Paddler's Village

Booked a cabin here for one night with my wife and five-year-old, dreaming of rustic charm—not bare mattresses and eau de mildew. For over $200 a night, we expected more than campfire-level accommodations. Refund request denied, so we took our disappointment (and our family) to Marquette instead. Some may enjoy this flavor of “rustic,” but we prefer sheets.

Great trip! Stayed in a yurt, went on the grand Islas boat cruise and did the full day kayaking to Pictured Rocks. Highly recommended. Our guide Jesse was excellent

Awful management. I was involved in a severe motor vehicle accident while driving up to the campsite, my car is totaled, and I now have a $15,000 expense that I have to pay. They would not give me even a partial refund.

This was a great trip! We really enjoyed it. I appreciate that there wasn't any foul language and how respectful the guides were. It was beautiful! We did the evening trip at 6 pm. The pictured rocks were beautiful with the sun shing on them. Would recommend!

The yurts were very nice, and the full bathrooms and fire pits were great. There was a little confusion about how many people could fit in a yurt. Also, the yurts were right next to a busy road, which was noisy. Otherwise, it was a very nice place.

Visited with my spouse and two kids -- tween and teen. Many other families visiting with similarly aged kids, who were friendly at the cornhole courts. Yurt was cozy, fire pit in great shape complete with a couple of sit-beside chairs. Grill at our campsite looked in good order, though we didn't use it. Bath houses were spotless. Friendly staff at the registration shack, complete with convenient firewood and other conveniences. We stayed at the Au Train Beach Campground with the beach just across the state road. Excellent views. Wished we had stayed longer. Our daytrip with the Kayak package was wonderful! Food at the Duckpond Grill was Okay but nothing to write home about.

A very worthwhile travel option. We chose the lunch cruise and a noon departure. The food at the Duck Pond was very good. There were 12 people on our cruise. If there were 18 persons time would have been a consideration. Also be aware that the last 75 feet or so of the path to get on the boat is not handicap accessible. (It's tough to navigate on foot in the soft sand). The narration was top notch (You rock Gavin!!). I will take this cruise again for sure. Not a real good option for parents with toddlers. |

We loved our Yurt and the lake!

Concept of yurts and cabins is great. In practice they are much too close together. You can hear every sound your neighbor makes whether you want to or not! Weekend nights are drunk fests many lasting into the wee hours. A hassle if u signed up for an early morning paddle or hike.But if you are there to party til u puke and do it loudly this is your kinda place lol. Wifi is very good. Campfire wood sold on nearby lot is mostly hardwood and seasoned. Build and finish of yurts and cabins is better than that of safari tents. Many tents had large rips in canvas walls and alongside main wall zippers allowing entry to too many mosquitoes and flies. The tents offer nice breezy front porches. All beds are hard green plastic covered mattresses - no bueno. Bring your own sleeping pad and comfy sleeping bag or blanket. Also highly recommend bringing own pillow. Pillows supplied look like they need laundering. Campground bathrooms get overwhelmed on weekend days and evenings. Cleanliness suffers . Some campers are gross beasts however Campground staff needs to stay on top of cleanliness and supplies. Campground and office staff are pleasant enough it seems that management is not allowing the campground (bathrooms, fire pits, chairs and grounds) to look first class.

Location 5+ stars, everything else my two star rating is a bit generous. The Yurts (tents) are $260 per night. For this price you get a twin over full bunkbed with rubberized mattresses that offer the comfort of rocks. There is no running water in your yurt and one electrical outlet. If you are here with a group and the purpose of your visit is to sit outside drinking by the fire all night, this might be your spot. If you're with the family and want to get a quiet nights sleep, forget about it. There is zero enforcement of "quiet hours". The location, steps from Lake Superior. You can hear the waves all night. This just isn't enough to overcome the price. For almost $300 per night I expect much more glamping than what's offered.

We booked a two night stay in a safari tent. We appreciated being able to camp near the beach and not having to pitch a tent or provide beds. We had a view that couldn't be beat. It is not glamping so plan the trip almost as if you were camping for real. It was a bit pricey but regular campgrounds charge around $45 and you have to provide shelter for yourself (don't forget set up and take down). The person that cleaned our tent spent about 3 minutes cleaning. I just did my own cleaning before moving in. The beach-combing is great and we would have gone kayaking had it been warmer. The front desk staff were friendly and helpful. I highly recommend Paddlers Village.

Absolutely disgusting. We ended up leaving after only being there for ten mins, since my husband threw up after he found fingernail clippings on the chair. I asked to see another Yurt in hopes that it would be cleaner, but that one was filthy as well. It terrifies me that the Yurt was not cleaned after the last guest left, especially with everything that is going on with COVID-19. Unfortunately, no hotels were open in Munising, so we had to drive 3 hours back to Mackinaw City. I will contact the owner Monday for a refund, but I urge everyone to not stay in a Yurt here.

Would have had five stars for the beautiful location, tent set up and cleanliness of the campground, but gotta enforce those quiet hours (neighbors blasted dance music until midnight) and turn up the heat on the showers. Water was lukewarm at best.

This place was fantastic! My wife, two boys, and I stayed in one of the lakefront yurts and were impressed. We went during the winter season (March). There were 2 electric heaters and a propane heater for quicker bursts of heat. They already had the electric heaters on when we checked in, so it was pretty comfortable. The heated bathrooms/showers were clean--a bit of a walk if you choose the yurts on the lakefront. The fire pits were easy to find & firewood was available & inexpensive. Charcoal grills, picnic tables, and outdoor furniture that would be great to make use of in the warmer weather. Starry skies at night were great through the skylight, and looking north over Lake Superior, we were even lucky enough to be able to see the Northern Lights for a bit. Tips: Be sure to pack lots of blankets as it does get cold at night even with the heaters. Cell service was in & out (we have Verizon), but there is a wifi signal you can catch sometimes. If you go with kids like we did, think to bring hangers or a drying rack to dry out snow gear.

The location, facing Lake Superior is beautiful, nice beach area, but when you turn around it felt like we were in an industrial area of town. In the front campsite, although close to parking lot I felt like we were in a display window of a store. The grass (weeds) around our site hadn't been mowed in a while. Needed trimming. The safari tent had seen better days. The screen door was ripped and had several layers of duck tape attempting to keep it closed. Good thing there weren't many flies around. The tent fabric was stained. The one set of showers had no hot water, had to go to the "heated" showers , which were better. The cabins looked nice, not sure what they looked like inside but I thought for the price we paid for the safari tent it would have been nicer.

First of all, it was really frickin' awesome to spend the night in a yurt. Having never done so before I thought it was quite the treat. And I appreciated the nearby bathrooms, altho I think I was the only one continuously using them. Several downsides. The price is absolutely outrageous - I paid $129 for one night and that was the cheapest rate I could find. I think $50 a night would be way more reasonable considering it's just a step up from camping. Second, my husband and I are quiet people. We thought the yurt experience would be serene and peaceful - and very reflective. NOPE. Every one of the groups around us were partiers - drinking nonstop, blaring music, shouting, screaming, and yakking all night long. The quiet hours go into effect at 10 - but no one pays any attention until around 1AM. That was a HUGE NEGATIVE for us. The experience is 5 star but the awful people who stay in the yurts around us made it about a 1 star. That's not Uncle Ducky's fault but I think they should require the experience be one of silence in respect for the people near you who wish to simply take in nature!

Terrible. Terrible management. Was not given site that we were promised on our reservation confirmation. They gave the site to someone else. It wasn't the mistake that upset us, it was the fact that the manager, Greg, was cussing and swearing at the front desk employee, Susan, after she was trying to find another spot for us. Yelling so loud over the phone that everyone in the front check in office could hear. Our confirmation clearly stated our site number. We were promised the site and that was what we expected. When we got there our site was switched to a site on the road. That turned us off totally. We left the next day. We are not going to give our business to a company that allows that kind of behavior and customer service. Uncle Ducky's should think about keeping a manager that screams and yells F bombs at their employees over the phone. Especially so loud everyone can hear. Poor Susan was besides herself. She was very nice and should not be treated like that. We will never give this company our business again. There are plenty of other lodging options and kayaking tours then this place. Beware!!

Be wary of the term "heated". Each yurt has a propane heater only for intermittent use, and a small electric heater. With low temperatures outside we had to run the propane heat for longer than we were comfortable with. Without running the propane - the electric could barely maintain temperatures of 45F. This isn't awful - but I wish I would have been better prepared for it - I wish I would have brought an additional heater to compensate. The Wi-Fi did not work for the entire three days we stayed, again - not awful - we weren't around to most of the time, but would have been good to know so we could have packed some dvds or brought other forms of entertainment. Bathrooms were clean - as well as the showers. Most mornings the place was pretty well shoveled. My biggest complaint was the door to our yurt did not lock. Other than that - very cute place, perfect for a couple.

There is absolutely NOTHING glamorous about this place, except for the location (right on the lake). We stayed in a yurt for two nights and I could not get out of there fast enough. First of all, the tents and yurts are a LOT closer together than they seem on the website. We arrived late at night and finally found the place, after getting ZERO help from the answering service. They could not even provide basic directions. When we entered the yurt, the floor was covered in sand and we had to first sweep before putting our things down. The following morning I got up early to go to the bathroom and was confronted with the absolutely MOST disgusting, stomach churning situation that I have ever encountered in my life. The first set of toilets are pit toilets and it appeared that at least a dozen people had had explosive diarrhea in both of the stalls. I still gag at the thought of it. I finally found the main bathroom, which was somewhat better. However, it was NOT what I would call clean AT ALL. The stalls were dirty and the showers were disgusting. There were pieces of melted soap and globs of body wash on the floors. Some nasty person left a dirty sanitary pad unfurled in one of the trash cans in a shower stall. There were legions of bugs and gnats EVERYWHERE. For the rest of our stay, I opted to drive a mile down the road and use the bathroom at the convenience store. Some people might say that all this is to be expected when you're camping. I disagree....when you're staying ANYWHERE (campsite or not) for $250 per night, it is not unreasonable to expect a certain level of cleanliness and service. Speaking of the customer service, it is non-existent. I called about the toilets several times and the staff was very nonchalant about the situation. When I called the first day, I was told that they already knew about the problem with the pit toilets and that someone would be there to clean them the following day. Yes, the following day...not right away. As we were checking out the following day, I ran into the cleaning crew and they apologized profusely while admitting that they only came through once per day and that even they thought that they should have crews rotating throughout the day to keep the place decent. I called the office AGAIN as I was leaving and several times after check out and left messages for the manager to call me back. To this day, almost 2 months later, I have NOT received a call back. I have a simple recommendation for this company: they should either increase the level of service and improve the conditions OR lower the prices.