Camping reservations at state parks are already 35% full into late July.
That’s according to state officials who say this number will only increase over the next couple of weeks.
Since the pandemic, Michigan state parks have seen an over 10% increase in the number of people reserving campsites.
This year, some of the state’s more popular parks such as Grand Haven and Holland are over 60% full, while reservations for Ludington State Park are already at 80% capacity.
Many popular campgrounds across the state will also be closed for infrastructure repairs this year, such as Port Crescent State Park in the thumb, which will close for the entire 2024 season. Interlochen State Park will remain closed until Labor Day.
Ron Olson, the chief of parks and recreation for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said these closures could potentially impact the number of reservations at other parks.
“It'll cause people to go to places maybe that they haven't been before,” Olson said. “So we have some parks that maybe don't get occupied all the time, that we'll probably see a bump in occupancy because of that.”
Olson says those hoping to go camping this summer should make their reservations as soon as possible.
“People are very eager to want to book those, and it's very challenging at times, particularly on busy weekends in the summer,” he said. “They fill up very fast. As soon as the window opens, they usually get filled within a hour or so,” Olson said.
The Michigan DNR is a financial supporter of WCMU.
