The Benton Harbor / St. Joseph KOA campground
(http://www.koa.com/where/mi/22165.htm)


This past weekend (7/27 - 7/29), eleven of my college friends and I stayed at this KOA campground. We had a really good time for the most part, not counting how we nearly got kicked out Friday night for being too loud past quiet hours. Here's a break-down of this place:

Location
If you are planning on going to Lake Michigan, it doesn't get much better than this. The site is 10 minutes from the lake, and 20 minutes from Warren Dunes (http://www.llbean.com/parksearch/parks/html/668lls.htm , http://www.harborcountry.org/warren_dunes.html), where we spent the afternoon on Saturday (I would say more, but this review is mainly on the campground, not the dunes). It's within 15 minutes of both St. Joseph (the safer town for my lighter brothers) and Benton Harbor (the safer town for my darker brothers). It's also very easy to get to. Take I94 (either east or west) to I196 north -- or just get on I196 from the north -- and get off at exit 4 onto Coloma Road. Go east 200 yards, and it's right there.

Checking in
This is relatively easy, as long as you have a reservation (if you don't, good luck getting an open spot -- they're booked at least a few weeks in advance, typically). Just go in, tell them who you are / who you are with, pay for your entire stay (unless someone else has already paid), and obtain a parking pass. They give you a little brochure with a map of the campground, and circle where your lot is at. Then you're free to go.

Campsites

What they'll tell you on the website
Overnight Rates: For 2 people, an RV Campsite costs $27 - $32, a Tent Site costs $23 - $27, and a Kamping Kabin (good thing they don't have "Kamping Kabins for Kids") costs $41 - $43. For every additional person beyond 2 per campsite it's $4 per adult, and $2 per child.

What they won't tell you on the website
Parking: When you get there, they tell you that you can only have 2 cars per site. Great. 11 of us from all over, in a total of 7 cars, and we only had 2 lots. This isn't all that bad, as the extra cars can be kept up at the office, but it would have been nice to know this ahead of time.
Sleeping units: Another thing you'll find out is that you can only have 1 sleeping unit (RV, tent, or cabin) per site, and people aren't supposed to sleep in their cars. This is fine if you have an RV, large tent, or cabin, but what if you have several smaller tents and no RV or cabin? They only allow 1 tent per site, no matter how small they may be.
Size: The campsites are relatively small, and quite close together. It feels like you're in a suburb when walking down the roads between them.
Accessories: Each campsite has a fire pit and a picnic table. The fire pits are about 2 feet in diameter, and are too close to the road. The picnic tables can seat 6 people, and can be moved around, but vary in quality. We had a pretty nice one in one lot, but the other table was smaller and more rickety, and would have been a tight squeeze to fit 6.

Bathrooms
Attached to the office are the bathrooms. The men's room has 6 sinks, 4 stalls, 3 urinals, and 3 showers. I didn't hear any comments on the women's room, but I imagine they have a similar setup, with more stalls instead of urinals. Everything is relatively clean, and the stalls are well-stocked with dookie-wipes (toilet paper to the lay person).

The only thing you might have to wait for is a shower, depending on when you get up. The showers each have an enclosed changing area attached to them. The stalls are small -- it's hard to turn around without hitting your elbows on the sides -- but at least they have plenty of hot water.

Start anecdote
Warning: sexually explicit of the differently abled

If you're lucky, and you're a guy, you might have the fortune of listening to the "unnnnnn"s and "eeeeRRRRRR"s of a mentally handicapped individual stroking his salami in the shower next to you, like I did. I still don't know how I didn't burst out laughing so he could hear me, or how he went on for so long. He came -- no, bad choice of words -- entered the stall next to me shortly after I started my shower, and started up with the noises almost immediately. When I left, he was still at it. I stalled at the mirrors by the sinks, pretending to fix my hair, because I wanted to see him, but left after a few minutes, because it seemed there would be no end to his quest of gratifying his mongoloid meat. Everyone in there was avoiding eye contact, no doubt for the same reason that I was -- fear of betraying our intense levels of amusement to the poor guy who just didn't know any better.

I went to our site and then returned with my other bathroom items. Imagine my shock when I heard more "NNNNAAuuuurrr"s from the vicnity of the showers -- yup, he was still going, like an Energizer Jerry's Kid. After putting in my contacts, brushing my teeth, and shaving, he finally turned off his shower and came out. He had to have been in there for a good 45 minutes altogether! I don't even want to imagine what kind of a state my purple-headed love warrior would be in after such a self-satisfying snafu. I elected not to look at him as he left, even though I wanted to, for I knew what the outcome would be.

Note: It should be said that I have nothing against the mentally handicapped. But I bet even a special ed teacher would feel the urge to laugh, had they been in my shoes.

End anecdote

Campground extras

Swimming pool
I never tried this out, as Lake Michigan was so close, but it looked pretty small to me. You can see a picture of it on their website (see link at top of review), but all of those pictures make things look larger than they actually are. Even with the campsite so close to the lake, however, this pool was always jam-packed with little kids -- so I wouldn't recommend trying it anyway.

Hot tub
This is something else I never tried, because it was always even more crowded than the pool. If you like hot tubs, I'm sure it's nice, but only if you're willing to wait.

Mini golf
Didn't play it. Didn't even see it. But I do know that it costs money. If you really want to play mini golf, I'm sure there are plenty of good courses in the larger cities near the campsite.

Fishing
If you bring your own poles, you can go fishing in the little pond they have. My friend tried it a few times, and never caught anything. Plus, I never really saw more than a few people trying at any given time, so I don't think it's a very good place for it.

Athletic courts
There are courts for both basketball and tennis, although they looked pretty run-down to me. You can bring your own equipment, or rent it from the office.

Play equipment
Set up on the bottom of hill made of sand, there is a jungle-gym, slide, swings, and merry-go-round for the youngins. Not great, but something else to keep them busy.

Firewood
They do charge for this, but I have no idea how much. If they're anything like other campgrounds, you might as well cut off an arm and a leg and burn those instead. We brought our own (firewood, that is), and I highly recommend doing that.

General store
In the same building as the office is general store. It's full of useful things, such as ice and water, and also souveniers. Of course the prices are high. If you need anything, I would recommend going to the nearest Meijer. Take I94 west to exit 29, and turn right. It's a little ways down the road. (For those of you who would be concerned, this is in the neutral part of Benton Harbor.)

Atmosphere
This really is a good place for families. Everywhere you look, there are little kids running around. Plus, bikes and scooters can be rented from the office. Quiet hours start at 11, and night security rides around on golf carts to enforce the rules.

On the other side of the coin, this place sucks for younger adults who are looking to party. Sure alcohol is allowed, but who stops drinking at 11? The first night there, we nearly got kicked out because we were up until 2 or 3 in the morning. And no matter how hard you try, it's nearly impossible for most people to be quiet when they've been drinking. On the second night, we went out into a field behind the tennis courts. We took our alcohol, lantern, bug-torches, and chairs (after clearing this with the office ahead of time). We bothered nobody that night, and nobody bothered us. If you have to be loud at this place, that's the way to do it.

Checking out
Couldn't be easier. Get your sh*t out by noon, and just drive away.

Overall
This is a really good campground. Outside of the sardine-packed campsites and their size, I had no major complaints. Sure you have to (or should) watch your language around all of the little kids, and have to be quiet past 11, but these aren't unreasonable things. If you want to visit Lake Michigan near the St. Joseph / Benton Harbor area, I would definitely recommend this KOA campground.



Recommended: Yes