Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video

johnnylawson · Jul 22, 2024

7 Rivian owners and their families from Buckeye State Rivian Club made our way up to Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan this past weekend. We had an amazing time. We camped at Hideaway Campground which had 50amp service (no adapters needed!) sites next to the showers. We got 11-14 miles per hour charging there.

We will be going again next year, and I hope we can join some other clubs together as well. This was my 2nd time there but a WHOLE lot more fun with other Rivian owners. You'll see in the video, there is this "Test" hill that is the biggest and steepest hill there. One of our guys took it on and conquered it like it was nothing. You can sit there all day and see many failed attempts.

I highly recommend making this a must go place for you and your Rivian. It's pretty epic. Such a huge playground!

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video IMG_9800~3-EDIT

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video 20240720_062250

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video 20240720_102016

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video 20240720_113554

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video IMG_9791~2

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video IMG_6654

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video IMG_4393

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video 20240524_135410

Meash20 · Jul 23, 2024

Looks like a BLAST! Now I want to go!

Chewy734 · Jul 23, 2024

That looks like a lot of fun! Nice work on the drone footage too! Going through that water was cool. Many times I miss living in the Buckeye State… O-H

HokieBird7980 · Jul 23, 2024

This is great! Did you air down, and if so, to what psi? I want to go there one day when i'm up visiting my son in Chicago. Also, is there camping allowed there too? I need to do some research. This looks like a blast!

Dark-Fx · Jul 23, 2024

HokieBird7980 said:
This is great! Did you air down, and if so, to what psi? I want to go there one day when i'm up visiting my son in Chicago. Also, is there camping allowed there too? I need to do some research. This looks like a blast!

Technically the rules on the dunes are no more than 15 psi. Have no idea if it's enforced at all

johnnylawson · Jul 23, 2024

HokieBird7980 said:
This is great! Did you air down, and if so, to what psi? I want to go there one day when i'm up visiting my son in Chicago. Also, is there camping allowed there too? I need to do some research. This looks like a blast!

Yeah - if you have the scorpians AT tires - ~17psi is good. I have Cooper Defenders ATX3 which I aired down to like 23 because they run higher.

We camped at Hideaway Campground up there - the electric sites near the shower house have 50amp service - no need for an adapter.

It is a must do - plain and simple

Check us out on FB for more photos and info
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3379672669015940

1stPlace · Jul 23, 2024

I was surprised Michigan didn't also have a Rivian club. Then I posted on this forum and clubs page to gather interest for an off-roading event Mid-Michigan. No takers, at least so far.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/michigan-orv-routes-rivian-group-trip.30181/

Hillbilly · Jul 23, 2024

Chewy734 said:
That looks like a lot of fun! Nice work on the drone footage too! Going through that water was cool. Many times I miss living in the Buckeye State… O-H

Go Blue

iansriv · Jul 23, 2024

That looks fantastic! I would love to go but it's too far away. Will look forward to your next post in 2025! Cheers.

Beanejar · Jul 23, 2024

Awesome! There’s a bunch of us in Grand Rapids and West Michigan - definitely would join next time. The Manistee Forest has some fun tails and rustic camp sites that we’ve traveled, too.

…Just not well-organized enough to make a club.

A couple of us in GR/West MI keep meaning to, but jobs, teens and chaos reign.

@1stPlace - noted the post and shared with a few Riv’s in GR. Looking forward to future possibilities.

johnnylawson · Jul 23, 2024

Dark-Fx said:
Technically the rules on the dunes are no more than 15 psi. Have no idea if it's enforced at all

They don't check and it really needs to vary based on type of tire.

Beanejar said:
Awesome! There’s a bunch of us in Grand Rapids and West Michigan - definitely would join next time. The Manistee Forest has some fun tails and rustic camp sites that we’ve traveled, too.

…Just not well-organized enough to make a club. A couple of us in GR/West MI keep meaning to, but jobs, teens and chaos reign.

@1stPlace - noted the post and shared with a few Riv’s in GR. Looking forward to future possibilities.

We plan to make this an annual event. It would be cool if multiple clubs all came! RJ actually knew about the event and mentioned they should send a film crew up. I guess he got busy running the company

RivRyan · Jul 24, 2024

>camping

We tried a few weeks ago, as a non-dune-buggy family who just wanted a place to tent-camp and didn't understand what Silver Lake was about. It was cramped and loud. The only cover between us and the three campsites within about 40 feet of us in different directions was the dust kicked up as we walked around.

There's obviously a need for places like Silver Lake, but Michigan state parks should do a better job of letting people know this isn't the right campground for people who are really trying to camp rather than to attend a dune-vehicle rally.

johnnylawson · Jul 24, 2024

RivRyan said:
>camping

We tried a few weeks ago, as a non-dune-buggy family who just wanted a place to tent-camp and didn't understand what Silver Lake was about. It was cramped and loud. The only cover between us and the three campsites within about 40 feet of us in different directions was the dust kicked up as we walked around.

There's obviously a need for places like Silver Lake, but Michigan state parks should do a better job of letting people know this isn't the right campground for people who are really trying to camp rather than to attend a dune-vehicle rally.

Fortunately, for us, we were prevented from making that mistake of booking at the Silver Lake State Park Campground because it's practically impossible to secure a spot. We tried the morning the window opened for our span of time and it was sold out before we could even check out. I agree - lack of shade there - we drove by it to and from Hideaway Campground. Hideaway has a pool, RC car track, and tons of shade and was perfect for charging. I suggest the spots closest to the shower (on the left side if looking at map). Didn't feel cramped at all. We blocked off 8 spots in January for our July trip.

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video 20240720_062250 (1)

Rivian R1T R1S Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video DJI_0174.JPG

Dark-Fx · Jul 24, 2024

RivRyan said:
There's obviously a need for places like Silver Lake, but Michigan state parks should do a better job of letting people know this isn't the right campground for people who are really trying to camp rather than to attend a dune-vehicle rally.

I do as much reconnaissance on camp sites as I can. Looking at the photos of the site and nearby sites, as well as satellite mapping of the areas. Generally get a pretty good idea of what the site is going to look like at that point. I've found the descriptions about the sites are pretty accurate.

Silver Lake specifically, this is in the info page on the dnr reservation site, you must have missed it:

One of the park's biggest draws is the 450-acre off-road vehicle area.

RivRyan · Jul 24, 2024

Sure. Also the fact that I"m from the Chicago north suburbs, where off-roading isn't a thing at all. I did see something about it, but it hadn't occurred to me that off-roaders could be the overwhelming majority of the users of a campground and the majority of the people in the area. That part was definitely my mistake. And I'm glad Silver Lake exists - it does take all kinds.

But also, Michigan state parks elsewhere have great campsites with distance and greenery between sites. It felt like they were money-grubbing at Silver Lake, basically creating dirt parking lots with tree cover and calling them campsites.

Buckeye State Rivian Club Had A BLAST at Silver Lake Sand Dunes! 4k Video

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