Indigo Bluffs RV Park & Resort- Empire, MI

Hi Friends! How is it almost September? I can’t believe summer is coming to a close, but alas, we shall look forward to fall. This past weekend we visited Indigo Bluffs RV Park and Resort in Empire, MI. We camped with Ian’s Brother Garrin and his wife, Liz and their two pups!

I don’t know if it’s the extra blue water (why is it so blue here!? Seriously, does anyone know?), the cute little shops in every town, or the vast amounts of hiking, biking and exploring at the nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, but I have always loved this little corner of Michigan. I’m fairly certain it’s all of these things combined that make it one of my favorites . Indigo Bluffs is just outside of Empire, but fairly close to both Empire and Glen Arbor, and just a 30 minute drive to Traverse City. I have to say up front I think you need more than just a weekend to visit this area. There are just SO many fun things to do.

I really loved this campground. It is split into two sections, a RV Park, and an RV resort. The resort area has gated access and only allows certain types of RVs. They also don’t allow kids to ride bikes without a parent. This is probably a good area for those who want a little more peace and quiet. We obviously stayed in the RV park.

Nolan was practicing his camera skills and snapped this shot of Uncle Garrin.

We had barely parked the camper when our boys were off and running and out to find new friends. I saw a parade of kids, bikes and hover boards go by about 20 minutes later- my kids were in the thick of it, and I knew it would be a good weekend.

While there aren’t a lot of planned activities and fancy amenities for kids, ours still had a lot of fun exploring the playground and playing in the nearby trees- building a fort and playing hide and seek close to dark. They didn’t even seem to notice the absence of anything “planned”, Gaga pit, or arcade, which we typically find at other campgrounds.

One of the things I just LOVE about this campground is the trees. The sites all seem really good sized, and there is no shortage of wooded sites. Our site unfortunately didn’t have many trees, however, that just wasn’t the norm at this campground, so I’m not even complaining about it. The area of sites we were on were pull-through and space in a forward/backward way so that you didn’t have anyone right next to you- which I though was really smart! To see all the sites, here is a map of the park.

Don’t have an RV or camping gear or don’t feel like bringing all your gear? There are a number of cottages and cabins for rent at this campground too. Ian and I just fell in love with this blue cottage we think is the perfect sized tiny house for us. We are saving this photo for “someday” when we have some land and want to build our own tiny house!

We spent the day Saturday at the beach attempting to kayak (the waves were way too big!) and just soaking in the sunshine, sand and beach life. The nearby beaches are nearly endless, but I believe the closest is Village Park, in Empire. Parking is cheap at $1/hour. You may have to search for a spot on a busy day, but there’s plenty of overflow parking outside of the park as well. Though smaller than it’s neighbor Glen Arbor – Empire is just filled with cute little shops, great food, coffee and ice cream. You won’t be disappointed spending your time in this quint little town.

Sunday we started the day off at the pool before packing up the camper and heading out. The pool area was nice and clean, and the boys had a lot of fun.

If you have plans to visit this area, I HIGHLY recommend more than a weekend. An extended weekend or a week would be best. That being said though, we totally believe in being #weekendwarriors and if that is all you have, then get yourself out there for 48 hours and make the most of it.