Bay City State Park, a Michigan State Park located nearby Bay City, Essexville and Freeland

BAY CITY STATE PARK

BAY CITY STATE PARK
3582 State Park Drive
Bay City, Michigan 48706

Phone: 989-684-3020
Reservations: 800-447-2757

The Saginaw Bay Recreation Area is located on the shores of the Saginaw Bay. The park area includes over 2,000 acres of land featuring wooded wetlands, marsh ponds, gentle dune ridges and mile of shoreline. Recreational opportunities include swimming, picnicking, camping, hiking, fishing and bicycling. 193 electric-service sites, modern toilet/shower buildings, sanitary dump station, mini-cabins, organizational camp, amphitheater and playground. The Center featuring a hands-on museum, watershed exhibit and comfortable observation room for indoor bird watching. Nationally recognized as a birding "hot spot" throughout the year, birding is particularly spectacular during the spring and fall migratory seasons. Explore on your own or call ahead for a guide. now booking naturalist-guided field trips for school groups in the region. The programs are designed to teach and reinforce learning objectives in Michigan's Grade Level Content Expectations for Science and Social Studies, while offering children a chance to learn more about nature. Teachers may select from 32 different age-appropriate field trips options or may arrange for a customized experience to fit their students' needs. All programs are free. Metal detecting area.

Nature of the Area

Three observation towers, boardwalks, viewing platforms and shoreline spotting scopes help make wildlife viewing more interactive

Camping

Bay City-Group Use Area(989) 684-30202 site(s)Group Use Area, Rustic Site, Vault Toilet

Bay City-Modern(800) 447-2757193 site(s)Campsites with 50 amp Service, Electrical Service, Mini Cabin, Modern Restrooms

Area Accommodations

Comfort Suites Lakeside - Houghton Lake, MI

Hotels/Motels

Located on the shores off of Michigans largest inland lake, Comfort Suites Lakeside offers a beautiful hotel, conference center, water park and restaurant. Take a pleasure cruise or use a number of available golf packages. We have you covered for all your accommodation needs.

Web Site: http://www.comfortsuiteslakesideresort.com/

Places To Supplies

Comfort Suites Lakeside - Houghton Lake, MI

Restaurant

Web Site: http://www.comfortsuiteslakesideresort.com/

Get directions
to this park:

Nearby Parks

Day Use Area

Shelters

Five shelters are available for rent.

Playground

"Come Play by the Bay" is a community-built fully-enclosed and accessible playground that spawls over three acres. Swings, towers, bridges, slides and other creative play equipment will provide adventure and fun for the young and young at heart.

Picnicking

Visitors can picnic on the sandy shoreline of the Bay or under the shelter of lofty cottonwoods and ash trees which border the Tobico Lagoon. Picnic tables and fire pits/grills.

Trails

More than seven miles of trails help visitors explore the wetlands! Includes over three miles of paved accessible pathways, three observation towers, boardwalks, viewing platforms and shoreline spotting scopes. Bicycles and roller blades are welcome.

Bay City-Andersen Nature TrailTrail Length: 4.00 (Miles)Biking, Cross Country Ski, Hiking, Vault Toilet

Bay City-Chickadee Nature TrailTrail Length: 3.00 (Miles)Hiking

Nature Programs

A wide selection of K-12 wetland conservation programs are offered by special reservation. These programs provide hands-on learning opportunities designed to meet the Michigan Essential Goals and Objectives for Science Education. Call the Visitor's Center at 989-667-0717 for additional information.

Visitor Comments, Memories and Reviews

February 24 Very close to home... by Jerry

Camped there last year. Park is nice. Very nice sprinkler park for the kids. My wife and I will be back this year...

August 1 A great place to show your love!! by Joanie

My husband and I renewed our 10 wedding vows at the park on Aug 14th 2010. Best day ever!!! all the workers were great and really helpful. We camped at the park that weekend and then had the renewal on a saturday, everything went great. would tell anyone that was thinking about doing something like this to do it.

July 4 Nice camping experience but... by Jackie

The park was real nice,clean,friendly staff, and nice size camp spots. The ONLY downfall was the beach was nasty. the water was black, the beach was slimmy with nasty stuff washing up. there was no way I was letting my kids get in the water. The bike trails were awesome and everyone was friendly. would like to go back, but swimming is 30 minutes away in Midland. A lil camp store would have been nice.

March 3 Great place to park and hike the marsh. by FD

I love to take my dogs ON LEASH and park at the center and hike to the marsh. Nice campground and they are working hard to provide a nice beach for swimming. I suggest if you take your dogs leash them and pick-up after them Leave it nice for others to enjoy.

September 25 feel like your in the middle of nowhere by jeanilynn

i love camping here! Its a very clean park, You get that HAPPY CAMPER feeling. It would be a added bonus if there was a pool and maybe a little camp store. Lots of fun!!!

September 2 Good Park

Excellent camping,visitors are but very poor hard to get to beach

August 30 Biking on the rail trail

My husband and I love to bike ride in the early evening down the rail trail. It is so peaceful and beautiful. Very impressed how many nice people we meet along the way. Great place to be close to nature and the wildlife.

September 27 RACOONS!!!

We love the Bay City State Park and camp there regularly. The sites are generous and many of them have trees and are up against the woods so it has a real private outdoors feeling. The park employees are available but not nosey or intrusive. The only not-so-good thing the past couple years has been the RACOONS!!! They come out at night and are able to unlatch and get in coolers and also opened our tents even after we tied them shut with metal bread ties - YIKES!!! They are loud and destructive! This may deter our further use of the park.

August 19 this is a great parrk...

we live close by..yet it seems like it is up north in the wilderness

June 30 Great Camp Grounds by amidd67

We visited my sister and her family who were camping last summer at Bay City State Park. The facilities were excellent, clean and modern. The park is very beautiful. We enjoyed biking the trails and sitting around the campfire. We also enjoy visiting the visitor center museum, which had an outdoor scavenger hunt for the kids. We want to camp at Bay City State Park this summer!

March 16 Great halloween event by Karl K

we camped for the first time during the halloween celebration it was excellent

Area Campgrounds

Valley Plaza RV Park 5221 Bay City Road Midland, MI	Pinconning Park 3041 East Pinconing Road Pinconning, MI 989-879-5050
Linwood Beach Marina and Campground 135 South Linwood Beach Road Linwood, MI 989-697-4415

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