Boondocking Michigan: Manistee National Forest

On this adventure, we're heading to Michigan's Manistee National Forest, which encompasses more than a half million acres. We ventured into the forest and occasionally out of it to discover some fun things. It's interesting what you find when you're out boondocking.
We're kind of new to boondocking and we fell in love with it.
Our first boondocking site we were trying to find one overlooking the Tippy Dam Pond. We didn't really want to start off our trip by getting stuck, so we parked the vehicles in a nice camping spot and hiked the rest of the way to the pond. For those who did venture thru the mud hole, the campsite views overlooking Government Island were well worth the effort.
We enjoyed hiking along the Manistee River starting at the Hodenpyle Dam after crossing the river on the suspension bridge. We enjoyed the beautiful day, listening to the excitement of the birds, and even hearing the sound of falling water from a small hidden waterfall along the trail. This hike is part of a 15 mile loop, but you can enjoy any length hike you want with an out and back trek.
Twenty one miles NW of the town of Manistee, you'll find the town of Kaleva. This town is well know for the Bottle House which is currently the home to the Kaleva Historical Museum. John Makinen was the owner of the Northwestern Bottling Works and found the bottles manufactured there had an insulation factor against cold, causing beverages not to freeze in the winter. He decided to use the flawed & chipped bottles set aside during inspection to build a house in 1941. The construction uses over 60,000 bottles laid on their sides with the bottoms toward the extrerior. (pause) It's also said that the term "POP" to describe what others outside the Midwest call soda, soft drinks or Coke was first used here. Early bottling techniques were to seal beverages in bottles with a cork, which could not always withstand the pressure of the carbonation and would make a "POP" sound.
Just a few miles from the town of Brethern, is where you'll find our favorite campsite of this trip. Located at the end of the forest service road, this site offers plenty of space for several campsites. A short walk down the steep bank gives you access to the Manistee River. A beautiful campfire gives a perfect ending to an almost perfect day.
A quick 93 miles north brought us to Charlevoix to hunt for the "perfect" Petosky stone. It's not too often you see Lake Michigan smooth as glass. You can harldy tell where the water ends and the sky begins. The calm water makes looking for stones in the clear water easier, and for skipping stones.
Oh, and the "perfect" Petosky stone is still there somewhere if you look, as we didn't find it.
Don't miss out on your piece of the "World's Largest Cherry Pie" on US Hwy 31, in Charlevoix. In 1976, local farmers supplied the ingredients and the result was 17,420 pounds of pure Michigan cherry pie. Egg wash and sugar was distributed on top of the pie crust using a helicopter. It held the honors until it's neighbor 50 mile to the south, Traverse City, beat the record in 1987. Today, it stands as the memorial to the World's Third Largest Cherry Pie.
Venturing a little further north into Charlovoix, don't miss the "mushroom houses". These unique houses were built in the 1920's and 30's by architect Earl Young. Locals either love them or hate them, I think they're kind of cool. When one goes up for sale, it doesn't stay on the market for long. Please enjoy the beauty of the houses from the sidewalk and respect the property owners privacy as this is their home.
This boondocking site is located about 4 miles from the town of Dublin just outside of the Pine River Cooridor. The river was off in the distance at the bottom of the valley, with us camping on the hilltop. Upon further investigation, the better campsite would have been a little further down the road, with a viewing bench offering the perfect view of the Pine River below. Enjoy of the sounds of the Great Horned owl close by and the coyetes in the distance during the night. There had been quite a lot of rain over the past week or so and you can see that the Pine River is overflowing its banks and turning the normally clear water into a clouded mud mix.
Please remember to be responsible and pickup after yourself so that others will be able to enjoy these public lands in the future.
We will certainly be back at some point to do more boondocking in the Manistee National Forest and find even better boondocking sites. Until next time!
Is there something we should see next time we visit? Leave your comments. If you liked the video, give us a thumbs up. And if you’d like to see more of our videos, hit that subscribe button.

[@e-square9976]

Nice aerial shots! Very inspiring.

[@troystutsman1400]

Thank you for sharing...! Beautiful footage of some gorgeous country...! Have a great day and be blessed.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Troy Stutsman - thanks for your kind comments. You also have a great and blessed day. Thanks for watching.

[@offtrailadventures6500]

I've spent my entire life in those woods. Tippy is my home.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

You know where the best areas are, I’ll bet.

[@philturinsky27]

It's a tight squeeze in some of them old two tracks in my RZR. I couldn't imagine trying to get a truck back there

[@HaventSeenItYet]

We’ve earned a few pin-stripes our adventures, that’s for sure. 😄

[@vaultsoferowid]

You have to see the natural water springs in Mesick. Just on the east side of Hodenpyl dam pond. Some of the cleanest natural water in the country.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Vaultsoferwid - thanks for the suggestion. We’ll have to check that out next time we’re near Mesick!

[@brendar.8185]

Thank you for an awesome video. I have been looking for places to explore and this is on my list now.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Brenda R. - glad you enjoyed the video. We hope you enjoy exploring the Manistee National Forest as much as we did.

[@hendu7111]

I've been down that 2-track and camped on the shores of tippy dam many times. As of a couple weeks ago, camping directly on the shores is prohibited as noted by the DNR stakes all over the place. Awesome spot down there for sure tho.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Yes, it is a wonderful spot. We didn’t get to that area this year, but maybe soon. Thanks for watching!

[@dmwi1549]

Boy, those drone shots are awesome. Looks like warm inviting Caribbean turquoise water…with pine trees. Which reminds me how cold the water probably is. One take away is how the zebra mussel filtration has clarified out Great Lakes water. Bad for the ecosystem but Beautiful to look at.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Yes, the water was inviting and cold. Thanks for watching!

[@lowermichiganadventures]

Awesome place can’t wait to go back probably couple weeks

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Good for you, we too hope to get back there again in a few weeks. Maybe we’ll run into each out there. Thanks for watching.

[@landonwold]

Great video, your drone shots are awesome! be careful, while hiking the NCT side of the Manistee River trail I lost my dji drone. the hills make bad signal hard to predict.👍

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Thanks for watching! Sorry about the loss of your drone.

[@JordanBuzzy]

thanks for the mini-tour. I got to put an eye on a couple spots I'm hoping to explore and a few I haven't been to in some years. I would love to see more of your camping areas. I come from a tent camping background but I suspect these boondocking sites aren't all filled with humming motors and TVs?

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Jordon Buzzy - we hope you get to enjoy a few of these spots, we thought they were pretty amazing. I’m sure there are even more amazing sites we didn’t visit. No, there weren’t any humming motor homes and no tv’s at the sites in this video.

[@sarabrown-janowiak1892]

Your video was beautifully done. I loved the scenery and music. Very relaxing and serene. Thank you for sharing!

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Thank you for watching!

[@aandrus2169]

Loving another trip with you two! 💗💗 What time of year was this??

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Thanks April, this was the week before Memorial Day and the leaves were just beginning to come out on the trees.

[@aandrus2169]

@@HaventSeenItYet ohhhhh! I was wondering if there was tree disease or something. Fascinating to see beneath the water too. I was wondering about some of the underwater patterns in the river - what they were and such. It really got my imagination going. Thanks for "taking me" with you in a sense!

[@billybash01]

What about the werewolves though ?

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Outside of Halloween, you should be good.

[@l.a.xl.a.x1810]

Do i have to reserve or can i just go

[@HaventSeenItYet]

L.A.X L.A.X - just go...no reservations , it’s first come - first serve. If that site is taken, just move on to another site in the Forest. Bring your forest service road map, to help in finding another site, or talk with a forest service Ranger. You can print from their online page. Good luck!

[@l.a.xl.a.x1810]

@@HaventSeenItYet ok thank you

[@TinCanTraveler]

Did you have any issues with the law when it came to boondocking in Michigan?

[@HaventSeenItYet]

No problems. We’ll usually talk to the rangers at the National Forest office if we have questions. They’re usually pretty helpful. There is a lot of private property intermixed within the National Forest so you’ll want a good map on your phone showing public and private property.

[@laagansaamerica78]

Great Video man. I am inspired to do the same too. But I’m kinda afraid. I’ll be boondocking next week. Any tips? I’m your new subscriber. Hopefully you’ll get to 1k subscribers so that your Ytube videos will be monetize.

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Thank you for watching and the HUGE compliment! We’re glad it inspired you to give boondocking a try. As far as tips, we’d suggest have a map app on your phone such as GaiaGPS so you can make sure you’re camping on public land. Also give the ranger of the forest district a call and ask about any specific rules you should know about and if there are any fire bans in effect. Have fun next week boondocking.

[@lovesongaboutme5338]

Do you need to obtain a permit for this kind of camping?

[@HaventSeenItYet]

Danielle Thesiger - in our experience, most you do not need permits. We have found some state forest requirements when staying on state land. You will want to check with the forest service rangers or the website in each area to learn all the specific rules and time limits. We have found that the rangers are friendly and will give you answers to any questions asked. You can read about the rules for the Manistee National Forest here: www.fs.usda.gov/activity/hmnf/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=18536&actid=34 Make sure you pickup or print a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) to make sure you're on roads that allow vehicles.