Bay City State Recreation Area is a Michigan state park with 2,400 acres of many amazing places to have fun. In spite of being named after the nearby town, the state park is 3 miles north of town in a heavily wooded area of northern Bay County. It is the only Michigan state park that has a spray park, and also has a 12,000 square foot playscape, the Saginaw Bay Visitor Center and Exhibit Hall, a m
ile of shoreline including three points of easy access and a 1,200’ swim beach that is cleaned and groomed daily. Other facilities include 5 picnic shelters and 2 camping trailers available for rental, and nearly 200 modern campsites with 2 mini-cabins and a rustic group camp site. The park also contains 7 miles of multi-use trails, some paved and some natural. The paved portion of the park’s trails is also part of the 17.5 miles Bay County Riverwalk/Railtrail system. The park’s trails wend their way through upland forest areas and provide points (including two 40’ observation towers) for viewing wildlife in the Tobico Marsh - a birder's dream and one of the largest remaining freshwater, coastal wetlands on the Great Lakes. The theme of the Visitor Center and Exhibit Hall relates to the importance of the wetlands, especially their roles in the Saginaw Bay area. Also, on taxidermic display there, is the only wolverine known to have lived in the wilds of Michigan since the early 19th century. The park is also known for its large population of Bald Eagles; there is even a web cam set up over an eagle’s nest inside the park. Aside from managing nearby boating launches outside the park, such as the Saginaw River Mouth, Quanicassee River, and Pine River, the park also has a fishing lagoon with a pier, just a short distance from the Visitor Center. Hunting is allowed in hundreds of acres of remote outlying areas of the park; multi-use trails do not go through those areas. The park is also the only Michigan state park with an Electric Vehicle rapid-charging station and a solar-powered picnic table for those needing to charge phones and tablets. There are three WiFi hot spots in the park - two are all-year hot spots at the Visitor Center and playscape areas, and the remaining one is a seasonal hot spot at the campground host site. Established in early 1923, the park will celebrate its 100th year beginning in 2022. Many celebrations are planned but don’t wait that long to visit or camp here. Camp reservations and more park information are a click away (either at www.michigan.gov/baycity or click onto to the blue “Book Now” button at the top of this page. Holiday, July, and Harvest Festival weekends fill up fast so place a note on your calendar to reserve a campsite as early as 6 months prior to the arrival date you wish. Weekday occupancy rates in July are only about 60% so for weekday vacations, so there is plenty of room during the week but with all the amenities that we provide on weekends.
