Big Bay Campgrounds

PERKINS COUNTY PARK CAMPGROUND
(906) 345-9353; reservable by the day, 5 days, and month.
This modern campground on the west shore of Lake Independence is a peaceful place to camp, provided it's not July 4 or Labor Day when there's a softball tournament. Campsites are in a grove of mature maples with some hemlocks and pines. It makes for a shady, cool setting. For fishing and swimming, see lake independence point of interest. It's an easy walk into town.
    All sites are served by showers and flush toilets. Rates vary with services. 36 full-service sites (water, sewer, electricity) in 2010 include 6 pull-through sites with 50 or 30 amp electric and full hookups. They are $27/night. Full-hookup 30 amp sites are $25/night. 16 electric-only sites are $20/night. 24 tent sites are $15/night. One platform tent is $20/night. Five-night rates are about 10% off. The new sites have understory privacy buffers. Landscape buffers have recently been created for other campsites. The campground fills on weekends in July and the first part of August, and very occasionally on weekdays, too, so reserve ahead.
    The campground area has had some famous residents over the years. The lieutenant who was the defendant in Anatomy of a Murder and his beautiful, bored young wife were among the dozens of army personnel who lived in trailers here in the 1950s while testing artillery anti-aircraft guns for the army. (The lieutenant murdered the owner of the Lumberjack Tavern across the road.)
    The late Miss Perkins, the Queen of Big Bay, lived here in her youth, before she grew into a 600-pound hog by consuming uneaten food from the local school lunch program and quaffing an occasional beer from the Lumberjack. Her owner, resident park manager Kim Bourgeois, then moved her to a spacious, wooded pen on adjacent private property. Miss Perkins died after an illness and was buried, not butchered. Wooden platform tent -7/2010

Return to Big Bay