Monocle Lake

Monocle Lake Campground offers a relaxing place to fish, swim and hike along the shores of scenic Monocle Lake just off Lake Superior. It is located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the northeastern corner of the Hiawatha National Forest, centrally placed among many recreational opportunities in the Sault Ste. Marie area, including the Whitefish Bay National Scenic Byway and Tahquamenon Falls. Monocle Lake is populated with walleye, smallmouth bass, pike and perch. Two man-made reefs lie just off the eastern shore next to the campground, where anglers typically have good luck. Swimming and boating are popular, and visitors also enjoy hiking the 14.5-mile Monocle Lake Trail; two miles of the trail have interpretive displays, and the first 1100 feet are along an elevated, accessible boardwalk. Additional trails are found in the surrounding area. The campground offers heavily shaded single-family sites for tent and RV camping, some available first-come, first-served. Each site is equipped with a table and campfire ring with grill. Accessible vault toilets and drinking water are provided; hookups are not available. A day-use picnic area adjacent to a fairly large parking area provides easy access to a swimming beach and is equipped with tables, grills, drinking water and accessible vault toilets. A paved boat launch with a parking lot big enough for vehicles and trailers provides easy access to the lake. The campground surrounds the south end of 172-acre Monocle Lake and is less than two miles from the historic Point Iroquois Lighthouse. It is nestled in a mixed hardwood forest of aspen, maple, birch and pine, providing scenic lake and forest views from anywhere in the campground. Private residences also surround the inland lake. The nearest town is Bay Mills, about 6 miles away. The United States-Canada border at Sault Ste. Marie is about 25 miles from the campground, and Tahquamenon Falls, a series of beautifully brown-colored waterfalls on the Tahquamenon River, is about 35 miles away.