Walnut Hills Family Campground and RV Park

We spent a lovely 6 days at Walnut Hills on an RV site and also rented a cabin for a family member to come and stay with us at the camp ground. It was clean and quiet and the family atmosphere was lovely, we're seniors and we love to see the families having a good time doing outdoor things in a quiet setting. We definitely want to return next year hopefully for more than one trip and would recommend this family campground to anyone. We took advantage of the kayak rentals as well and it was a great experience. Highly recommend and we plan to return!

Walnut Hills is a great campground. Nice shady lots. A cool swimming area with a big water wibit (float) to play on. Activities for kids and parents. Themed weekends are the best. A new dog park for your fur babies. A lot of time and investment has been done with this campground and shows. We enjoyed our stay every time, even if it rains.

It’s disappointing to write this review, as we truly enjoyed the campground and the friendships we built during our time there. We became seasonal campers at Walnut Hills two years ago, starting with a lovely site priced at $3,600 for the season. However, the pricing has increased significantly and unjustifiably since then. In our second year, the rate was raised to $4,200, which we accepted, as we were told the increase was to fund necessary updates to the campground. While the bathhouse was renovated (a much-needed improvement), little else was upgraded. For the 2025 season, we were informed that our site fee would rise to $5,000—a 40% increase in less than two years for a small site that does not justify such a premium. The owner’s (Matt) reasoning for the price hike was unconvincing. Despite claims that the additional revenue would fund activities and amenities, the reality is that seasonal campers often organize and finance events out of their own pockets. This disconnect between management’s statements and the actual experience is frustrating. We later discovered that the owner planned to convert our row of seasonal sites into weekend rental sites because they generate higher profits. It was disheartening to feel intentionally priced out of our site. The owner does not live in Michigan and, during our two years there, we never once met him and he never engaged with his campers. Overpricing was an ongoing issue. For example, campers were charged exorbitant fees for amenities like the Wibit water park and firewood bundles. Meanwhile, the justification for rate increases—that new amenities were being added—did not align with the reality of our experience. While new golf carts were purchased for rental purposes, seasonals are going to be charged an additional $300 fee to help cover these costs, with no direct benefit to us. Unfortunately, the management changes only compounded these issues. The two previous managers, who were caring and dedicated, were replaced with less capable individuals. Our interactions with the new manager, Janet, were particularly unpleasant; her overbearing approach and condescending attitude created unnecessary tension and detracted from the welcoming atmosphere that camping should foster. We were going to move to a less expensive site in 2025, but after a couple of interactions with her driving around pretending to be a police officer towards other campers, yelling at people that she will remove all “drama” from HER campground, we decided it was time to move on. It’s clear that the focus has shifted from creating a positive experience for campers to maximizing profits. While we understand the need for any business to be financially sustainable, there must also be a balance that prioritizes guest satisfaction. Unfortunately, this balance is not being achieved. The lake, which is more like a pond, is poorly maintained, and the campground itself lacks meaningful improvements. Many other seasonal campers have chosen to leave in recent years, with 30-40 departing just this past year alone. The reviews from other campers echo our concerns, and it’s apparent that the current ownership does not prioritize the long-term happiness of its guests. Camping is meant to be about creating lasting family memories, but the current direction of Walnut Hills focuses solely on profit at the expense of its community. For anyone considering this campground, I would recommend reading other reviews carefully before making a decision.

My first review 7 months ago was before I was a seasonal I know better now and I regret ever being a seasonal here. This campgrounds made it where I don't even enjoy camping anymore. Where you should be able to enjoy the smell of a campfire. All I'm doing sitting here smelling marijuana. And to be able to have a fire for one night you have to spend at least $20 because you can only use there wood. That cost $9.00 a small bundle if you are seasonal the electric cost is outrageous 1 month we only stayed 6 days that whole month and was charged 100.00 for electrical you can tell somebody else plugged into our electrical plugs. And there was a new trailer park next to ours now. They charge $0.29 a unit and will not show you a bill. This is the worst place to camp the only good reviews is the ones Matt pays for or give discounts on camping. It is as bad as all the other reviews say they lost over 20 seasonal campers this year alone some were there for 20 years with the old owners

We have come 3 years now and stay on the sandy beach and it is so great for our kids. We usually have 4 families all together. We did the tubing this past summer and it was amazing.

I will never camp here again due to threatening signs and emails to campers to put them in prison if they snuck on floating device or got noisy at night. We don't do either, but felt it was terrible to threaten campers with prison time.

We have been camping at Walnut Hills since 2017. We love the quiet up north feel, close to home. This campground is very family friendly. Our granddaughter requests that we come back each year. She loves the wagon rides and wibit.

I've always enjoyed my time at Walnut in my lil camper...I like my solo quiet time and especially love the swimming hole. The staff are helpful and nice. My only negative issue now is seeing all the stakes for the rustic campers right up close personal and next to last campsite by the big oak tree! Sad as the rustic tenters didn't have to be soooo close.