Published: May 30, 2008 10:07 am      

Four state campgrounds remain closed

Sites in Otsego and Benzie counties affected

VANDERBILT -- Jonathan Chidsey rolled up a tent and packed camping gear into his car, leaving Pickerel Lake state forest campground after a couple of nights at the remote spot in the Pigeon River Country State Forest.

The campground east of Vanderbilt in Otsego County closed last year because the water well needed repairs. It re-opened just before the Memorial Day weekend and local resident Chidsey would have been disappointed to pull up and find it closed, he said.

"I've been here about 20 times. I like the campground itself. The only part I don't like is the fishing. I can't catch anything," Chidsey said.

Four other Michigan state forest campgrounds remain closed because of inoperable wells, including two in this area: Pigeon Bridge in Otsego County and Garey Lake Trail Camp in Benzie County. Two state forest campgrounds in the Upper Peninsula also are affected, North Gemini and South Gemini in Schoolcraft County.

"We don't want to impact the campers. We know there are users who have favorite campgrounds and we may be affecting that by closing them," said Brenda Curtis, forest recreation planner for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The campground well in Otsego County will be repaired and the site re-opened within days, but the Benzie County site may take a bit longer, Curtis said.

"We're hoping to have the Benzie one open in a couple of weeks," she said.

That's good news for Garry Randall, president of the Michigan Trail Riders Association, which has a shore-to-shore horseback ride planned toward the end of June, with a two-day stop at Garey Lake. As many as 180 riders and their horses will be on the 242-mile trek, stopping at the Benzie County state forest campground before reaching the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The campground had better be open by then, especially after a $550 state permit was required for the group's stop there, Randall said.

"It would be almost impossible for us to cancel the ride at this time," he said.

The state forest campgrounds in Benzie and Otsego counties need well repairs, while the sites in the U.P. require new wells to be drilled, all paid for through grants and state campground operational funds.