Michigan's six scramble areas (and the Silver Lake rulebook)

2026–27 season. Scramble-area fees and hours are set locally and change without DNR announcements — check each area’s official page before you haul.

The short version

Scramble areas are the open-riding playgrounds — terrain parks instead of point-to-point trails. Michigan has six, and three of them layer extra rules on top of the state stickers. The entry-line inspection is real, so it pays to check each area’s rules before you haul in.

The six

1. Silver Lake State Park ORV Area (Golden Township, Oceana County) — 450 acres of open sand dunes against Lake Michigan. The only place east of the Mississippi River where you can drive a motorized vehicle directly on sand dunes. Full rulebook below.
2. Holly Oaks ORV Park (Holly/Groveland townships, Oakland County) — sand and gravel mine country reborn as southeast Michigan’s off-road destination, run by Oakland County Parks. There’s a per-vehicle daily entry fee with a daily vehicle cap (book online ahead). DNR stickers required, spark-arrester checks at the gate, 94 dBA limit enforced.
3. The Mounds (Mount Morris Township, Genesee County) — about 370 acres of mud, hills, and trails under Genesee County Parks, with its own entry pass. The spring quirk: wet-season restrictions limit trucks and confine riding while the trails dry. Check before hauling in March–May.
4. The Rock at St. Helen (Richfield Township, Roscommon County) — 50-plus miles of trails, sand play areas, hill climbs, and obstacle courses. The classic trail-town scramble.
5. Bull Gap (near Mio, in the Huron National Forest) — the famous sand hill, plus 100-plus miles of surrounding trails and ORV campgrounds.
6. Black Lake Scramble Area (Cheboygan County) — open-riding acreage on the state forest. (Not the sturgeon event — different kind of February excitement on that lake.)

The Silver Lake rulebook

The most-searched ORV content in Michigan, in one place:

• Season and hours: April 1 – October 31. 9 a.m.–8 p.m. spring and fall, later closing in high summer; entry stops a half hour before close.
• The full sticker stack: ORV license + trail permit + Recreation Passport on every vehicle entering (even unplated machines). Add a parking-lot voucher for your tow vehicle on summer weekends and holidays.
• The flag: a solid orange safety flag flying 10 feet off the ground at standstill. Front-mounted on belted vehicles, rear-mounted on ATVs and bikes. The flag is the law of the dunes — it’s how you’re seen cresting a blind hill.
• Titles: every vehicle must be SOS-titled.
• Operators: no one under 12 operates anything. ATV and motorcycle riders 12–15 need the safety certificate. Side-by-side and 4x4 drivers must hold a driver’s license. No passengers on ATVs or motorcycles, including two-up models.
• Helmets on ATVs and bikes (parking lot included). Belts for every occupant of belted vehicles. Eye protection or a windshield.
• Dune traffic law: one-way zones — no northbound travel in the high dunes. Slow on the entrance ramp and beach. Air down (12–15 PSI is the local wisdom), and be ready to stop blind on every crest.
• No alcohol in or within a quarter mile of the ORV area.

The vibe, for the record: Test Hill, the Lake Michigan overlook, rental buggies in town for the rig-less, and a welcome center that sells everything you forgot. There’s a reason the whole county identifies with these dunes.

The official sources

Each area’s official page carries current fees and hours — the DNR for Silver Lake, St. Helen, Bull Gap, and Black Lake; Oakland County Parks for Holly Oaks; Genesee County Parks for The Mounds. Start with ORV riding in Michigan, explained.