A 100 Year Old Michigan Campground With Unparalleled Lake Access
We’re joined once again by Maris Brennan from MARVAC to chat with Pat and Julia Sniff, the owners of Pat’s RV Park in Mesick, Michigan. Nestled against a gorgeous tree-lined lake in the northern lower peninsula, Pat’s RV Park has been operating in that location for nearly 100 years. Pat’s great-great-grandparents claimed the land around 1930, where they set up military tents with wood floors and pot-bellied stoves to provide a camping experience for the visitors from Grand Rapids and Detroit who arrived by train. Since then, it’s been handed down from one generation to the next, owned and operated by the same family.
The RV park itself has 88 total sites, with the majority dedicated to RVs, plus a few tent and cabin sites. Of those sites, 33 are overnight sites, and the rest are seasonal or deluxe seasonal sites for campers who want to stay a little longer. The Smiths have worked hard to update the campground over the years. They’ve upgraded most of the sites to 50 amp service, remodeled the bathhouse, redone the water system, and kept the gravel road to their location graded and brined for easier driving with larger rigs.
Pat and Julia also shared with us:
● The lesser-known reason the idyllic lake they’re on stays crystal clear, clean, and free from excess boat traffic, plus five species of fish you can catch there
● What demands campers are making in 2023 that they NEVER would’ve asked for 20 years ago
● The exact day campers should book their reservations to get a prized water-front site
● How they’re planning to completely revamp the park in the future, and what’s driving that change
● And the huge local event that includes a carnival, mud bog, arts and crafts fair, fresh pasties (a regional delicacy), a parade, and hunting in the wild for a culinary delicacy that costs $254/pound
Summer reservations are filling up fast for Pat’s RV Park. But you can check them out at https://patsrvpark-llc.com/ to see photos of their incredible views, a map of the park, their rates, and more. Or you can reach them directly at patsrvparkllc@gmail.com or 231-885-2020 to make plans to visit.
Click to view the full podcast video.