Hartwick Pines State Park

Just northeast of Grayling, off I-75, Hartwick Pines is one of the largest state parks in the Lower Peninsula. Its centerpiece is 49 acres of old-growth pine forest, some of the last remaining in Michigan. The Michigan History Center describes it more specifically as Lower Michigan’s largest remaining stand of old-growth white pine. The DNR’s current stewardship plan calls the grove a rare exception to the logging that swept the northern Lower Peninsula and one of the region’s best-known and most accessible uncut upland forests.

That history is the other half of the park. The DNR says white pine powered Michigan’s lumber industry when the state led the nation in lumber production. Two log buildings erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 now hold the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum, which recreates a late-1800s logging camp. The visitor center tells the wider story of Michigan’s forests.

Karen Hartwick donated 8,000 acres to the state in 1927 as a memorial to her husband, Edward, who died in World War I. The gift included 86 acres of uncut forest. A fierce November 1940 windstorm caused a major blowdown, leaving about 49 acres as closed-canopy old growth.

Beyond the grove, the DNR lists a campground, small lakes, and 21 miles of trails. The paved, accessible Old Growth Forest Trail is a 1.25-mile loop, and the Grayling Bicycle Turnpike connects the park with downtown Grayling and Hanson Hills. Trail conditions can change after storms or seasonal closures, so the park’s notice board is worth a glance before a longer hike.