Michigan Winter Cabin Camping: State Parks in the Winter

Cold temps and a foot of snow doesn’t mean camping season is over! With the wonderful cabins located in various Michigan State Parks you can enjoy winter camping (comfortably)! Read more (or watch a cabin tour here on YouTube) to learn about how I enjoy winter camping, my favorite Michigan State Park DNR cabins, and a list of all State Parks that have cabins available!

Many Michigan State Parks have lodging known as “Mini Cabins” or “Camper Cabins”, these are small but mighty structures that have:

• electricity
• heat
• microwave/mini-fridge
• bunk beds

These cute cabins make winter camping completely bearable, allowing you to stay warm and dry during any conditions.

Make sure you still bring these items when you travel to a mini cabin:

• bedding (bunk beds contain mattress’ only, no bedding or blankets are provided)
• cooking supplies (a variety of mini cabins have a hot plate, but most do not)
• extension cords (this helps reach the top of bunk beds and provides additional outlets depending on how many people are staying)

Some “for fun” items we like to bring along:

• a small tv/DVD player
• games
• Christmas lights

*To Note: almost all state parks have their modern restrooms closed during the winter months, vault toilets are still available.

So far I have stayed at:

Ludington State Park – Pines Cabin

Tawas State Park – Mini Cabin 2 & Camper Cabin

McLain State Park – Aspen Cabin

Fort Wilkins State Park – Camper Cabin

Harrisville State Park – Cabin

Waterloo State Recreation Area – Portage Lake Camper Cabin

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Here’s my thoughts on each one:

• Ludington State Park
  • Pros
    • great location to hiking trails
    • no other cabins close by
  • Cons
    • vault toilet was a little far from the cabin
    • roads not plowed
• Tawas State Park
  • Pros
    • modern restrooms OPEN
    • camper cabin has incredible views of Tawas Bay and stellar sunsets
  • Cons
    • right next to the other mini cabin
    • heat was not on when we arrived, took awhile to get warm
• McLain State Park
  • Pros
    • had a hot plate and nice cupboards for food storage
    • heat was on when we arrived
    • very close to vault toilet, which vault toilet had electricity (no peeing in the dark!!)
    • DNR kept the roads plowed the entire duration of our stay
  • Cons
    • honestly none (favorite state park to winter camp in!)
• Fort Wilkins State Park
  • Pros
    • Recently remolded in 2017
    • Large counter top space
    • People left various items like paper towel, toilet paper, and games
    • Lots of cabinet space for storage
    • Right on Lake Fanny Hooe with a private dock
    • Not by other cabins
  • Cons
    • Vault toilet had no lights, bit of a walk to vault toilet
• Harrisville State Park
  • Pros
    • Most unique cabin I’ve stayed in, in terms of architecture and build
    • Vault toilet very close by
    • Short walk to Lake Huron coastline
  • Cons
    • States it sleeps 4, but really only comfortable for 2-3, only 1 bunk bed and a full sized futon
    • Fairly close to the other mini cabin, but not too close
• Waterloo State Recreation Area – Portage Lake Camper Cabin
  • Pros
    • Set a few yards out of the main campground loop, leading to nice solitude
    • Beautiful view of Big Portage Lake
    • Has a room with 1 queen bed, a room with 1 bunk bed, and a full sized futon
  • Cons
    • Least cleanly cabin we’ve stayed in
    • Portion of campground are still open in the winter leading to other people being at the campground, there was about 7-10 trailers/tents there while we were renting the cabin

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To reserve your winter cabin heads to midnrreservations.com and select “overnight lodging”

Upper Peninsula:

• Copper Harbor – Fort Wilkens State Park
• Hancock – McLain State Park

Northern Lower Peninsula:

• Atlanta – Clear Lake State Park
• Harrisville – Harrisville State Park
• Roscommon – North and South Higgens Lake State Parks

• Ludington – Ludington State Park

• Cadillac – Mitchell State Park
• Tawas – Tawas Point State Park

Southern Lower Peninsula

• Muskegon – Muskegon State Park
• Holland – Holland State Park
• Bay City – Bay City State Park
• Augusta – Fort Custer Recreation Area
• Laingsburg – Sleepy Hollow State Park
• Holly – Holly Recreation Area
• Commerce Township – Proud Lake Recreation Area
• Pinckney – Pinckney Recreation Area
• Chelsea – Waterloo Recreation Area