My wife and I love to fall camp and we have been going to the same 2 state parks and we would like to find some new places. We like to take short trips where we are not driving more than 2 hours. We live in Warren and are close to all highways.
how far are you looking to go and what kind of place are you looking for i.e rustic, popular. Cause there is a KoA up in emmet that is realy nice for family and couples we are going next year a few times.
my wife and I like to have power when we camp but we like going in the spring and Fall so there is not many people camping. This next year will be our first year camping with a child so that will be new for us.
Two and a half hours will put you into Silver Lake State park.
Bring a quad runner or two for lots of fun, adult crowd, town stuff within walking distance--including a pretty good food store with good meat sliced there, firewood, and a large selection of drink types. Said store is literally within an easy tipsy stumble from the two parks of the camp ground, and they only charge about 20% more than is charged in the full grocery store by the freeway 6 miles away.
If you are into camping/backpacking you need to check out the Manitou Islands. To get to them you take an hour long ferry from Leland, MI. There are two islands, north and south Manitous. On the north island you can roam and camp freely, whereas on the south you can only camp in designated areas. So basically if you are looking for more of a "family" camping experience go with the South Island, if you can rough it and are a bit more adventurous go with the North Island.
My family never goes to state parks or 'campgrounds' We go to the very tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula.... As far north as you can possibly go in Michigan. It is beautiful up there.