Fishing and Visiting a Ghost Town along Lake Michigan?! | Gladstone & Fayette Historical Park | E93

In this episode we stay at Gladstone, MI and try our hand at fishing Little Bay De Noc and then head to east to the NEXT bay – Big Bay De Noc! We get a chance to explore Fayette Historical park which once was a lively industrial town that has long since perished. If you like history, this is a fabulous place to visit! Even if you’re not a history buff, it’s worth going for some of the scenic views in the area.

WHERE WE STAYED🛻⛺:

Gladstone Bay Campground

This was a county park in town. You cannot reserve online – you must call or show up. There were sites from no amenities to full hookups. The less amenities, the closer to the water you got (so you get to choose your priority). We stayed in the electric only sites ($25/night when we visited) and had a pretty great view of Little Bay De Noc.

Electric-Only site at Gladstone Campground

The campground itself was well-kept and most sites were reasonable size. They were smaller in the full hook-up location though. Bathrooms and showers were really quite nice as well!

Fayette Historic State Park

The state park itself was definitely worth the visit. See my comments below in “where we played”.

As for the actual campground, it was OK. The original site we had (site 54) was a bit too slop-ey for my comfort since I had to un-turtle the truck camper ( I haven’t launched the boat with the camper on the truck nor do I ever intend to). So we needed a site that was large enough for the camper, boat and the truck with a portion at least being level enough for the camper. We ended up moving to site 38, which was luckily open for the few days we stayed there.

All in all, the campsites are quite varied in size and level-ness so be aware of that concern going in. Trees are close together in many areas which would make getting an RV in there, well, *interesting*. Ideally come early so if you chose poorly you have another site as an option. Not sure how packed they get during the summer months, though.

But oh, those sunsets! They almost make up for everything else!

We were planning on staying for a week but we decided to cut it short by a few days. Mainly since the weather wasn’t cooperating for fishing and after looking around the state park, there isn’t a lot else to do.

We’d recommend 1-2 nights here. I don’t think you need more than that. This can also be a day trip on the way to another campground.

WHERE WE PLAYED:🐟🛶🚴‍♀️🥾

Van Cleave Park & Gladstone Beach Volleyball Court

For us, it was Gladstone Bay campground was a perfect location for boating since it was close to the Van Cleave Park, which had a boat launch with THE BEST fish cleaning station we’ve ever encountered!

It was a picturesque launch every time as we went by the boardwalk and the lighthouse.

Really worth going if just to see the lighthouse! If boating wasn’t your thing, they have a beautiful beach, volleyball nets and even a skate park!

So surprised with all the things to do locally in town. The boardwalk was washed away (I’m assuming from the ice flows) but you could walk by along the bay. If you’re in the area, this is definitely worth a night just to see that park right by the marina!

View of the marina after launching the boat

Fayette Historic State Park

They have done a great job at trying to preserve the buildings of this old industrial ghost town.

It’s fascinating to walk through and imagine what it was like in the late 1800s…

WHERE WE ATE: 🍽️🥩🍹🍺🍽️

There were several places in Gladstone that we wanted to try (like the Saloon or Freshwater Tavern just south of town) but both had long waits and lots of people, which had us searching for another alternate. We found the perfect place for us – a little hole in-in-the-wall place called Kipling Bar. It’s just a little bar where locals come to hang around. This place has been there forever – we found out about some of history, like when the bar was lined with guns had other *interesting* decorations (you’ll just have to see yourself). The food was good for bar food but the conversations with the folks in the bar was the best. While we’re just heading through town, we felt very welcomed and met some awesome people! So glad we went.