The Potawatomi Trail loops 17 miles of singletrack through Pinckney's glacial hills, and you sleep at Bruin Lake on the paved loop under the hardwoods, lakeside. From the boat launch on that same loop you can paddle a chain of seven interconnected lakes without driving. Ride out from camp and the dirt keeps going well past the fence, more than 40 miles of multi-use trail across the moraine.
Pinckney Recreation Area covers about 11,000 acres of terminal moraine west of Ann Arbor, off US-23 on North Territorial Road. The Waterloo-Pinckney trails continue into the next park, so a long dirt day can start at the van. Ann Arbor riders treat the Potawatomi as the home loop, then stay because the campground is already on the water.
Some Bruin Lake sites have 50-amp service, and the loop has a boat launch. Michigan DNR sites open six months ahead of arrival, so lock the overnight before you lock the van. Halfway around the Potawatomi, Blind Lake is a hike-in stop for one night, so the van stays on the Bruin Lake loop. Island Lake Recreation Area, on the Huron River toward town, is canoe-in camping only.
Waterloo Recreation Area
Portage Lake has a swim beach and a boat launch inside a three-loop campground under the trees. The Michigan DNR calls Waterloo the largest state park in the Lower Peninsula, more than 20,000 acres with 11 inland lakes. A weekend here is a swim at Portage Lake, a boat off the launch, and a shaded site on one of those loops.
Each site has 30- or 50-amp service, with a sanitation station on the grounds. If you need more sleeping space than a campervan, Michigan RV rentals use the same Portage Lake loops.
From December through March, overnight stays run Thursday through Saturday only, so a midweek winter night is off the table. Portage Lake is off I-94 at Mt. Hope Road.
Michigan football Saturdays
Fall Saturdays fill U-M's pre-paid Blue Lot with RV rows before kickoff. Pioneer Lot is marked no RV parking on the university game-day list. After the game, vehicles have to leave every U-M game-day lot within two hours.
Overnight parking is not allowed in those lots, a U-M Athletics rule the City of Ann Arbor posts, as of September 2026. The van sleeps at Pinckney or Waterloo. Those Saturdays collide with everyone else who wants a Bruin Lake or Portage Lake site, because the game and the woods weekend compete for the same vans and the same pads.
Sterling State Park and the Detroit-area parks are on the Detroit campervan page. For the Upper Peninsula and the rest of the state, start from Michigan campervan rentals.
