Apparently, it's not all beauty in our woods and lakes!

Every summer, people travel from far and wide to enjoy Michigan's beautiful parks and recreation areas. But they are people, and that means some of them are cranky!

I have rarely, if ever, have had a bad experience in a Michigan State Park.

My only beef came last year, when I had to take a rental car, and some rangers would let me use my Recreation Pass on my registration from my other car, and some wouldn't. That inconsistency was weird, but all in all, there's so little to hate. Or is there?

Here are some folks who did NOT have a good time in local parks, and expressed their joylessness on Yelp!

Holland State Park:

I would highly recommend staying away from this campground if you're looking to have any amount of fun.
First, the practical complaints: campsites are very small & close together; the "beach" across the street is a sand patch that will fit about five families total...I would give this place negative stars if possible.

Are they talking about the beach on Lake Michigan? I was with six people last year and we were lost in the crowd. It turns out there was some sort of ID scuffle these folks got into so they blasted everything.

 

I give the Beach 4 stars for Lake Michigan.  However I give The water 0 stars. If you like to swim with garbage this is your kind of place.  There was all matter of floating debris in every direction in the water.  Plastic, paper, etc. everything!  I felt like Han Solo stuck in a garbage dumpster.  I have spent my entire life in the Midwest living in Chicago and swimming in Lake Michigan there.  How can Chicago have cleaner water than "Pure Michigan"??  Someone needs to do something.  My 10 year old started cleaning and we ended up with a bag full of stuff in 5 minutes.   She couldn't make a dent but she knew someone had to try. Why is she in the minority???

I'm pretty sure that garbage floated over from Chicago, so there's that.

Grand Haven State Park:

Terrible. We made the reservation online, checked in at the gate and will turn right around to head out. A Walmart parking lot would be better than this. The noise, tight spots, high cost, unfriendly DNR staff have turned us off.

I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart let's you camp for free in their parking lot, so good luck with that next time.

 

Grand Haven State Park remind me of California beaches and not in a good way. There are a lot of people, lots of trash, and lots of little wood chips in the sand. To be fair, I went over July 4th weekend.

For the love of God, you better not come during Coast Guard Festival!!!

Newaygo State Park:

The park itself is beautiful and rustic and the campsites are very private, with 20ft of woods in between each one. However, if you're not a boater, the campground doesn't have much to offer. There is nowhere to fish on site (you have to drive 15 minutes away) and the beach is well beyond disappointing.

He still gave it three stars, which was the worst rating the park got, so they're doing all right in Newaygo!!

Muskegon State Park:

I'm the type of camper that doesn't like the have other peoples tents almost touching mine....This place is like that.  Really crowded, and we were there on a thursday night.  I woke up to someone scratching on the side of my tent and whispering things....i'm sure it was kids messing with me but....
....it seriously creeped me out, and i don't think i could ever stay here again.  I'd much rather be in the middle of nowhere, way less creepy.

It was probably raccoons, and yes, they are creepy!!

P.J. Hoffmaster State Park:

We were enjoying a game of "loaded questions" and didn't notice the time, so we our visiting guest stayed past the 10 o' clock hour.  We had a park ranger come and say, it's after ten, would you please move your car to a local Walmart or meijer?  Ok, so we finished up our game, and our guest started packing up.   She goes to the rest room, and here comes another ranger.   We explain she is at the restroom then She is leaving.  Which is what happened.   Well today as we are getting in our car to leave, the second ranger stops by again!  She proceeds to rehash last nights events, and then threatens to issue a "pretty hefty ticket" if we don't keep it in mind for next time.  First of all there was maybe 25-30 minutes between ranger visits, and she left, problem solved.  But to come by the next day and get an attitude like she did was uncalled for!  Karen, the park ranger, has made it so we will not come back here to camp again!

Why is it always Karen's fault?

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