Watersmeet Campgrounds

Clark Lake Campground
(906) 358-4724

Ottawa National Forest

Clark Lake swimming beach

This unusual campground on motor-free Clark Lake, Sylvania's largest, has 48 drive-up sites widely spaced along an asphalt drive in a mature forest. Its hot showers abd flush toilets are national forest anomalies. The campground is close to the canoe and kayak launch, and to a peaceful, shady park and swimming beach right next to a choice stretch of the 8-mile Clark Lake Trail in Sylvania's old-growth forest.
Campsites occasionally fill in July and the first three weeks of August.

SYLVANIA WILDERNESS AREA/Ottawa National Forest.
See below for phones; www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa/
These 29 wilderness campsites, nestled in these old-growth woods, can be reached by water. (For canoe and kayak rentals, see Sylvania Outfitters.) 13 are also reachable by land on defined hiking trails. An inconspicuous brown shoreline post marks each campsite. Campsites are so artfully deployed that you can feel quite alone here, even when every campsite is full.
    No-trace, low-impact camping is the rule: no music around the campfire, no noisy games. The idea is to be quiet and inconspicuous so campers can feel alone and hear the sounds of nature and wildlife, day and night sounds. Noise carries clearly across water.
Only five people and two tents per campsite are allowed. The maximum size for group travel (by water or by foot) is ten. Mechanical devices including bicycles, sailboats, and portage wheels are not permitted. Washing must be done at least 150 feet away from lakes and wetlands, using biodegradable soap if soap is necessary. Baking powder makes a good biodegradable toothpaste. To reduce food debris that attracts bears, strain dishwater and pack out all food scraps and garbage in your trash bag. Camp furnishings consist only of a big cast-iron fire ring and a wilderness latrine.
    Wilderness camping means having the discipline and courtesy to be inconspicuous in this popular area. Wear earth tones when possible. Wearing soft-soled shoes like moccasins around the campsite is easier on the ground and more comfortable. Use a fast, efficient, lightweight stove instead of a campfire. Dead or downed wood, pine cones, and bark can be burned, but only within the fire ring. Collect firewood away from your campsite to reduce impact.
    Water can contain harmful organisms, so it should be boiled, filtered in a .5 micron filter, chemically treated, or carried in. Water pumps are at the Crooked and Clark Lake launches and at the entrance station. Take precautions against bears.
    Camping regulations: All overnight campers at Sylvania must camp at designated sites. At all times between May 15 and September 30, users must have an overnight camping permit validated by Forest Service staff. Get it in person at the contact station off County Road 535. (See below.) From October through May 14, campers should self-register and pay at the A-frame or other trailheads. Camping fee per site per night: $10. Vehicle pass: $5/day, $20/season in 2005.
    Reservations are taken for specific campsites between January 15 and May 14. Mailed reservations are opened by lottery Jan. 15, then according to postmark dates. Phone reservations taken from Feb. 1; call 906-358-4724 Wed-Sat 10-4. After May, they're first-come, first-served. 25% of sites currently reserved for walk-in camping. For complete regulations etc., go to www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa/ then go through "Recreation and rog" to "Sylvania."

IMP LAKE CAMPGROUND/Ottawa National Forest
(906) 358-4551
This small campground, with 22 private, shady sites, is choice. All sites have lake views; most are on the water. An informal swimming beach is on 84-acre Imp Lake. Best of all is the Imp Lake Interpretive Trail, a 1.5 mile loop through an old-growth forest and past wetlands. Fishing for splake is good, trout fishing decent.

MARION LAKE CAMPGROUND/Ottawa National Forest

This 39-site rustic campground is quiet but not far from Watersmeet or Sylvania. At least half the campsites are right on the 318-acre lake, which has decent fishing for muskie, walleye, bass. One campsite loop is high, with lake views. Two loops are on the lake. All are shaded by maples. Reservable group camping is in a separate area. May fill on holiday weekends. The swimming beach has a 1930s changing house built by the CCC. There's an open playfield for games.

BURNED DAM CAMPGROUND / Ottawa National Forest

A primitive option on national forest land is the small, unusually scenic Burned Dam Campground at Mex-I-Mine Falls. Four roomy, well-spaced, wooded sites are near a prime canoeing stretch of the Ontonagon River Middle Branch, a few miles northeast of Watersmeet. No charge for camping.

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