RV travel in Michigan
Michigan is, frankly, one of the best RV states in the country. The Lower Peninsula gives you Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan, the Traverse City wine country, Mackinaw City at the top, and the entire western shoreline with state-park dune campgrounds back to back. The Upper Peninsula -- separated from the Lower by the Straits of Mackinac and connected only by the Mackinac Bridge -- is RV paradise: Pictured Rocks NL on Lake Superior, Tahquamenon Falls SP, the Porcupine Mountains, Isle Royale NP (boat-only -- not for RVs but the loop drive around the UP visiting Isle Royale's gateway towns is one of the best in the country), and three National Forests (Hiawatha, Ottawa, Manistee on the LP side). Three things to plan around: (1) the Mackinac Bridge toll for RVs is $8 per axle and big rigs can be $40+ in total -- not bad but plan for it; (2) Upper Peninsula state-park campgrounds are mostly seasonal, closing roughly mid-October and reopening mid-May, with black flies brutal in late May / early June; (3) Lake-effect snow off all three Great Lakes makes winter RV travel hard. May-October is the window.
Last verified: 14 May 2026
Free RV PDF guide to Michigan
Driving rules, RV-friendly and RV-restricted highways, NPS reservation rules, BLM and NF boondocking, propane, dump stations, weather, and emergency contacts. Save it to your phone for offline use on the road.
Download PDF
Driving rules
Interstate (cars)70 mph (most rural)
Interstate (trucks)65 mph (rural), 60 mph in some segments
Interstate (towing)65 mph
US/State highway55-65 mph (posted)
Built-up areas25-35 mph (posted)
Drive onRight
SeatbeltsRequired for front-seat occupants and all under-16 in any seat
Cell phone use while drivingHands-free only (banned hand-held statewide as of 2023)
RV-friendly and RV-restricted highways
RV-friendly
I-75Ohio line through Detroit, Flint, Bay City, Grayling, then across the Mackinac Bridge into the UP, ending at Sault Ste Marie. THE main north-south Michigan RV route. Easy big-rig the whole way.
I-94Indiana line through Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Ann Arbor, Detroit, to Port Huron and the Canadian border. Easy big-rig route across southern Michigan.
I-69Indiana line through Lansing to Port Huron. Easy.
I-96Detroit to Muskegon. Easy big-rig route.
I-196Holland to Grand Rapids. Easy.
US-23Toledo OH to Mackinaw City via Ann Arbor and the eastern Lower Peninsula shore. Quieter than I-75; scenic Lake Huron shoreline.
US-127Ohio line through Lansing to Grayling (joins I-75). Easy big-rig route through mid-Michigan.
US-31Indiana line up the Lake Michigan shore through Muskegon, Manistee, Traverse City, Petoskey, to Mackinaw City. THE Lower Peninsula west-shore scenic route; easy for big rigs, slower than I-75 but spectacular.
US-2 (Upper Peninsula)Mackinaw Bridge through St Ignace, Manistique, Escanaba, Iron Mountain, Iron River, to the Wisconsin line. Easy big-rig route across the southern UP.
US-41Marquette to Houghton/Hancock on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Easy big-rig.
MI-28Sault Ste Marie across the UP to Wakefield (near Ironwood). The northern UP transit route; easy.
RV-restricted
Mackinac Bridge (I-75 between Mackinaw City and St Ignace)5-mile suspension bridge; not 'restricted' but RV toll is $8 per axle (most class A and trailers pay $32-48 round trip). High-wind closures and escort service for high-profile vehicles when wind exceeds 35 mph. The Mackinac Bridge Authority can drive your rig across for you at no extra cost if you're nervous -- a long-running and free service.
Mackinac IslandNO motor vehicles allowed on the island at all. RVs and tow vehicles stay on the mainland (St Ignace or Mackinaw City) and you ferry across as pedestrians. The island uses horse-drawn carriages and bicycles only.
Pictured Rocks NL beach-access roads (some)Many access roads off H-58 are gravel and narrow; check current postings. Rigs over 30 ft should stick to the main paved access at Munising and Grand Marais.
Tahquamenon Falls Lower Falls road interiorTight; rigs over 35 ft check current park postings.
Many UP forest roads + Porcupine Mountains interiorGravel, narrow, washboarded. Park at the main visitor center and use a tow vehicle for interior exploration.
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (Sleeping Bear Dunes NL)Length-restricted to 21 ft (no tow vehicles, no trailers, no rigs over 21 ft). Use the main NL roads or park at the visitor center and shuttle in.
National parks and monuments
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore$25/vehicle (7 days), $80 America the Beautiful annual. Two NPS campgrounds: D.H. Day (rigs to 35 ft, reservable Apr-Oct via recreation.gov, the main one) and Platte River (rigs to 40 ft with hookups in some loops, reservable). Adjacent state parks (Interlochen, Traverse City SP, Leelanau SP) provide additional RV camping. The 7-mile Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive has the famous dune-climb overlook but is 21-ft length-limited.
Pictured Rocks National LakeshoreFree entry (as of recent NPS policy; verify current fee). Two NPS campgrounds: Twelvemile Beach (rigs to 36 ft, reservable Jun-Sep via recreation.gov), Hurricane River (rigs to 30 ft, reservable). The Munising Falls / Miners Castle approach is fully paved and big-rig accessible; the eastern (Grand Marais) section has more gravel access. The headline boat tour from Munising is highly recommended -- run by Pictured Rocks Cruises (private), reservable Jun-Sep.
Isle Royale NP$7/person/day. Boat or seaplane access from Houghton MI or Copper Harbor MI (Lower Peninsula access via Grand Portage MN ferry also). NO vehicles on the island. Note for completeness -- you cannot RV-camp Isle Royale itself; you visit by ferry as a backpacker.
Keweenaw NHPFree entry (multi-site). Quincy Mine, Calumet Heritage Site, multiple cooperating sites across the Keweenaw Peninsula. Day-use only. Stay at McLain SP, Fort Wilkins SP (Copper Harbor), Twin Lakes SP.
River Raisin National Battlefield Park (Monroe)Free entry. Day-use only. War of 1812 battlefield. Stay at Sterling SP (15 min north) or commercial parks in Monroe.
North Country National Scenic Trail (Michigan segments)Free entry. Long-distance hiking trail crosses both peninsulas. Trail-only; no vehicle camping in the NPS unit itself. Use adjacent state parks and NF campgrounds.
Boondocking and dispersed camping
BLM: Michigan has no significant BLM land. Federal-land dispersed camping is via the three National Forests -- see NF summary, which provides exceptional dispersed-camping density. Workarounds for non-NF nights: Walmart and Cracker Barrel overnight (Michigan is generally permissive outside the Detroit metro), Harvest Hosts at MI wineries and farms (Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas have dozens of hosts), Boondockers Welcome statewide, Michigan DNR Commercial Forest tracts (40 million private acres in 'Commercial Forest' status -- open to the public for hiking and fishing but not camping; check signage), state forest camping (see state parks section).
National Forests: Three National Forests in Michigan: Hiawatha NF (Upper Peninsula, 894,000 acres, the largest, with the iconic shoreline along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior), Ottawa NF (UP western section, 990,000 acres, the Porcupine Mountains and waterfalls country), and Huron-Manistee NF (Lower Peninsula, 977,000 acres). All three permit free dispersed camping along forest roads with a 14-day stay limit; most dispersed sites accept rigs to 30-40 ft (forest roads are wider than the eastern NFs). Combined developed-campground count is over 50: Hiawatha (Pete's Lake, Bay Furnace, Camp 7 Lake, Soldier Lake, Indian River, Foley Creek, Brevoort Lake, Lake Michigan Camp), Ottawa (Black River Harbor, Bobcat Lake, Norway Lake, Bond Falls), Huron-Manistee (Sand Lake, Pere Marquette, Manistee River, Tippy Dam, Round Lake). The UP NFs (Hiawatha + Ottawa) are some of the best free dispersed-camping country east of the Mississippi.
Stay limit: typically 14 days per location.
Service stops
Propane: Plentiful in the Lower Peninsula along all interstates and US highways. Tractor Supply in every county seat, U-Haul in every metro. The Upper Peninsula thins out: refills available in Sault Ste Marie, St Ignace, Manistique, Escanaba, Marquette, Ironwood, Houghton -- but in between, plan 100+ mile gaps. Most KOA and Good Sam parks fill on-site. Top up at St Ignace (just over the Mackinac Bridge) before heading deeper into the UP.
Dump stations: Dense in the Lower Peninsula, adequate in the Upper Peninsula. Most Michigan State Parks with RV camping have free dump stations for registered guests. Flying J / Pilot / Love's / TA truck stops along I-75, I-94, I-69 charge $10-15 for non-guest dumps. UP truck stops are sparser -- the standard ones are at St Ignace, Escanaba, Marquette, and Ironwood. National Forest developed campgrounds have free dumps for guests at the larger sites.
Fuel: Diesel and gas widely available in the Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula has long gaps: M-28 between Munising and Marquette (50 miles, limited), US-41 north of L'Anse to Houghton (60 miles, very limited), Brockway Mountain Drive area at Copper Harbor (top up at Eagle River or before reaching Copper Harbor), and the Porcupine Mountains area (top up at Bergland or Ironwood before entering). The remote Keweenaw and Porkies should be approached with a full tank. Fuel prices typically lowest along I-75 in the southeastern LP, highest at Mackinaw City / St Ignace (border markup) and in the deep UP resort areas.
Weather windows
Best monthsLate June through mid-September. Daytime highs 65-80 F (cooler in the UP, warmer in the LP); fall colour peaks late September in the UP and mid-October in the LP and is one of the great displays in America. May is technically open season but the black flies in the UP late May / early June are legendary -- bring deep-woods DEET and screened windows.
Avoid monthsOctober-April (UP) -- most UP state-park RV loops close mid-October and reopen mid-May; NFs are open but dispersed roads close due to snow. December-March (LP) is cold and snow-heavy, with lake-effect blizzards off Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. April in both peninsulas is mud season. Black-fly peak is late May / early June UP-wide; deer-fly peak is July UP-wide.
Black-fly and deer-fly season in the Upper Peninsula is no joke -- locals genuinely plan around it. Late May to mid-June is peak black-fly, especially in moist woods (Porcupines, Tahquamenon, eastern UP). They bite, draw blood, and ignore most repellents that work on mosquitoes. Use repellents containing picaridin (more effective than DEET on biting flies), wear a head net at dusk and dawn, and choose campgrounds on Lake Superior's exposed shoreline rather than inland in the bogs. Late July onward the bug pressure drops dramatically. Mackinac Bridge winter wind closures are also worth flagging -- the bridge can close to high-profile vehicles, occasionally to all traffic, in winter storms.
Emergency and road conditions
State patrolDial 9-1-1 for emergencies; (517) 332-2521 for Michigan State Police HQ non-emergency