Camping Review: Pinckney Recreational Area, Michigan

This post marks the first of our campsite reviews for the summer (assuming we do any more camping).

The SuperBelt gang has gone camping several times at Pinckney Recreational Area, a quite park area outside of Pinckney, Michigan. We pitched tents at Crooked Lake rustic campsite, after buying firewood at the park's entrance. The rustic site has about 25 plots (need reservation, usually), decent vault toilets, a water pump, and access to a lake (pictured left, not for swimming).

Our overall experience at this campground was nice. The area has several marked hiking trails and fishing seems to be possible on the lakes. For those of us who'd rather not do any physical activity while camping, the site is rather quiet and it's very easy to relax. At night it is especially quiet, save for the ample sounds of snoring and beer guzzling that came from other tents.

Crooked Lake itself provides a nice view. I'm not sure why this sign has declared the lake a "hazardous area" (or who taught this sign to spell), but, regardless of whatever dangers lurked beneath the lilly pads, Crooked Lake is quite photogenic at all times of day.

I especially liked walking out onto the dock for some star-gazing late and night. Some campers came prepared with telescopes, but telescopes don't mix with the amount of booze I usually consume while camping.

We've had some good campsites at Crooked Lake, but one should preview the sites before making camp because some of the lots were covered with semi-rotten crab apples.

The apples attracted raccoons and bugs, so a happy camper is forced to remove them in order to camp undisturbed by nature. We blasted the apples off of our campsite with a machete, but there are other methods of apple removal. The charming couple at the next plot, for example, gave their rowdy children a few shots of pure sugar to pound, and then told them "whoever throws the most crab apples into the woods wins." The kids loved this "game" with a passion for about 30 minutes, but in the end there really wasn't any winner, only altercations.

Anyways, if you happen to be in the area, Pinckney Recreational Area is not a waste of a trip.