Agency-listedUSFSFeeRoad season: open (MVUM)
Marion Lake Camp
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · MI · 46.26714, -89.08301
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Forest Service lists this as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Marion Lake Camp · Ottawa National Forest · MI
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is FR 3985 (Fdr3985), 90 ft from the pin. The MVUM lists it as crushed aggregate or gravel surface and maintenance level 4 – moderate degree of user comfort.
Road season: open (MVUM) The MVUM lists FR 3985 (Fdr3985), 90 ft from the pin, open to passenger vehicles year-round.
MVUM record for FR 3985 (Fdr3985): “01/01-12/31” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Marion Lake Camp
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,652 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Marion Lake CampNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Marion Lake Camp · Ottawa National Forest · MI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- OOutfitter2 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- +Urgent care4 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- DDump12 mi
- HHardware25 mi
- WWater26 mi
- LLaundry26 mi
- MMechanic26 mi
- ShShower27 mi
- AAir-up29 mi
- EVEV fast charger37 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 26-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 37-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Marion Lake Camp
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
1,652 ft
Ground slope
2.7% · flat
State
MI
Coordinates
46.26714, -89.08301
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Marion Lake Camp · Ottawa National Forest · MI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureMarion Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townWatersmeet · ~6.2 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelOasis · ~4.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~11.7 mi
- GroceriesNordine's Plaza · ~4.5 mi
- PharmacyLand O' Lakes Health Care Pharmacy · ~10.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicLac Vieux Desert Clinic · ~4.5 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~24.6 mi
EV charging — from Marion Lake Camp · Ottawa National Forest · MI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger36.8 mi straight-line E — Crystal Fresh Market and Ace Hardware, Crystal Falls, MI (at a public site) · RED_E · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 7 within 50 · 36 within 100 · 85 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO37.8 mi — Crystal Falls MI Public Parking, Crystal Falls
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)20.8 mi — Big Valley Ford, Ewen, MI (at a car dealership) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-07-03 · hours: Dealership business hours
- Also listed, not counted aboveLevel 2, restricted access — Stateline Chevrolet Buick GMC, Iron River, 23.8 mi · J1772 · hours: Dealership business hours; GMC vehicles only · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 302980 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Marion Lake Camp · Ottawa National Forest · MI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletMarion Lake Camp · at this camp · USFS
- RestroomMarion Lake Boat 2 · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletMarion Lake Group Camp · ~0.2 mi NW · USFS
- RestroomMarion Lake Boat 1 · ~0.6 mi W · USFS
Coming out here — Marion Lake Camp · Ottawa National Forest · MI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Marion Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 2.7% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Marion Lake Camp elsewhere
Other camps near Marion Lake Camp
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Marion Lake Group Camp~0.2 mi · fee
- Imp Lake Camp~3.5 mi · fee
- Burned Dam~3.5 mi
- Lac Vieux Desert~9.6 mi · fee
The unit that manages Marion Lake Camp
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Marion Lake Camp are set by Ottawa National Forest, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Marion Lake Camp
Source
U.S. Forest Service recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | auto:usfs-fee 2026-08-20: US Forest Service developed campground, agency coordinates, agency states a fee. No dollar amount in the agency record -- expect a charge and confirm the current rate before you go. Not field-verified.
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Marion Lake Camp
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Whether that MVUM road is the way in, and the last stretch beyond it
- Whether the site itself closes on its own schedule — only the road's season is on record
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Marion Lake Camp
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →What “dispersed” means here →How to read this page →All field notes →