Topic · Page 2

The Great Outdoors

Porch Notes

The Great Outdoors notes

460 notes

Davison Township's swimming lake started with one man's fundraising Lake Callis Recreation Complex in Davison Township — 40 acres with an 18-acre swimming lake, beach, and splash pad — is named for Bob Callis, who raised the money to buy the land.
Days River Pathway: nine miles of loops above the river Northwest of Gladstone, the Days River Pathway runs nine miles of stacked loops through pine and cedar ridges above the Days River, groomed for cross-country skiing in winter.
Dearborn Heights has a 1920s Donald Ross golf course it bought to save Warren Valley in Dearborn Heights is a Donald Ross-designed golf course from the 1920s along the Middle Rouge that the city bought from Wayne County in 2018 to keep it from becoming subdivisions.
Deerfield Nature Park's four river bridges This Isabella County park has four Chippewa River crossings: Fisher Annex Covered Bridge, Lewis Pontiac Bridge, and two swinging bridges.
Dinosaur Hill: a leftover pile of basement dirt that became a Rochester nature preserve A 16-acre nature preserve tucked into a Rochester subdivision got its name from kids who thought a mound of excavated basement dirt looked like a sleeping dinosaur.
Erie Marsh: the biggest piece of Lake Erie wetland Michigan has left Erie Marsh Preserve, on Lake Erie's North Maumee Bay, holds about 11% of the wetlands remaining in southeast Michigan; a 2010s project reconnected it to the lake after 60 years cut off by dikes.
Falling Waters Trail: 10 miles of railroad turned into a flat ribbon to Concord A 10.5-mile paved rail-trail runs from Jackson out to Concord through spring-fed lake country, on the bed of an abandoned Michigan Central line.
Fenner Nature Center is 134 acres of wild glacier ridge inside the city A 134-acre nature preserve on Lansing's east side, built around a glacial esker and maple groves, that a landowner sold to the city in the 1950s on the condition it stay wild.
Fennville throws a festival for the geese — and means it Fennville's Goose Festival, held since the 1980s, celebrates the thousands of Canada geese that winter at the nearby Fennville Farm Unit, an old peppermint farm the state bought in 1949.
Flushing's Riverview Trail, with a 200-foot bridge over the Flint River A 1.4-mile paved path through Flushing's wetlands crosses the Flint River on a 200-foot span and Cole Creek on a 72-foot one, turning the riverbank into an easy walk-and-fish route.
Frankenmuth swapped its dam for a rock ramp so fish could get home Frankenmuth replaced its aging Cass River dam with a rock-ramp that lets fish climb past it, reopening more than 73 miles of upstream spawning water for the first time in a century.
Fraser's five-rink ice palace, now named after a burger Fraser's Big Boy Arena packs five ice surfaces under one roof — named for the Great Lakes once, a soda brand later, and finally a Michigan burger chain.
Fremont Lake: 88 feet deep, right at the edge of town Fremont's namesake lake drops to nearly 90 feet within walking distance of downtown — a deep, cold-water lake unusual for this stretch of West Michigan, with a city park and beach on its shore.
Green Point: a wild riverbank inside the city On Saginaw's edge, where the Tittabawassee River bends, Green Point packs oak forest, marsh, and 2.5 miles of trail into a learning center run for the federal wildlife refuge.
Haven Hill: the woodland retreat Edsel Ford built to escape the family business Edsel Ford spent the 1920s buying hilltops in Highland Township for a private retreat; today his Haven Hill estate is a state recreation area and a National Natural Landmark.
Hawk Island was a gravel pit before it was a snow-tubing hill A 100-acre Ingham County park inside Lansing, built on the old Sablain gravel pit, with a swimming lake, a splash pad, and a winter snow-tubing run.
Haymarsh: 6,700 acres the state flooded on purpose for the ducks The Haymarsh State Game Area's lakes are man-made — Haymarsh Lake was impounded by a dam in 1949 to grow marsh and open water for waterfowl, fishing, and trapping.
How the Platte River hatchery helped launch Michigan's salmon program The Platte River State Fish Hatchery near Honor helped launch Michigan's Great Lakes salmon program in 1966 and remains the state's coho egg-take and production hatchery.
Island Lake: the state park where hot-air balloons take off Island Lake Recreation Area in Green Oak Township spreads across roughly 4,000 acres along the Huron River, with paddling, mountain-bike trails, a shooting range, and a balloon launch field.
Jean Klock Park: a beach given in a child's name In 1917 a Benton Harbor newspaper publisher and his wife gave the city 90 acres of Lake Michigan dunes and beach in memory of their daughter, who died in infancy — deeded to the public forever.
Kensington Metropark: a swampy fishing hole turned into a 1,200-acre lake Kensington Metropark near Milford wraps 4,500 acres around Kent Lake — a wide lake made by damming the Huron over an old swimming hole — and is famous for chickadees that land on your hand.
Lake Allegan: a 1,600-acre lake that's really a dam pond The Calkins Bridge Dam, finished in 1936, backs the Kalamazoo River into the 1,600-acre Lake Allegan, generating hydroelectric power while holding the river's water level steady upstream.
Lake Minnawanna and the 700 acres around it Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area wraps 723 acres of woods and trails around 80-acre Lake Minnawanna in Hadley Township — a state park with a campground, swim beach, and fishing pier.
Lexington's state harbor and the breakwall walk Lexington State Harbor is a 108-slip Lake Huron marina at the heart of the village, but major harbor work affects marina and breakwall access in 2026 and 2027.
Little Sable Point: the bare brick light below the dunes South of the Silver Lake dunes, the 1874 Little Sable Point Lighthouse rises more than 100 feet of unpainted red brick and still shines its original Paris-made Fresnel lens.
Long Lake: eleven rustic sites down a string of back roads Long Lake State Forest Campground near Lake City is a small, rustic, first-come state campground with eleven sites, a hand pump, and good fishing on a quiet lake.
Lost Nation: 2,400 acres of game cover and a shooting range Lost Nation State Game Area spreads across roughly 2,400 acres of Jefferson and Pittsford townships, with a stretch of the North Country Trail and a public DNR shooting range.
Ludington's breakwater light, built to take a beating The steel pyramidal lighthouse at the end of Ludington's pier was built in 1924 to shrug off Lake Michigan's waves — and it now leans a few degrees from a 1990s settling.
Lumberman's Monument: three bronze loggers on the Au Sable bluff A 14-foot bronze of three loggers stands on a high bluff over the Au Sable River near Oscoda, dedicated in 1932 to the men who cut Michigan's white pine.
Maybury State Park: the woods that were once a city for the sick Maybury State Park near Northville was built on the grounds of Detroit's old tuberculosis sanatorium — a self-sufficient hospital town of some 40 buildings that ran from 1921 until 1969.
Menominee's red lighthouse, lit on New Year's Day 1877 A small octagonal cast-iron tower has marked the mouth of the Menominee River since 1877; the city took it over from the Coast Guard in 2008 and keeps the red beacon shining.
Moores Park Pool was the prototype for the Bintz pool Lansing's 1923 Moores Park Pool was the prototype for Wesley Bintz's oval, above-ground municipal pool design. It is closed while the city restores it.
Mount Trashmore: the Riverview hill where people skied on the dump Riverview built a public ski hill on top of its own municipal landfill — locals called it Mount Trashmore — and the buried garbage now feeds a renewable-gas plant.
Mt. Brighton: a ski hill built from moved soil Mt. Brighton opened for the 1960/61 season after soil was repositioned on former farmland. Its current stats list 230 feet of elevation change and 100% snowmaking coverage.
Mt. Holly: where metro Detroit learns to ski A township ski hill off Dixie Highway near Holly, opened in the mid-1950s, installed southeastern Michigan's first chairlift and still teaches generations of beginners on its 350-foot drop.
Ogemaw Hills Pathway: hiking a glacier's leftovers The 15-mile Ogemaw Hills Pathway north of West Branch winds over the West Branch Moraine, a ridge of hills bulldozed up by the Saginaw Lobe of the last ice sheet.
Ojibway Island: the lumber baron's gift that holds Saginaw's fireworks Ojibway Island, the downtown island park where Saginaw watches its Fourth of July fireworks, sits in the parkland a lumber-fortune baron, Ezra Rust, left to the city.
Orchard Beach State Park, where they moved a stone pavilion to outrun the lake On a 100-foot bluff north of Manistee sits one of Michigan's best-preserved 1930s state parks — and in 2020 crews picked up its CCC-built stone pavilion and rolled it 1,200 feet inland.
Paddling the Chippewa River through Mount Pleasant The Chippewa River runs 91.8 miles through central Michigan, with county access at Majeske Landing, Deerfield Nature Park, and Meridian Park.
Paris Park, where the state raised trout and shipped them in milk cans Michigan opened one of its first fish hatcheries at Paris in 1881; for decades it shipped trout in red milk cans by rail, and it is now a Mecosta County park.
Park Township's 1937 airport is becoming a prairie One of Michigan's earliest community airports flew small planes off a grass strip near Holland for over 80 years; after a 2020 decision to close it, the township is turning the runway into native prairie.
Pemene Falls, the hard-to-find rapids on the Menominee River Down a gravel road in Faithorn Township, the Menominee River drops through Pemene Falls — one of three units in a 7,652-acre state recreation area Michigan and Wisconsin manage together.
Pontiac Lake's mountain-bike trail is rated among the country's best Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area in White Lake Township packs 3,700 acres, the longest beach in southeast Michigan, and an 11-mile mountain-bike loop rated a Top 100 U.S. trail.
Portland's canoe man paddled 100,000 miles A bronze statue on the Grand River in Portland honors Verlen Kruger, who paddled over 100,000 miles and set a Guinness record for the longest canoe journey ever made.
Potter Park Zoo started with a couple of elk somebody gave the city The zoo that calls itself Michigan's first grew out of a small herd of native animals kept in a Lansing park along the Red Cedar River, and it's still run by the county a century later.
Proud Lake: 3,000 acres of state land where the Huron River slows down Proud Lake State Recreation Area spreads over 3,000 acres of Commerce Township, where the young Huron River widens into a chain of lakes laced with hiking trails and canoe water.
Reed City's Westerburg Park: ballfields, a BMX track, and a river to fish Westerburg Park packs 46 acres of ballfields, a BMX bike park, and Hersey River fishing access into a town the state has officially named a Pure Michigan TrailTown for its tangle of rail-trails.
Republic moved homes so its open-pit mine could grow When Republic's open-pit mine expanded in the 1950s, about one-fourth of the community's families and homes moved south. A free public overlook now helps tell that story.
Rose Lake: a state research lab you can hike and shoot at The 4,000-acre Rose Lake State Wildlife Research Area near Bath is a working DNR study site with crop plots and old farmsteads, and it also runs one of mid-Michigan's busiest public shooting ranges.
Rose Lake: the biggest water in a county short on lakes At 370 acres, Rose Lake near LeRoy is the largest lake in Osceola County — a sand-bottomed walleye and panfish lake with a county park, a campground, and a fishing pier on its north shore.
Ross Lake and Beaverton's city-owned dam Ross Lake is a 294-acre impoundment held by a hydroelectric dam that the City of Beaverton owns and operates.
Sarett Nature Center and the tower over the Paw Paw A 1963 gift of 130 acres along the Paw Paw River grew into Sarett Nature Center, where a 55-foot treetop tower lets you stand in the canopy over the river valley.
Shakey Lakes: a county park wrapped around four lakes Menominee County runs a 240-acre park among four lakes near Stephenson, with a sand beach on Resort Lake, well over a hundred campsites, and miles of trails through the woods.
Six Lakes, named by counting The community of Six Lakes sits in Belvidere Township beside a chain whose names run plainly from First Lake through Sixth Lake.
Sleeping on the edge of Lake Huron at Forester Park Forester Park is a 68-acre county campground six miles north of Port Sanilac, with around 200 sites, rustic cabins, and a swimming beach right on the Lake Huron shore.
Snow Snake: a ski hill and a golf course on the same Harrison ground Snow Snake Ski & Golf in Harrison runs a 210-foot ski hill with a dozen trails and two terrain parks in winter, then turns the same rolling, wooded ground into an 18-hole golf course.
Tawas Point: the sandy hook that traps migrating birds The curving sand spit at Tawas Point funnels hundreds of migrating bird species into one small park each spring and fall, and shelters nesting piping plovers, an endangered Great Lakes shorebird.
The 1880 trestle that moved to Stanton South of Stanton, the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail crosses Fish Creek on an 1880 railroad trestle that was relocated from Greenville — one landmark on a 42-mile rail-trail through Montcalm County.
The 2015 tornado that walked through downtown Portland On June 22, 2015, an EF1 tornado with 110 mph winds tore through downtown Portland, damaging dozens of homes and businesses, yet caused no deaths and only minor injuries.
The 36-mile trail being stitched along the Grand River to the lake Ottawa County is building the Idema Explorers Trail, a planned 36.5-mile non-motorized path along the Grand River linking Grand Rapids to Grand Haven through riverside parks and old farmland.

Page feedback

See something wrong or unclear?

Send a note about this page. The page address will be included automatically.

Send a note