Our Coach At The River Ridge RV Resort
You know when you find a nice place and you just happened to be passing through for a couple nights and you end up staying a month? Well, that’s what happened to us when we came upon River Ridge RV Resort in Stanwood, Michigan. Located in the western region of Michigan, about 45 minutes north of Grand Rapids.
Beautiful Evening Sky At River Ridge RV Resort
The Pool And Community Center At River Ridge RV Resort
Beautiful Flowers And Landscaping Every Where At River Ridge RV Resort
The Muskegan River At River Ridge RV Resort
River Ridge RV Resort is one of those gems that you find in the middle of nowhere. By that, I mean, it’s in the Manistee National Forest, near the Newaygo State Park on the Muskegon River. However it’s only 2 miles from Interstate 131 and shopping and restaurants are just one exit up in Big Rapids, MI. Which is just a quick 10-minute drive.
Being out in the forest though Internet, cable and cell signal can be spotty. We have Verizon and without our booster we only had 1 bar, maybe. In the booster we were able to get 4 bars. So that’s doable for us. Someone with AT&T said they were fine with their signal.
As far as Internet, the park does have wi-fi hotspots in their office and the community center. However, upon talking with the park management, being where they are located, they are only able to get 3 Mbps into the park, two T-1 lines. That’s it. Now add in that they run their office off of that same 3 Mbps. Now you can understand why only the hot spots. Needless to say we ran off of our unlimited data phones.
We were excited to learn that a local company will be putting in a WISP tower just up the road. So next season, if all goes as planned with the tower going up, they are going to plan on having park wide wi-fi. Which in a resort of this caliber, you would come to expect. They went as far to even ask David to advise on the design. That then lead to asking us to come back in the spring to do the programming and over see the install of the system. We told them that it would all depend on when they could get more data coming into the park.
They do offer cable at every site, however, that is provided by a DirecTV distribution center in the office. So it’s essentially down converted to standard def. Not ideal but hey, you are here for the resort, not TV. Right? Good thing our satellite dish worked just fine.
It was very peaceful there. No trains. No planes. No traffic noise.
Cement fire pits and large plastic picnic tables at every site.
Enjoying The Campfire One Evening
Pull Thru Sites Were Really Long And Wide
The pull thru sites are really long and wide and as you can see, cement. Most of the resort actually has cement pads. Plenty of room to fully set up our 45-foot Tiffin Allegro Bus and have lots of room for our tow vehicle and then some. Some of the back in sites would have been a little tighter for a big rig. However I did see some maneuver into a back in when needed. For a big rig the pull thru would definitely be the way to go. In my humble opinion.
This is a park where you can get a seasonal site, however there is a waiting list. The owner’s and the management are working on improving some of the sites and making more of them seasonal but don’t let that stop you from visiting. There are still plenty of transient sites available. And the seasonal sites are very well maintained to keep up with the resort landscaping. So no worries there.
There is a good-sized marina on the premises. So bringing your boat or personal watercraft along for your stay is encouraged. They also have an excellent store with all your essentials and a really good grill and ice cream shop that makes some really good chocolate malt shakes. Not that I would know anything about that.
Wink Wink.
Gorgeous Evening Sky At River Ridge RV Resort
Gorgeous Evening Sky At River Ridge RV Resort
There were some gorgeous evenings when the sky just lit up. One moment it was orange and the next it was purple. Simply breathtaking. (Non-retouched photos.)
Our Coach And A Beautiful Sun Set
Brenda And David At River Ridge RV Resort
The new management has really improved this resort in the last couple of years. We have not been here before but from what we had heard from other guests, it was more of a party place. Now they have truly raised the bar to make it more of the resort that it should be.
David had an opportunity to fly his quadcopter and produced an outstanding video of the resort. I think it’s one of my favorite videos of a RV Park that he has done thus far.
Enjoy!
Beautiful park! Love the aerial photography, really shows off the place. I did notice there are not many mature trees for shade yet, but over the years they will mature.
Love your reviews. Would like some idea of prices as I travel in smaller unit and only splurgeooccasionally on ” resorts”. Thanks j Anne
We usually do not list the price as they can change, but we always give a link to their website. So you can check in out. Seeing this is a resort, it was $55 a night.
Very nice video!
Thanks. The video is one of my new favorites.
David,great job.That is a really nice place. Love the music.
Thanks Zache. It was a nice place and the owners and management are great. The food in the grill is priced right also. Hand tossed large pizza, $14. Burgers for $3. Etc.
Great video, article and pictures. Love your purple lights!
Thanks. We also like them on purple. We can make them any color but that color seems to show off the coach at night better with the paint. :) The video is one of my new favorites.
David, where’d you guys get the lights under your awning? Are they “installed” and permanent or do you put them up and turn them on after you set up? Where do you plug them in at on the rig?
Hi…
I installed the permanently on the awnings. I ran a 12V line up to the roof and added a switch inside in the cabinet where the awning controller is. In the center of the coach I have the controller under the shield that is by the vents. From the controller two 4 wire lines run out and into the awning housing and then down each arm. The RGB LED’s are attached to that 4 wire line supplying Red, Green, Blue, and power. I then can control the lights remotely. I have also added a RGB set under the main slide and under both bottom sides of the coach.
We have stayed there twice while visiting family in the area. It is a beautiful facility. Well managed & cared for.
Did you run the 12V line in the wire bundle at the factory (one of the changes you made), or did you drill through the roof later? If later, that scares the snot outta me (drilling through the roof). If it IS that, what did you seal around the wire with at the exit hole on top of the rig?
Hi…I ran it while at the factory. Though I would not have an issue drilling a hole in the roof up by the front cab. Then you use Dicore to seal it.
My girlfriend and I are investigating becoming RVers when we fully retire in a few years and David and Brenda were nice enough to let us stop by while they were here and see their home and ask some questions. Having seen them online here, I felt like I already knew them when they met us at the resort. They are just as warm and friendly in person as they are here online. Thank you so much for your time and tour of your beautiful home. Oh, and the resort is just gorgeous too.
+1 – Yea, what he said!
Hey David
You never said what kind of lights you put under your awning those aren’t just run of the mill rope lights they look fabulous
Thanks
Don
Hi Don…
They are RGB LED’s that I installed under each awning, the slide out, and the bottom of the coach. We can make them any color or even change colors. (Which Brenda only lets me do during holidays. :) )