Three Lakes
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $16From, per site
- Sites
- 1310 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 24 – October 31Open May 24 through October 31
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
Three Lakes Campground is a peaceful facility tucked away from the busy highway. It is nestled between Whitmarsh, Brown and Walker Lakes, giving visitors ample opportunity to enjoy and explore nature at its best. Keep reading
Recreation
The three lakes are open to non-motorized boating. A carry-down boat ramp is located at the campground's picnic area. Fishing is a popular activity. Rainbow trout, perch and catfish are found in the lakes. Although there is no designated swimming beach, sandy areas are located along the shores of the three lakes. Hikers enjoy the serene atmosphere of the campground. The Walker Loop Trail begins within the campground, near the picnic area, and leads hikers around the perimeter of Walker Lake. The trail is easy hiking and traverses about 1.15 miles.
Facilities
Three Lakes Campground is a rustic campground with single-family sites for tent and RV camping. Each is equipped with a table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A day-use picnic area is also available.
Natural Features
The campground is set among a variety of pine, spruce and maple trees on land sandwiched between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Whitmarsh, Brown and Walker Lakes dot the landscape to the north, south, and west of the campground.
Nearby Attractions
The nearest town is Strongs, just 2.5 miles from the campground.
What the agency tells you
No hookups available
Click here for more information on the Hiawatha National Forest
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 13
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…equipped with a table and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A day-use picnic…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…and campfire ring. Vault toilets and drinking water are provided. A day-use picnic area is also…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Night sky · 122nd darkest of 192 in MI
- Bortle 2
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 16:52 UTC
recreation.gov lists 10 of the 13 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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, $16 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 16:52 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
13 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 13 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. 10 of the 13 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| THREE LAKES | 01 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 189 ft | 140 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 02 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 189 ft | 259 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 03 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 275 ft | 248 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 04 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 159 ft | 364 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 05 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 159 ft | 224 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 06 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 255 ft | 314 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 07 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 251 ft | 217 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 08 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 251 ft | 456 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 09 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 130 ft | 589 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 10 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 130 ft | 539 ft | $16 |
| THREE LAKES | 26 | type not stated | 20 ft | |||
| THREE LAKES | 27 | type not stated | 20 ft | |||
| THREE LAKES | 28 | type not stated | 20 ft |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Soldier LakeHiawatha National Forest · 5.7 miBay View CampgroundHiawatha National Forest · 13 mi
Bay View (Hiawatha National Forest, MI)14 mi
Monocle LakeHiawatha National Forest · 19 mi
Monocle Lake CampgroundHiawatha National Forest · 20 mi
Brevoort Lake CampgroundHiawatha National Forest · 22 miFrom Strongs Corner, turn south on Forest Road 3142 and travel approximately two miles. The campground is on the east side of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Brimley, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 54°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 37°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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
Three Lakes 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 →