• Portage-area campgrounds provide accommodations for those visiting the Air Zoo's vintage planes.bi-plane image by Jackie DeBusk from Fotolia.com
  
  Located in Kalamazoo County, Portage, Michigan is five miles south of Kalamazoo and 30 miles southeast of Battle Creek. For tourists, Portage is a popular destination due to the Crossroads Mall and the Air Zoo amusement park and aviation history museum. Although visitors that enjoy camping cannot find campgrounds within Portage, a number of options are available within 30 minutes of the town.
  
  

Cold Brook Park

• A Kalamazoo County public facility, Cold Brook Park is approximately 15 miles from Portage in the town of Climax. The park has 51 sites for tenting and recreational vehicles. The sites are back-ins, measuring 30 feet by 50 feet in size. Twenty-nine of the sites offer electric and water hookups. Although sewage is not available at the sites, the park provides a waste dump for guests' convenience. Each site is outfitted with a picnic table and camp-fire, and firewood is available on-site. Showers and restrooms are provided as well as a public phone. Blue Lake is adjacent to the campsite for swimming, boating and fishing. The park also has a volleyball net, horseshoe pits, an 18-hole disc-golf course, hiking trails, baseball fields and a playground.
  
  Cold Brook Park
  7250 S. 40th St.
  Climax, MI 49034
  (269) 746-4270
  kalcounty.com/parks/coldbrook/index.html
  
  

Markin Glen Park

• The public campground at Markin Glen Park is around 10 miles north of Portage, in Kalamazoo. The park features 38 full hookup sites, including seven pull-throughs that measure 35 feet by 72 feet. The remaining back-ins are 35 feet by 68 feet in size. Two of the sites are handicap accessible. Each site has a concrete pad and its own picnic table and fire ring. Firewood is available on-site. The park has restrooms, showers and a waste dump. There are two ponds adjacent to the camping areas, affording opportunities for fishing and swimming. This county park also offers hiking trails throughout its 160 acres. There is also a baseball field. The park is open from May through October. There is a 14 day maximum stay.
  
  Markin Glen Park
  5300 North Westnedge Ave.
  Kalamazoo, MI 49004
  (269) 381-7570
  kalcounty.com/parks/markinglen/index.html
  
  

Shady Bend Campground

• Located in Augusta, the Shady Bend Campground is 18 miles northeast of Portage. The park has 12 tenting and 40 recreational vehicle sites available for short-term rentals. The RV sites are grassy, but feature full concrete patios. All of the spaces are back-ins (30 feet by 40 feet) with electric and water hookups. A waste dump is available on the property in lieu of sewage hookups, and guests staying for longer than seven days can take advantage of the mobile dumping station that removes waste at the campsite. For campers' convenience, showers, restrooms and laundry facilities are available as well as propane, RV supplies, firewood, ice and bait. The park offer 3,000 feet of shoreline along the Kalamazoo River for fishing. The campground also organizes tube and canoe trips for guests. The camping season at Shady Bend runs from mid-May through mid-October.
  
  Shady Bend Campground
  15320 East Augusta Drive
  Augusta, MI 49012
  (269) 731-4503
  shadybendcampground.com