Higgins Lake / Roscommon MI. -- KOA

[campin on credit]

Greetings everyone , first timer here !

Thought I would start things out with a report on our trip to the Koa in Roscommon / Higgins lake Mi. 7/27-7/31
First off it is not all that far from where we live , about 3 hours due north from Ann Arbor . Now to some this might not seem like alot but to us you are not trully "up north" until you get into this neck of the woods .
So we decided to go to the Koa there due to the fact that the State parks in the area were booked to the hilt and the fact that we can never seem to book our trips early enough . We are learning and gonna get a jump on things earlier next year to avoid this . It does however seem that everyone is camping these days by the amount of rv's heading north/south on 23/75 these days . It is getting harder and harder to find a quiet little campground to go to relax around here .
Anyways ... we finally arrived at the KOA , it is a nice looking campground that is mostly wooded (which we prefer) , the sites there are a pretty good size and well spaced out and neatly kept . Due to the lack of rain in the area the campground was a little dusty which was a little hard on my allergies , but I managed .
The one bathroom/shower building is located at the very front of the campground , which is ok unless you are camped at the very back like we were , which made it a bit of a hike to use the facilities if you need to . In my opinion they could use another one near the back area . Also the bathhouses seem to be of general cleanliness , I've seen better and worse so these fall in somewhere in between (just ok ).
The staff there are very friendly and eager to help you out if needed but at times they can seem a little disorganized . They did patrol around a little bit which I thought was nice , I prefer this as I have stayed at places where no one patrols the park and things tend to be a free for all . but here everyone seemed to be respectful of others and quiet .
On our second day in the area we decided to go on a canoe trip on the ausable river which is about 5 miles away from the campground , we had a great time doing this and I highly recommend that you go on a canoe trip there if you get a chance .
On our third day there we decided to go over to Higgins lake, it is about 2 miles away from the Koa . Higgins lake is a very large , beautiful lake . We found a very nice public beach on the north side where the wife dw? (not I) spent most of the day swimming in the very clean and warm water . Well .... all was well until later that day when she broke out with about a good 50 red spots on her , which we later found out to be a very good case of swimmers itch .  Now everyone knows .. when the wife is an un-happy camper ... everyone is an unhappy camper !  Can someone explain to me why they cant post a sign there warning swimmers ??
Overall it was a great trip , stuff happens on every trip and we dont let it get us down . we're not at work and that is all that matters right?
We own a 91 jayco 1208 , we love our big ole camper and look forward to using it whenever we can . COC

[ForestCreature]

Hi there, We're just skip over the freeway near the Zoo. Welcome to the board. Nice report.
 I was talking to a friend who was at Houghton Lk this weekend and she mentioned how nasty (dirty) the water was, and she wasn't going to swim in it. Higgins is usualy cleaner tho ,bummer about the itch.

[mjsmith1223]

Welcome.  Nice review.  Generally to find solitude "up north" the farther north you go and/or the farther from 75 you get, the thinner the crowds get.  Camping before school lets out in the spring and after school starts again in the fall will get you away from the crowds as well.  Bummer about the swimmers itch.  Hope your wife is feeling better.

Mike