Lake Ottawa Campground

Lake Ottawa Campground is in a beautiful forested northwoods setting located 5 miles southwest of Iron River, Michigan, on the Iron River Ranger District. It is 95% surrounded by National Forest System land and offers 32 campsites, a picnic shelter with two stone fireplaces and original log picnic tables, and two log toilet buildings with flush toilets. A pressurized water system and RV dump station are located in the campground. Located adjacent to the campground is Lake Ottawa, a deep cold water lake that provides fishermen with a good variety of game fish, with a boat ramp and ample parking for trailers. The adjoining day use area holds a Civilian Conservation Corps era recreation building with a fireplace, electricity, flush toilets and indoor seating for a group picnic or party, along with a large outdoor picnic area complete with picnic tables and grills, a swimming beach, a playing field and a boat launch. The area is large enough to provide plenty of space for all. The Ge-Che Trail runs approximately nine miles on a dirt trail through primarily hardwood forest, and can be accessed from the Lake Ottawa boat landing and from within the campground. The Stateline-Mile Post Zero Trail is a relatively flat dirt trail of approximately four-tenths of a mile — not a loop — through hardwood forest, with two destination points on the Brule River, and takes you to the historic Stateline Mile Post Zero location indicating the border between Michigan and Wisconsin. The combination of topography and thousands of miles of rivers and streams has created hundreds of waterfalls throughout the Upper Peninsula, with several located on the Ottawa. The Ottawa National Forest has 18 named waterfalls, 53,637 acres of lakes, 2,366 miles of perennial streams, 2,890 miles of intermittent streams, and 210,761 acres of wetlands. The falls vary in size and some are easier to get to than others.