Ludington State Park Expands Rustic Camping Options

[Hamilton Reef]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2006

Contact:
Dan Flaherty 231-843-2423
Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

Ludington State Park Expands Rustic Camping Options

Ludington State Park will add 10 new hike-in campsites on May 15 to expand remote, rustic camping options, Department of Natural Resources officials announced today.

Named the Jack Pine Campground, the sites are located about three-quarters of a mile north of the park entrance along the Lighthouse Trail. The campground will offer a hand pump for fresh water and vault toilets. In addition, each site will have a picnic table and fire ring. No motor vehicles are allowed along the Lighthouse Trail and the sites are hike-in, for tents only. Parking is available at the trailhead.

"These sites are located in a juniper and jack pine forest dune ecosystem," Park Supervisor Dan Flaherty said. "The Lake Michigan shoreline is just a quick walk away over the top of the dune.

"Demand for this kind of remote camping experience is very strong at Ludington," he added.

The sites are $16 per night from May to October and include the use of the shower building in Pines Modern Campground. In winter months, the sites will be $10 per night. Reservations will be accepted up to six months in advance by calling 1-800-447-2757 (1-800-44PARKS) or online at www.midnrreservations.com.

Ludington State Park, located eight miles north of Ludington, includes 5,300 acres of scenic sand dunes, shoreline vista, ponds, marshlands and forests situated between Hamlin Lake and Lake Michigan with several miles of shoreline and beaches on both bodies of water.

All motor vehicles entering a state park or recreation area must display a Motor Vehicle Permit, available for purchase at the recreation area entrance. Cost is $24 for resident annual and $6 for resident daily. A non-resident annual is $29 and a non-resident daily is $8.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations.

[Hamilton Reef]

Ludington State Park expands rustic camping options

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=31313

5-10-2006 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348

Most tent campers would gladly trade the hum of an RV’s air conditioner for a coyote’s howl or an owl’s hoot.

Officials at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are banking on that mindset.

On Monday, 10 new hike-in campsites — in what has been dubbed the “Jackpine” campground at Ludington State Park — were added to the state’s online reservation system.

By 3 p.m. Tuesday, there were a handful of dates already reserved.

The Jackpine campground, which opens May 15, is largely the brainchild of Park Supervisor Dan Flaherty. Flaherty saw the old group camp located near the Big Sable Point Lighthouse as a place that also could be used for tent camping on those 75 nights or so each year when the campground was filled to capacity and also as a way to offer a slightly different camping experience.

With each park being asked to generate about $15,000 in extra revenue a year, the new camp gained approval from DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division.

“The rangers thought it was something to pursue,” Flaherty said. “Each year we get numerous requests from people who don’t want to pitch tents in modern units.”

While campers are expected to pack everything they need in, Flaherty said it really isn’t backcountry camping. Each site in the jackpine-filled interdunal valley is clearly defined by four posts, each with the campground rules posted on them.

“It’s just a little more remote, a little more isolated,” Flaherty said.

He said the sites are actually classified as semi-modern during the site-specific reservation season because the campers have access to the showers in the Pines campground. Each site in the Jackpine camp area has a fire ring, a picnic table and quick access to a hand-pumped water well and vault toilets.

Although the campers won’t be under the same amount of supervision as campers in the rest of the park, there will be regular vehicular patrols.

“We hope not to have to do that too much because there’s a certain expectation of peace and quiet out here,” Flaherty said.

“My thought is people interested in hiking are a little more conscientious about their equipment and the environment.”

But, Flaherty said, some rules will be strictly enforced.

“We’re really concerned about people being responsible for fire,” Flaherty said. “We’re going to be watching that real close.”

To that end, each campsite has one of the concrete-filled fire rings that are at every other site in the park.

Flaherty said campers also will be asked to keep their camping equipment within the four posts of their site.

“We don’t want equipment off in the hinterlands,” he said.

Pets will be allowed, but they are not allowed to roam free or visit the beaches. Pets must be leashed at all times.

Flaherty said once people realize Lake Michigan is only a couple hundred yards away over the top of a dune, he believes the sites will fill up quickly.

“We’re hoping these will be full any time the others are full,” Flaherty said.

Beyond the reservation season — roughly May 15-Nov. 1 — the campground will remain open, but access to the restroom building in the Pines will not be available. The campground, which is just inside the southern boundary of the huntable area at the north end of the park, will remain open during hunting seasons.

Flaherty said there are opportunities for hunters to camp in the area for deer season and also for those interested in snowshoe hikes to hike in and camp in the winter.

“I believe it’s a good thing,” Flaherty said. “We’re providing just a little different experience.”