Co-Owner Heidi Bonney Speaks On Intricacies, Passion & Joy Of Running Family Campground On The Shores Of The Great Lakes
Nestled between Honor and Interlochen, Michigan, is a remote campground that is hard to find on a map. In fact, Turtle Lake Campground’s website encourages visitors not to use their GPS to find the campground. It may lead to unmaintained roads or even set them off course completely.
“It’s actually kind of funny because we’re in Beulah, Michigan, but we have a Lake Ann phone number, but we’re in Inland Township,” Turtle Lake Campground co-owner and co-operator Heidi Bonney laughs as she explains their location. However, the fact that Turtle Lake Campground is a bit off the beaten path, just outside Traverse City, is just what brings campers back year after year.
Heidi, her sister, Sara, and their father, Keith, have owned Turtle Lake Campground for five years. Previously, they were actively involved in the growth and development of the campground along with the previous owner, Janet Scott. Before that, beginning when Heidi was seven years old, she and her family spent summers camping at Turtle Lake Campground. Her interest in seeing it preserved as a preferred place for summer camping stems from her childhood.
“It wasn’t like we walked in and decided, ‘Oh…lets buy the campground,’” she recalls. “We actually grew up coming here. There were a lot of people who wanted to purchase the campground and make it a subdivision or turn it into an apartment complex. [But] my dad and Janet really connected, [because] she liked my dad’s direction in keeping it a campground.”
Over the years, Keith has made major improvements and developments to the grounds. What was once a very rustic camping experience has become a campground fitted with full service sites, which include water, sewer, and electric lines to accommodate any type of camper. The campground has gone from 58 sites to 128, the majority of which have full service hookups. The sites are also much larger than a standard campground site size. Keith made sure to keep each site to around 50 feet by 80 feet, giving campers a feeling of open space.
“When my dad built the sites, he said he wanted to stay away from what he called ‘city camping,’ where you’re awning to awning, on top of each other. I think the size of our sites really keeps the people coming because you have a yard and space to move [around in].”
Turtle Lake Campground also boasts one of the few equestrian camping areas in the region. These sites are 80 feet by 80 feet and can accommodate a horse trailer as well as a camping trailer. Horse owners can book these sites and take advantage of the outdoor arena nearby or the miles of trails near Turtle Lake.
“We’re surrounded by trails,” Heidi explains. “You can go [out] for a half hour or an all-day ride.”
The idea for equestrian camping sparked between Heidi and Keith due to her lifelong love of horses. The land where the equestrian camping sites now sit is actually owned by Heidi and Sara. For Heidi, horses aren’t just a weekend hobby. “I think that liking horses is a lifestyle. It’s in your blood. My dad found that passion for horses as well. [And] I always told my dad I’d really like to see horses out there.”
Heidi and her family have expanded beyond offering equestrian camping and also hold competitive equestrian shows. Using the trails and their outdoor arena, they hold events three times a year, over Memorial Day weekend, Father’s Day weekend, and the weekend after Labor Day, for horse riders and their families. Riders of all ages and varying skill levels are able to participate.
“I’ve seen three-year-olds out there, with their parents leading them, up to sixty-year-olds. [Many] of our campers [just like] to watch because it’s also something fun for the community.”
Heidi and her family have put a number of other big ideas into place at Turtle Lake Campground in recent years. Last year, they began offering kayak and canoe trips on the Betsie River. For just a $3.00-$4.00, campers can rent kayaks or canoes from the campground, then follow a shuttle van to the ending point, where they park their car and are shuttled back to Turtle Lake. There, they jump into their kayaks or canoes, paddle to the Betsie River, and then paddle with the stream for an hour and a half to two hours to their waiting vehicles. Adventurers can even canoe or kayak past this point, to the Betsie River Dam, just a bit further down river. Heidi encourages her campers, if they’re able, to take advantage of the slow moving river and kayak or canoe backwards so they can take in the beauty around them.
“Nine times out of ten, you’re the only one on the river,” she says of the picturesque trip downstream. “You really have a chance to be one with nature. You get to see deer, blue heron…it’s really nice.”
In addition to kayak and canoe rentals, campers can hang out at the beach, hike the trails, or take a hay ride. On the 4th of July, there is an excellent fireworks display to enjoy. Some weekends, there’s the option to watch a movie under the pavilion.
Heidi, Keith, and Sara have even more plans. They’re also hoping to add other camper perks in coming years. “[My dad] wants to eventually put our own boat launch area in the campground. And eventually, we want to focus on doing more activities at the pavilion—whether it’s a customer appreciation day, a pancake breakfast, or a tie dye day.”
As Heidi talks about these activities and other aspects of the day-to-day at Turtle Lake, it’s obvious that the most important feature of the entire camping experience is that it’s completely family oriented. The campground has been family owned and operated for the last fifty years. Today, running the campground is a family effort. “My grandma is the bookkeeper, my dad is developing, and my sister and I run it,” Heidi explains. And camping at Turtle Lakes is much like joining one big happy family. “I tell my seasonal [campers] that once you’re seasonal you’re not a stranger anymore; you’re part of the family. I think that’s really what attracts people.”
At the end of the day, it’s the people that make Heidi’s job something she truly loves. “I kind of enjoy the craziness that the campground brings with checking in so many people. Making the campers happy makes me happy. I see myself growing old here. If it gets to the point where I don’t have to work the campground, I’m still going to be a camper at the campground.”
“I take a lot of pride in my dad’s accomplishments and what he’s set up for my sister and me,” she says happily. “At the end of the year, when I have to say goodbye to everybody, it’s sad that I have to wait another six months to see them again!”
Kailyn Clay
A graduate of Trinity Christian College in English & Political Science, Kailyn has written for Brilliance Publishing & GEMS' Girls Clubs among others. She enjoys hiking and cooking.
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Turtle Lake Campground, family-owned and operated for over 50 years, welcomes you to camp, fish, hike, bring your horse, canoe, swim, bike, kayak and relax among the majestic oaks on 40 acres of Northern Michigan bliss!