A Camping Trip To Hell

I don’t usually do reviews, but there are certain times, either when I have received great service, or horrible service, I just feel the need to let folks know about a certain business. This review is about a camping weekend I took with my son and his best friend.

Generally, I like to head north, drive into the woods, search for a place to pitch my tent, and that’s where I’m going to be for the duration. This trip was different. It was preparation for a trip to the Upper Peninsula, and I had a new tent I needed to try out before the big trip. I only had a weekend, so I needed somewhere close.

I generally gravitate to private campgrounds if I am not heading into the woods. Besides putting money into the local economy, there are generally less stupid rules, and more service than you will find at a state park, but that’s just me. I’m sure there are plenty of nice state park campgrounds, I just prefer the personal touch, and character of the smaller privately owned places.

After much research, I decided on the Hell Creek Ranch, in Hell, MI. It met my criteria of being close to home, only a 40 minute drive from Plymouth, but seemed to have a country feel to it. I won’t lie, I always wanted to make a visit to Hell, as well.

The drive was beautiful. You can either take the highway, or you can drive North Territorial almost all the way there. Do yourself a favor, and take the scenic route.

When we got there, we were greeted by Tina, she let us in early, as we had rain in the forecast. You will not find a better, more accommodating park manager than Tina, and if you choose to camp at Hell Creek, you most certainly will be meeting her. Tina is the kind of person who makes you feel like you’ve been friends forever, the very first time you meet her. She is everywhere. There is most likely no job at that place that she hasn’t done, and no question she can’t answer.

Hoss is her right hand man, and I’m pretty sure, he is the Head Groundskeeper, and he does an awesome job at that, as the place is meticulously kept. Hoss is another person, who you could tell, has done every single job at the campground, and knows every thing there is to know. If you need something, or have a question, Hoss is the guy who can help you. Including parking an RV if the owner just couldn’t make the proper cut to get it onto the site. Bottom line, is that Hoss is the nicest guy you’re ever gonna meet, and at least twice a day, we would run into him, and he’d always ask the boys if they were having fun, and ask if there was anything he could do for us. You just don’t meet these kind of people at state parks.

The facilities at Hell Creek were simply unbelievable. It looks like they have put a lot of money into this place, as far as bathrooms, and showers. That alone doesn’t make them nice though. These bathrooms and showers are cleaned spotless every single day, probably multiple times, by the looks of them. I will put it this way. When my 21 year old son mentions how clean the bathrooms and showers are, they must be pretty darn clean, because he generally doesn’t pay a bit of attention to these kinds of things.

They also have a beautiful pool, and while it doesn’t have a deep end for diving, it is great for adults wanting to cool off, and absolutely perfect for kids. All of the pool furniture, as well as the pool look to be brand new. Just like the shower facilities, the pool area is kept spotless. Besides the pool, there are also, hoops, horseshoes, and a playground swing set type of contraption for the kids.

So now the interesting part of the story. Hell Creek has two very different niche type customers, as well as weekend campers. It is one of the very few horse camps that I have heard of in the tri-county area. They have the Hell Creek Corral, you can rent horses, and go on a guided tour into state owned land, and you can actually bring your own horse camping with you. It gets rave reviews from the horse lovers who have camped there.

Hell Creek is also a popular destination for motorcycle enthusiasts, and there are a number of them who live there for the whole summer in their 5th wheel trailers, or RV’s. These two groups of people are a loyal bunch of regular Hell Creek campers, and they are all very welcoming and friendly. My boys left being “honorary” members of some motorcycle club, along with the t-shirt to prove it. They had an absolute blast meeting some of the summer long folks at Hell Creek. One of the summer residents, named Karla, came to visit our campsite, and she said that. “We have been coming to Hell Creek for years, and we love Tina and Hoss, along with all of our regular summer time neighbors.” Part of the fun of camping, is meeting new people, and Karla was as nice as they come.

In the end, we all had a blast on our weekend at Hell Creek, and the boys are definitely looking forward to going back for a longer stay next summer. For me, it’ll be nice to renew acquaintances with our hosts Tina and Hoss. Two nicer people, you will never find...

Hell Creek Ranch website: http://www.hellcreekranch.com/index.htm

Questions: 734-878-3632