitou IslandSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore · 1.0 mi
Popple Campground - South Manitou IslandSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore · 2.5 mi
D.H. Day Group CampgroundSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore · 8.7 mi
D.H. Day CampgroundSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore · 8.7 mi
Village Campground - North Manitou IslandSleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore · 9.8 miFrom Traverse City, Michigan, take M-22 to Sutton's Bay. Go west on M-204 from Sutton's Bay towards Leland. Turn north at the junction of M-22 and M-204 to Leland. Take the Manitou Island Transit ferry from Leland to South Manitou Island.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Glen Arbor, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 40°F, day 58°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical February night 16°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 Manitou Group 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 →