Stony Creek: 4,400 acres of up-north, twenty minutes from home

The northern edge of Macomb County’s suburbs ends in something most metro areas would envy: Stony Creek Metropark, about 4,400 acres of rolling glacial hills wrapped around a 500-acre lake. There are two swimming beaches, boat and kayak rentals, a golf course, a nature center with miles of quiet trails, and a paved six-mile loop around the lake that fills daily with cyclists, strollers, and rollerbladers. In winter the sledding hill and cross-country ski trails take over — the park simply changes uniforms with the seasons.

For families in Shelby and Washington townships it’s effectively the neighborhood park, and for the fast-growing subdivisions of Macomb Township it’s the closest big wild space — the spot where birthday parties, first fishing trips, and Saturday long runs all happen. Metro Detroit’s Metroparks system is one of the country’s great regional park networks, and Stony Creek is its Macomb County flagship: the up-north feeling, twenty minutes from the driveway.