In the last leg of our 6 night July 2011 trip, we stayed 4 nights at Porcupine Mountains State Park in the upper peninsula (UP) of Michigan (aka … The Porkies). We booked 6 months ahead to get a site directly on Lake Superior. At only steps to the shale shoreline, we had breathtaking views.
The campground was very well maintained with clean separate ‘unisex’ showers that were the best we have seen at a state park. The UP is sparsely populated in general and the miles and miles of state and federal parks in the area offer entire hikes without other company. The main attraction in the Porkies is the Lake of the Clouds that is easily viewed from an extensive boardwalk trail, as well as from several other far more rugged trails.
Beyond outdoor activities, there isn’t much to do in the area … which was perfect for us. However, we did take several drives in the area and stopped at a few local restaurants, including Syl’s Cafe in Ontonagon, Randall’s in Wakefield (yes, they are on facebook!), and the Library in Houghton. We stopped at Syl’s and Randalls for the local specialty (and my family’s favorite) the PASTIES. We highly recommend both.
The Library is also a microbrew, so I opted for the Lake Superior whitefish and we left with a growler of beer that we used to wash down our cheese curds from a shop in Wisconsin. 
Overall, a great time was had and I would highly recommend the Union Bay Campground for a few nights in da Yoopers. That said, if you can’t get a spot on the water, your experience may be different from ours as the remaining sites are rather open and a tad cramped with hit or miss views of either your neighbor or maybe a sliver of the lake.
Amenities: Electricity, fire pit, table, individual shower rooms
Site: 18 – see campground map
Would we stay here again? ABSOLUTELY!
