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The Great Outdoors

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The Great Outdoors notes

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The 40-mile trail that follows an old canoe portage Starting east of Rapid River, the Bay de Noc–Grand Island Trail traces an ancient Chippewa portage route used to carry canoes between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
The 530-foot pier into Anchor Bay Chesterfield Township's Brandenburg Park runs a 530-foot fishing pier out into the shallow waters of Anchor Bay, the northern arm of Lake St. Clair.
The bike ride that fills Three Oaks every last Sunday in September The Apple Cider Century, a bike tour through the orchards and back roads around Three Oaks, has run since 1974; up to several thousand riders pick routes from 15 to 100 miles each September.
The Brenke Fish Ladder is a working sculpture you can stand inside On the Grand River in Lansing's Old Town, a set of curving concrete steps lets fish climb past a dam — and counts as public art at the same time.
The brewer who gave Menominee a 50-acre park on Green Bay John Henes ran a brewery and patented a bottling machine used across the beer industry, then in 1907 handed the city 50 wooded acres on the Green Bay shore for a public park.
The Cadillac Pathway and its surprising hills A few miles east of Cadillac, the Cadillac Pathway threads hilly state forest land with miles of looping trail groomed for cross-country skiing and ridden by mountain bikers the rest of the year.
The Children's Zoo that started with a beaver and a coyote Saginaw's Children's Zoo opened in 1929 with a handful of native animals; nearly a century on it has a hand-carved carousel and a miniature train through ten acres of park.
The country's only natural-ice kunstbahn luge track Muskegon's 850-foot public luge run is one of four U.S. kunstbahn tracks and the only kunstbahn made from natural ice instead of refrigeration.
The creek at Morenci has two names and crosses a state line The stream Michigan calls Bean Creek flows past Morenci and becomes Ohio's Tiffin River, named for Edward Tiffin, the first governor of Ohio.
The dam at Hesperia is a wall against an invader from the ocean The old mill dam at Hesperia does a quiet modern job: it blocks sea lamprey, an eel-like Atlantic invader, from reaching 80 miles of White River spawning stream upstream.
The day nine billion gallons came down the Dead River In May 2003 a spillway at Silver Lake Dam failed and emptied the reservoir down the Dead River, taking out a second dam, nine bridges, and a power plant — without killing anyone.
The Gladwin forest shaped for bird-dog trials The 4,750-acre Gladwin Field Trial Area traces its start to 1916 and is managed for cover-dog trials with wild grouse and woodcock.
The golf course that paid for the zoo next door Rackham Golf Course in Huntington Woods was a 1924 gift from Horace and Mary Rackham, designed by Donald Ross — the same couple whose money helped build the Detroit Zoo across the road.
The governor who signed state parks into being — and got one named back Albert E. Sleeper State Park near Caseville honors the Huron County governor who signed the law that created Michigan's whole state park system.
The grieving woman who turned a swamp into a garden Wilhelmina Stock filled a swampy lot behind her Hillsdale home and spent twelve years building it into a garden of ponds and pavilions that the town still keeps up today.
The lake in the Irish Hills that wasn't there in 1960 Lake LeAnn in Somerset Township is a man-made all-sports lake built on old farmland in the early 1960s, now a 2,200-lot community with state-enforced no-wake bays.
The lighthouse two and a half miles out from Port Austin Port Austin Reef Light stands on a drowned reef well offshore from the tip of the Thumb, first lit in 1878 and now kept up by a local volunteer association.
The Metropark everyone still calls Metro Beach Harrison Township's big Lake St. Clair park has been renamed twice, but the 600-foot sandy beach, the marsh trails, and the 50-meter pool keep drawing the same crowds since 1950.
The Mounds: 370 acres built for getting stuck on purpose The Mounds ORV Park near Mount Morris has been turning Jeeps, trucks, and quads loose across hills, rocks, sand, and mud since 1971 — a county-run off-road playground.
The old Grand Trunk line is now 42 miles you can bike The Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail runs 42 miles between Ionia and Owosso, passing through Fowler, St. Johns, and Ovid.
The Ottawa County park groomed for skiing under the lights Pigeon Creek Park near West Olive grooms more than ten miles of cross-country ski trails through old pine plantations, with several miles lit for night skiing.
The Pere Marquette: Michigan's first National Scenic River On November 10, 1978, 66 miles of the Pere Marquette became the first river in Michigan added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System — and it has never been dammed.
The Pine River starts quiet in Osceola, then needs a permit to paddle The Pine River forms near Tustin in Osceola County and becomes one of Michigan's fastest, most-paddled rivers — so heavily canoed that the Forest Service caps summer launches with a daily watercraft permit.
The Potawatomi: 17 miles of rooty singletrack near Pinckney The Potawatomi Trail in Pinckney Recreation Area is a roughly 17-mile mountain-bike loop of rooty, hilly singletrack that has drawn riders for decades, with shorter loops around Crooked and Silver lakes.
The Ray Township gristmill that ground grain into the 1960s Wolcott Mill in Ray Township ground local grain from the 1840s until 1967; the Huron-Clinton Metroparks now keep the old mill and its pond as a working slice of farm history.
The River Raisin starts in a Lenawee County field The River Raisin rises high in the Irish Hills of Woodstock Township and runs about 150 miles to Lake Erie, dropping roughly 480 feet along the way.
The River Road byway: 22 miles of bluffs above the Au Sable From the M-65 junction near Hale to Oscoda, the River Road Scenic Byway runs 22 miles along high bluffs over the Au Sable, past dam ponds, eagle perches, and Lumberman's Monument.
The river you can only walk to on a boardwalk When a developer eyed a marshy stretch of the Chain of Lakes in 1969, neighbors banded together and built the Grass River Natural Area — 1,500 acres of cedar swamp laced with boardwalk.
The scrap-metal sculpture park a township tried to ban Lakenenland, on M-28 east of Marquette, is 37 acres of welded scrap-iron sculptures by Tom Lakenen — free, open around the clock, and born when officials called the art illegal yard signs.
The Stanwood spring that started a fight over who owns the water Nestlé's Ice Mountain plant near Stanwood drew spring water by the hundreds of gallons a minute for a state fee of about $200 a year, sparking a long Mecosta County court fight.
The stone beach house the CCC built on Budd Lake Wilson State Park sits on 36 wooded acres at the north end of Budd Lake in Harrison, on the old Wilson Brothers sawmill site, with a stone-and-wood beach house built by Depression-era CCC crews.
The swing bridge at New Richmond that used to turn for boats An 1879 iron swing bridge over the Kalamazoo River at New Richmond once pivoted open for riverboats; restored in 2004, it now carries walkers as the centerpiece of a county park.
The swinging bridge over Grand Ravines Grand Ravines park near Jenison holds a 275-foot pedestrian suspension bridge strung high over a deep wooded ravine cut by the Grand River's tributaries.
The Tobacco River: little trout creeks named for old characters The Tobacco River rises in southeastern Clare County out of swampy headwater creeks — Beaver, Jose, Spikehorn, Mostellar — that hold wild brook and brown trout within easy reach of mid-Michigan anglers.
The town ski hill Gladstone built itself Gladstone's Sports Park grew out of a 1937 ski club and a bought-up 78-acre farm on the Days River; the town still runs it, with rope tows, tubing runs, and night skiing.
The Trail of Two Cities links Gladwin and Beaverton A paved, eight-mile non-motorized trail built by a county authority since 2016 now connects Gladwin and Beaverton, open year-round and free for walking, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing.
The village named for sitting in the middle of everything Central Lake got its plain name from its spot dead-center in Antrim County's Chain of Lakes, perched on Intermediate Lake within a short hop of Torch Lake and a free village campground on the water.
The West Bloomfield Trail: a railroad turned quiet woods The 6.8-mile West Bloomfield Trail follows an 1884 rail line — later an electric interurban — that once hauled freight and passengers from Pontiac toward Detroit before the rails were torn up.
There's a 4,800-acre patch of public hunting land around Dansville The Dansville State Game Area, southeast of Lansing near the village of Dansville, is a roughly 4,800-acre block of state land open for deer, turkey, small game, and waterfowl.
They took out the Shiatown Dam, and the Shiawassee runs free again A dam stood on the Shiawassee River at Shiatown from 1840 until a removal finished in 2019; the river now runs free past a county park, open to paddlers and anglers.
Thirty miles of Pine River that ends two blocks from downtown The Pine River Canoe Trail runs about 30 miles through Gratiot County's farm country and floodplain woods, from Lumberjack Park near Riverdale down to within two blocks of downtown Alma.
Thirty miles of trail on hills the glaciers left Three local governments jointly own the 814-acre Glacial Hills near Bellaire, where a glacier-built tangle of ridges holds about 31 miles of mountain-bike, hiking, and ski trail.
Thirty paved miles from downtown Midland to Clare, on an old rail bed The Pere Marquette Rail-Trail runs 30 paved miles west from Midland's Farmers Market through Sanford and Coleman to Clare, laid on an abandoned railroad corridor.
Three rivers are born in Springfield Township The Huron, Clinton, and Shiawassee rivers all rise within Springfield Township, whose swampy headwaters feed Indian Springs Metropark and drain to three different Great Lakes.
Tippy Dam, where anglers stand shoulder to shoulder for fall salmon A 1918 hydro dam near Brethren put a wall across the Manistee River — and the deep, cold water just below it became one of Michigan's most crowded, famous salmon and steelhead runs.
Tower Mountain: a free rope tow in town Greenville runs a small city park with the only rope-tow ski and sledding hill in Montcalm County, free to anyone, whenever there's four inches of packed snow.
Troutarama: Baldwin's 70-year party for a transplanted fish Every July since 1956, Baldwin throws a four-day festival for the brown trout — a European transplant first dumped into a river here in 1884, and the reason the whole town exists today.
Waterford's nature center used to raise fish by the millions For nearly 60 years the state raised bass and trout at the Drayton Plains fish hatchery on the Clinton River; today the same land is a 138-acre Waterford nature preserve.
Where five rivers meet: the Shiawassee Flats at St. Charles The Shiawassee River State Game Area near St. Charles is about 10,000 acres of managed wetland where five rivers meet — Michigan's largest managed waterfowl area, and a fall stopover for tens of thousands of ducks and geese.
Where the Boardman River begins, in a Kalkaska swamp The trout-famous Boardman River that carves through Traverse City starts as cold seeps in the Mahan swamp of north-central Kalkaska County.
Where the longest trail in the country walks through town The North Country National Scenic Trail threads through the Pere Marquette State Forest and past Blue Lake on its 4,800-mile run across eight states.
Whitmore Lake straddles two counties and used to be cottage country The 667-acre all-sports Whitmore Lake sits half in Washtenaw and half in Livingston County and was a summer-cottage resort area long before it filled with year-round homes.
Whittemore Speedway: small-town racing since 1948 Whittemore Speedway traces its roots to local races in 1948 and remains Michigan's oldest operating racetrack.
Why Harrisville keeps a 'harbor of refuge' on Lake Huron Harrisville's marina is a designated harbor of refuge — a built shelter where boaters caught in a Lake Huron blow can duck in off an exposed shore.
Why salmon line up below the Berrien Springs dam each fall A 1908 hydro dam at Berrien Springs blocked the St. Joseph River until a 1975 fish ladder let Lake Michigan salmon and steelhead climb past it, reopening miles of river to migrating fish.
Why the state keeps an open prairie in the middle of the north woods The Osceola-Missaukee Grasslands near Marion is mowed and burned to stay open on purpose — one of the few Lower Peninsula spots managed for the sharp-tailed grouse and its spring dance.
Wild Fowl Bay: a flyway rest stop the size of a small county The marshes and uninhabited islands of Wild Fowl Bay near Bay Port form one of Michigan's largest state wildlife areas, a critical stopover for migrating birds.
William Mitchell State Park, wedged between two lakes One of Michigan's original state parks sits on the narrow neck of land between Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell, the two lakes joined by the old Clam Lake Canal.
Williamston's old mill-dam site is now a short run of rapids Williamston grew around a dam and mills on the Red Cedar River. Today, a short rapid at the former dam site sits between two public paddling launches.
Woldumar Nature Center grew out of the estate R.E. Olds built for his daughter The 180-plus-acre nature preserve on Lansing's western edge began as a riverside estate auto pioneer Ransom Olds built for his daughter, who later gave the land for a nature camp.

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