Van Riper State Park

Tucked into the rugged heart of Marquette County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Van Riper State Park spreads across 1,100 acres of dense hardwood forests, rocky ridgelines, and the scenic shoreline of Lake Michigamme. This is quintessential U.P. wilderness — the kind of place where moose sightings are a genuine possibility and the night sky burns with stars.

The park’s centerpiece is its Lake Michigamme frontage, where a sandy swimming beach gives way to excellent fishing for walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass. Paddlers will find the lake’s sheltered bays ideal for kayaking and canoeing, while hikers can explore trails that wind through stands of old-growth hemlock and white pine. The park sits along a well-known moose habitat corridor, making it one of the better spots in Michigan to catch a glimpse of these elusive animals, particularly at dawn near marshy areas.

Campgrounds here offer both modern and rustic sites, many shaded by towering hardwoods and positioned within an easy walk of the lakeshore. Reservations are recommended for summer weekends, when the campground fills with families drawn by the swimming and fishing.

Visit from late June through August for warm-weather activities and the best swimming conditions, or time a trip for late September when the surrounding hills erupt in fall color. Winter brings cross-country skiing and snowshoeing through a landscape that feels genuinely remote. Van Riper rewards visitors who want their nature unplugged and unhurried.

Explore Nearby

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