What changed in Michigan camping for 2026

Updated June 2026. This page is the annual anchor — we refresh it each fall when the next closure list publishes, each January for the Passport rate, and each spring for the fee card.

The 2026 changes

• Recreation Passport: $14 → $15 on January 1. That’s the statutory inflation adjustment, not a DNR decision. Still the best $15 in Michigan.
• The current rate card was set August 1, 2025 — the first restructuring in years. Modern and semi-modern sites run $26–$45 a night. Overnight lodging runs roughly $60–$236 by tier. High-demand sites (85%-plus occupancy) carry a 7.5% premium — Michigan’s quiet surge pricing. Rustic sites were deliberately left alone: state park rustic and state forest campgrounds stay in the $15–$20 range.
• The renovation closures rotate. Michigan is midway through a historic, federally funded rebuild of park infrastructure. The 2026 list includes Fort Wilkins (east campground loop into early July), Indian Lake (south campground projects, reopening mid-summer), Mears (a spring electrical window), Petoskey (spring infrastructure work), and portions of Ionia, Lake Gogebic, McLain, and Otsego Lake, among others. Closures are mostly partial — a loop here, a month there. Check the current closure list before you book, not after.
• Michigan’s newest state park is rising in Flint — the first in Genesee County and the state’s 104th. It covers about 230 acres along the Flint River and Swartz Creek. Sections are already open, with construction continuing through 2026. We’ll update as it opens fully.

Watch list

• The FY2027 budget proposes recreation fee changes alongside the hunting and fishing license items. Proposed, not enacted — confirm prices at checkout.
• The next closure list publishes each fall. And remember the booking math: November is when Memorial Day weekend opens.

The signpost

Closures and park alerts live at Michigan.gov/StateParks; reservations at MiDNRReservations.com. Start with Camping in Michigan, explained — and see the season’s other changes at hunting, fishing, and ORV.