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. Know before you go; the entry-line inspection is real.

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 Utah where you can drive your own rig on 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 — ever, 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 signpost

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.