Ludington State Park Ranked #2 Best Place to Camp in the USA

[XLFD]

A website called offgridquest.com celebrating and 'highlighting the many ways in which people have survived without technological advancement' and where they 'strive to discover the best of the past and combine with that benefits of the modern world to be efficient, sustainable, and self reliant', has come out with a listing of the 100 best places to camp in the continental United States. 

Using a unique campsite popularity algorithm that accounts for the average rating and number of reviews for a campground, the number of people who have camped or wish they could camp at that campground, they came up with 100 that fared the best. Twelve of these campsites were within the state of Michigan, but only one cracked the top twenty.  That was our own Ludington State Park.

See the full list here.  The locals know we have our own gem here in our backyard but... 

Others scoring high in the state were:

24. Ossineke State Forest Campground Ossineke, Michigan

33. Newaygo State Park Newaygo, Michigan

45. Tahquamenon Falls State Park Paradise, Michigan

49. Porcupine Mountains State Park Silver City, Michigan

55. Bewabic State Park Crystal Falls, Michigan

68. Platte River State Forest Campground Honor, Michigan

82. Oxbow Big Prairie Township, Michigan

84. Hartwick Pines State Park Grayling, Michigan 
85. Natalie State Forest Campground Newberry, Michigan

92. Big Knob State Forest Campground Naubinway, Michigan

95. Big Bear Lake State Forest Campground Vienna Corners, Michigan

As an honorable mention in other recent acknowledgments of our area's natural wonders, Outdoorhub.com just yesterday has put Ludington and Manistee as the go-to ports if you're interested in fishing for salmon as reported  in this recent article. 

"Among Lake Michigan salmon fishing destinations, two ports stand out for their catch rates (the number of salmon caught per angler per hour): Ludington and Manistee. Both regularly vie for the best catch-rates for salmon among both charter boats and recreational anglers, and both have significant rivers running into them (the Pere Marquette River and the Manistee River, respectively) that cause salmon to school up off their shores in late summer. As a bonus, both are delightful northern Lake Michigan port cities for a summertime visit."

Thanks for these on-line sources for getting their outdoors accolades in order, and special thanks to the folks at WMOM who were paying attention.

[Willy]

Somethings not right with these ratings when the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, 2 of the Worlds wonders, are rated lower than Ludington State Park. It's nice to think that LSP can be mentioned in the same conversation with those 2 incredible parks but it just doesn't make any sense. I hate to be a Debbie Downer on this but someone has made a mistake.

[XLFD]

If this was a park ranking system, I would tend to agree with you, Debbie, and include Yellowstone, Custer State Park (South Dakota), and several other national parks established in the west. 

But this was for 'best places to camp' using at least three variables, satisfaction of people who camp there, number of people who rate the campground, and desirability by people who would like to camp there.  There could even be some unscientific variables and biases, as they do not fully explain their algorithm. 

Overall, it's a topic up for debate, and I wouldn't argue too much with it, for LSP usually ranks at or near the top on Michigan park/camping destinations, and Michigan is a state player as one of those summertime tourist destinations.  I'm sure you would have a problem with Ossineke State Forest Campground being #22 on the list just because you may be like me and never heard of it and its 42 campsites until now. 

[Jasper]

A lot of these votes have numerous people continually voting.  The House of Flavor voting for the "Best Ice Cream" is a perfect example.  Voter's even stated how to manipulate the system by "clearing browsers, etc..to continually vote again. How fair is this practice?  These on-line survey's mean nothing....the votes are tainted!  Just saying!