For our first road trip in the RV, I did what I thought was a TON of research on RV campgrounds. I knew that I needed somewhere with full hookup (electricity, water, and sewage), somewhere that had a little beach for the kids, and somewhere that had excellent reviews from previous guests.
We found Loons Point Campground in Cedarville, in the easternmost part of the U.P. We arrived at about 9:30pm (not ideal for newbies who had never set up a campsite before) and were welcomed by friendly faces and smiles from the Camp Hosts. Prior to this trip I didn’t know that Camp Hosts were a “thing”. Now I know that many campgrounds invite RVers to stay for the season in exchange for “hosting” the park – running the office, cleaning, mowing, etc. The hosts we met were very friendly, and I felt totally comfortable asking a lot of what I felt were my silliest questions – do we have to pack up our picnic area before we leave for the day? (No) Can we leave our screen tent out overnight? (Yes)
I had reserved a waterfront Site, and the sounds of the lapping waves from the channels of Lake Huron were a really pleasant surprise. The beach was really tiny, but it was everything my kids wanted! My father-in-law tried his hand at fishing, as did my kids, with no luck, but we rejoiced with the cheers from the dock when another camping family caught a big one! There is a fish cleaning station (which we didn’t use), as well as a bathhouse with multiple private showers and restrooms that is closed overnight (Perhaps this is common in campsites? It was a surprise to me!). They also have boat rentals but due to COVID-19 these were unavailable during our stay.
We learned a lot from this maiden voyage. One of the takeaways was that we prefer sites with a little more space. From speaking to other campers it sounds like you get more space at National and State Park campsites. But often the trade off for that space is that it’s hard to get the full hookup options. I’m a girl who would automatically choose full hookup over a beautiful view, so I’ll have to try other options and report back! We also learned that no matter what time of year it is, the weather is unpredictable. We had to make an emergency trip to WalMart to buy hoodies and jeans for everyone because my seven-day forecast from Alexa was mostly true, but failed to warn me that the nights were COLD! We plan on keeping a family set of hoodies on board at ALL times from now on!
On our drive home my husband and I asked each other the same question, and we had the same answer. What would we have done differently? With the U.P. being so wide and thin, and without the need for the specific amenities of a particular campground, there is really no need to stay at only one campground. If we do this trip again we would stay at several campgrounds on a tour of the peninsula.
What do we wish we had known before the trip? WEAR BUG SPRAY AT ALL TIMES!!! The U.P. has an impressive population of mosquitoes who loved nothing more than to nibble on my family. I don’t like mosquito bites – I have zero chill when it comes to itches. Also – A Class RVers wave at each other when they pass on the road! I tried waving at C-Class RVs and trailers, but I didn’t get any waves back.
We really discovered that the pre-trip RV organization was pretty shoddy. We did what we could in a short space of time, but there was so much we didn’t (and still don’t) know. Organizing our RV is going to be a bit of a game of trial and error. We couldn’t figure out the Wi-Fi set up in the RV, and the customer support line was closed all weekend. We also couldn’t get the propane line hooked up and without Wi-Fi we couldn’t look it up, so we ended up purchasing a propane tank just to be able to use our grill.
I also learned that a five-star campground is NOT the same as a five-star hotel. If the campground we stayed at were reviewed the same way as hotels are, it would be a solid and well-earned three-star.
Lo+Mo 
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