One of North America's biggest old-growth forests is in the U.P.

Ask people to picture a vast old-growth forest and they may point toward the Rockies or Pacific Northwest. Michigan has a serious answer of its own along the Lake Superior shore in the western Upper Peninsula.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, better known as the Porkies, covers roughly 60,000 acres in Ontonagon and Gogebic counties. It is Michigan’s largest state park. Within it, about 35,000 acres form a primary, or uncut, northern hardwood and hemlock forest. The DNR calls that block one of the largest relatively undisturbed forests of its kind west of the Adirondacks.

The park’s signature view is Lake of the Clouds. Drive to the end of M-107 and follow the accessible walkway to the overlook. A long lake sits below the escarpment in a broad sweep of forest. On a clear day, the DNR says the view reaches more than 25 miles west.

The old trees are the reason the park exists. A preservation campaign grew as logging pressure reached the area, and Michigan established the park in 1945. The forest later received added wilderness protection, and the federal government recognizes the Porcupine Mountains as a National Natural Landmark.

There are about 90 miles of hiking trails, backcountry campsites and cabins, waterfalls, Lake Superior shoreline, and winter recreation. You do not need a backcountry trip to understand the scale, though. The Lake of the Clouds overlook gives a clear first look, and the nearby visitor center posts trail and road conditions for the rest of the park.