Sleepy Hollow State Park and the county's wild side

For a farm county this close to Lansing, Clinton has some real outdoor gems. The biggest is Sleepy Hollow State Park, about 2,600 acres in the southeast part of the county near Laingsburg. At its center is Lake Ovid, a 410-acre lake created in 1974 by damming the Little Maple River — a popular spot for fishing (bass, pike, panfish, and stocked muskie), with a campground, a sandy swimming beach, and miles of trails.

Up in the northern part of the county near St. Johns is the Maple River State Game Area — at over 9,000 acres (spilling into Gratiot and Ionia counties), it’s the largest connected wetland in mid-Michigan and a famous stopover for migrating ducks, geese, and swans, with dikes and an observation tower for birdwatching. And down near Bath, the Rose Lake research area offers still more state land for hiking and hunting.

If you like having woods, water, and wildlife close to home, this corner of the county delivers.