Van Buren State Park Camping in Michigan

Visit Van Buren State Park along the shore of Lake Michigan in Southwest Michigan. This quiet state park is a few miles south of South Haven.

In the fall, I decided to camp along Lake Michigan. I traveled to Muskegon and then trickled south along the lake, visiting many of the parks we stayed at on our Lake Michigan Circle Tour.

Van Buren State Park is currently closed — including the campground and day-use areas — for a lagoon restoration and beach access improvement project that began in September 2025. There’s no official reopening date yet, but the expectation is that the park will welcome visitors back sometime in the spring or early summer of 2026.

Van Buren State Park

As I looked at the Michigan State Park map, I noticed Van Buren State Park. We have traveled along the Blue Star Highway before, but did not notice the signs.

I was not going to make that mistake again, so I stopped and camped.

Van Buren is a 400-acre park in the dunes of Lake Michigan. The park has camping, beaches, and hiking.

Van Buren State Park Beach looking north

Van Buren State Park Camping

I showed up on a Friday afternoon in mid-October and had no issue securing one of the 220 campsites. In fact, they invited me to drive around and pick out my favorite ones.

I returned to the campground office and got the second site on my list. The check-in process was quick.

Site 127 Van Buren State Park Campground

Van Buren is your standard Michigan campground. The ground is hard-packed dirt and sand, with some grassy spots. Most require some sort of leveling for an RV.

Each site has 20/30 or 50-amp electric, a picnic table, and a fire ring. Sites are close but not on top of each other.

The campground is laid out in a series of five loops with one-way roads. Signage marks the sites for each loop, and site markers are painted on the road. The electrical poles clearly mark each site with arrows.

Water spigots are well marked in the middle of each row.

Clean Modern Bathrooms

There are two bathhouses at Van Buren. Both are modern and well-maintained.

Van Buren State Park Campground Bathroom

Each building has a restroom for men and women, an ADA family bathroom, and individual shower stalls, half of which are ADA-compliant.

There is a dishwashing sink on the outside of each building.

Recreation at Van Buren SP

There are two playgrounds within the campground and another by the beach access. There is a sand volleyball court and horseshoe pits to the north of the campground.

Walking paths are well-marked through the middle of each loop. You can take a path to access the beach, which is about a half mile away from the campground.

There are several hiking trails within the park. Hike the Lake Michigan Beach Trail to the top of the dune for spectacular views of Lake Michigan. The Van Buren Trail goes all the way into South Haven.

Park in the southern part of the beach parking lot to reach the dog-friendly beach. Dogs are not allowed on the main beach.

The sandy beach does have some rocks, which are popular with beachcombers. I spoke to a lady who said she had found Superlites and Petoskey stones here before.