How to Travel to Electric Forest from Out of State

Electric Forest is one of my all-time favorite music festivals to attend. A lot of the times a lot of people are hesitant to attend if they live out of state because it is a trek to get there. It also requires some planning and creativity. Hopefully, this blog post can give you some peace of mind when it comes to planning. It is stressful but so worth it in the end.

Where to Fly Into

Electric Forest is located in Rothbury, Michigan. It is about 30 minutes from Muskegon and an hour from Grand Rapids. People that attend Electric Forest typically fly into:

• Grand Rapids
• Muskegon
• Detroit
• Chicago

I prefer to fly Southwest because you can bring two suitcases for free, but sometimes it might not have the best options available for the times I want to get in or is too expensive. So sometimes you have to get a little creative with how you travel to and from Forest.

What I Did in 2018

In 2018, I was flying from Austin, Texas with my friend Peyton. We ended up flying into Grand Rapids on Wednesday for early arrival. We rented a car and arrived at the gates around 1 pm. We flew American Airlines on the way there because that had a flight that would land us early Wednesday so we would have enough time to pick up the rental, stop by Walmart and get to the festival gates. I had to pay for both suitcases which were unfortunate, but worth it to have all the stuff I needed.

On the way back, we flew Southwest and had a later flight in case it took forever for us to get out of the campgrounds. We had waited a bit in the campgrounds until we went around and took a shortcut out. We got to the airport around 4 and our flight wasn’t until 7 pm. It was worth it though so we didn’t risk missing our flights.

What I Did in 2019

For 2019, I was traveling with my ex Ryan from Austin, Texas. We had a group that we were meeting up with that were traveling from Phoenix and San Diego. They had plans to land early Wednesday, but again the flights didn’t line up for us to land around the same time as them. So we decided to fly into Grand Rapids on Tuesday night and get a hotel near the airport so that when our friends landed they would be able to pick us up. We flew Southwest and had a stop along the way in Chicago and landed about 12 AM on that Wednesday.

Heading back again we had to get creative because it was so expensive to fly out of Grand Rapids on the way back. Luckily, you can buy a one-way Electric Forest shuttle ticket so we decided to take the shuttle to Chicago and fly out from there since the rental car wasn’t in our name. We took I think it was the 9 AM shuttle and the drive to the airport was 2-3 hours, but we slept the whole way. We flew American on the way back so had to pay for the bags and for the totem to make it home. Our flight was around 4 or 5 so we had plenty of time to eat and chill before heading home.

My Plan for 2020

This year surprisingly wasn’t as stressful. I am traveling with my festie bestie Rian and we were able to book both our flights on one airline so we will be flying Southwest. I am taking the late Tuesday night flight and flying into Grand Rapids then taking a 7 pm flight that Monday to fly back to Austin. We are planning to rent a car to get to the forest.

Packing

One of the biggest concerns that EVERYONE has is how do you pack? I have two videos of my packing process from the past two years:

You can find a general list of what to pack here. My number one tip is to use one suitcase for clothes, another suitcase for a tent and other camping items and a backpack for any other items you need to bring.

For larger camping items like an EZ UP Canopy, cooler, chairs, etc., put in an order with Walmart online and set it for pickup. There are several Walmart locations on the way to Forest so having that online order will guarantee you the camping items you need since a ton of people will be doing the same. I think I put in an order 3-4 weeks before just to allow for enough time. Then when you go to Walmart you can pick up food, water, alcohol, etc.

Getting to the Forest

So I’ve mentioned a couple of options on getting to the forest you can either rent a car, take the official Electric Forest shuttle, or hitch a ride.

Rental Car

I have done a rental car for the past two years and I can’t imagine going back. It just helps to know your items are safe in the car. Obviously it’s not an option for everyone as you have to be 25 to rent a car and it can be pretty expensive. One thing that helps is if you have a group to split the costs with. I think my first year it was close to $200 for my share (split between two people) and then last year it was around $100 (split between three people). It just really depends.

Official Electric Forest Shuttle

You can take the Electric Forest shuttle to get to and from the festival. They have pickups with major airports and other landmarks. You can find the information here. You can purchase round-trip or one-way tickets if you need to. One thing to note is that they recommend the following regarding your items: “For camping festivals, ask that passengers limit their gear to a total of three items. For example, you could bring one large bag, one tent and one cooler. We are unfortunately not able to accommodate any luggage wagons or trucks on the bus. We ask that you do not bring luggage wagons with you to the bus as they will not be permitted onboard.” So that is something to keep in mind with your packing situation. They also stop by a Walmart so you can stock up on food and water for the weekend.

Hitch a Ride

You can look on Facebook groups or on social media to try and find a ride. If you happen to land at the same time as someone else, you can coordinate with fellow forest fam to ensure you both can get to the forest.

I hope this helps the planning process! Let me know if you have any questions. I am so excited to return to the forest for year 3! Happy Forest!!