Our first camping trip together! Cade and I wanted to get away from the city over Labor Day weekend to celebrate our 3 year anniversary and decided to try Muskegon State Park, MI. It seemed to have a good mix of hiking, biking, wineries, and beaches so we booked a spot.

The drive from Chicago was pretty and traffic was surprisingly un-awful, but we were most excited to sample some midwestern wineries along the way that we had been hearing about. In reality, these wineries were far from the beaten trail and their roadside tasting/retail stores left something to be desired. There were a couple good whites, but the reds were pretty weak. We stopped at the New Holland Brewing Company for a burger and a good IPA which more than made up for our disappointment from the “wineries”.

We stayed at Muskegon Lake Michigan Campground and had one of the better sites (#56). It was secluded(ish) and as close to the lake as you could get.

Mountain biking in the area was quite an adventure. The Owasippe Mountain Bike Trail is used by the Boy Scouts during the summer, but opens up to the public after school starts. The scenery was beautiful, however, the trails tended to be poorly marked which caused some elevated stress levels. We would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some fun singletrack in the area, but bring a GPS!

The rest of the trip was spent enjoying the lake and beach. All in all, it was a great three day weekend and felt a lot farther from home than it really was.