Upper Manistee River Backcountry Campsites
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- FreeNo camping fee
- Sites
- 11All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Upper Manistee dispersed campsites are primitive campsites on the Manistee River Backwaters of Tippy Dam Pond, located along the banks of the Manistee River between Tippy Dam and Hodenpyl Dam. The Government Landing location includes 7 sites, in which, 5 are located on the water and 2 sites are on higher ground overlooking the water. There are 2 sites located on the water that are walk in only. The Red Bridge River Access offers 4 sites that are walk in only and allow easy access to the Manistee River. These sites are very popular and are by reservation only Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend. Keep reading
Recreation
The Upper Manistee River Area offers motorized and non-motorized boating opportunities, and fishing is excellent on the Manistee River. Wildlife viewing may include encounters with a variety of species such as bald eagles, loons, trumpeter swans, black bears, white tailed deer, river otters, and turtles. Many of these species are secretive and sensitive to disturbances, so please view them from a distance. Hiking opportunities in the area are numerous with the North Country Trail and the Manistee River Trail, as the top draw to the area. Both trails offer excellent views of the forested terrain and the Manistee River.
Facilities
Each site is designed for single camp unit use with a maximum of 8 people and 2 vehicle per site. Sites include a picnic table, fire ring, and a lantern hook. Vault toilets are located with in walking distance of each site. A boat ramp is located at both Government Landing and Red Bridge. No drinking water is available at Government Landing, but drinking water is available at Red Bridge.
Natural Features
The Upper Manistee River Area is one of the more scenic areas of the Manistee National Forest and the outdoor enthusiast will enjoy a rustic camping experience enhanced by the scenic river, peace and solitude, and abundant wildlife. The Manistee River with its steep slopes and sharp turns meanders through native hardwoods and pines. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (231) 848-7090.
What the agency tells you
Camping or leaving camping equipment (such as, but not limited to tents, camper trailers and/or tarps) is allowed in the same location for up to sixteen (16) days. After sixteen (16) days the camp and equipment MUST be moved off of Forest Service System lands OR to another location that is at least five (5) miles away. - Reservations are limited to 3 days per reservation. - Reservations are required from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 11 · 4 tent-only, 2 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 20 ft
- Accessible sites
- 4
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets · Pit Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 7 of 11 campsite records / ACCESSIBLE PIT TOILETS on 4 of 11 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 4 of 11 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Paddling
- Swimming
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 153rd darkest of 192 in MI
- Bortle 3
Nothing on the booking system for the next 30 nightsread 15:23 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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s own record says there’s no camping fee, 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 15:23 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
11 sites
All 11 sites
| GovernmentLanding | 22 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| GovernmentLanding | 23 | walk to | ||
| GovernmentLanding | 24 | walk to | ||
| GovernmentLanding | 25 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| GovernmentLanding | 26 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| GovernmentLanding | 27 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| GovernmentLanding | 28 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | |
| RedBridge | 11 | tent only nonelectric | yes | |
| RedBridge | 12 | tent only nonelectric | yes | |
| RedBridge | 13 | tent only nonelectric | yes | |
| RedBridge | 14 | tent only nonelectric | yes |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Seaton Creek CampgroundManistee National Forest · 5.7 mi
Peterson BridgeManistee National Forest · 6.4 mi
Sand Lake Campground8.7 miSand Lake Recreation AreaManistee National Forest · 8.9 miPine Lake CampgroundManistee National Forest · 9.5 miBear Track CampgroundManistee National Forest · 13 miFor All Campsites:
- From the intersection of M55 and M37, head west on M-55 for 2.7 miles
- Turn right onto N Warfield Rd, then travel north for 5.1 miles
- Turn left onto N Coates Hwy and travel west until you cross the bridge over the Manistee River
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Wellston, MI
Typical weather
Typical October night 36°F, day 57°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.
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
Upper Manistee River Backcountry Campsites is in Michigan’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, John Moolenaar (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →