Petoskey State Park Visit – July, 2026

My husband and I recently did a camping trip at Petoskey State Park in Northern Michigan. We had not visited this park for camping since August, 1993 when we were college students and still dating. We drove a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker, borrowed a Coleman cabin tent and some other gear from my folks.

This site may actually be Fisherman’s Island State Park in nearby Charlevoix, which we also visited in the same trip.

This time, instead of tent camping, we rented one of the two “mini cabins” available for rent.

The mini cabins are located in the Tannery Creek campground in the southern part of the park. Yes a real tannery used to be here back in the day when tanneries were a thing.

This is what our cabin site (#178) looked like:

Inside were two sets of bunks, one with a full sized bed on the bottom bunk, the other all twin. We also had electricity, microwave, small wall heater and a small fridge

Petoskey State Park is one of the “younger” state parks in Michigan. It officially opened to visitors in 1970.

So if you’re one of those people who loves to check out the old state park structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, you’re not gonna find those here.

What you will find is a glorious white sand beach on Little Traverse Bay, two campgrounds and miles of hiking trails with difficulty levels ranging from easy to difficult. An Intercity bike path also runs through the park.

Not a very accurate map, but aren’t maps like this just so adorable 😍 😊?

My husband absolutely loves to swim, and I love hanging out near water, so we’re a… pretty good match!

After all, someone needs to guard the car keys, right? 🤔

Speaking of car keys, we drove our new-to-us 2025 Subaru Legacy on this trip. Boy was it a joy to pack (so much cargo space) 😁

The weather was perfect for at least a couple of beach days while we were there.

The Tannery Creek campground where we stayed had a few wooden walkways with benches and viewing platforms for visitors to look at the lake or go down to the beach itself.

We had only one night with some minor storms that kept us inside our cabin for the evening. Radar tells me that just south of us was wolloped by the storm!

I did my best to set up our camp chairs inside so we could sit and watch movies on our portable DVD player. I did not get pictures of the indoor set up, but I did get pictures of the outdoor setup we used in the following lazy afternoon after we got back from the beach ⛱️.

What’s a camping trip without some drinks to enjoy at the beach? 🏖️

Or by the fire?

I stopped drinking alcohol a little more than nine months ago, so when I want adult beverages these days, they have to be non-alcoholic. There are lots of great choices now 😄

Here are a couple of pictures of the cabin interior. I always take pictures before we leave to prove we didn’t go all Keith Moon and destroy the place we stayed!