List of Michigan state parks facts for kids

This is a list of Michigan state parks and related protected areas under the jurisdiction or owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Parks and Recreation Division. A total of 103 state parks, state recreation areas and trail state parks currently exist along with eight other sites as well as 16 state harbors on the Great Lakes. While the Parks and Recreation Division directly manages the large majority of the parks in the system, a few are either jointly-managed with other agencies or are leased to other governmental entities, either temporarily or on an ongoing basis. Michigan's 103 state parks and recreation areas cover 306,000 acres (124,000 ha) with 14,100 campsites in 142 campgrounds and over 900 miles (1,400 km) of trails. The state parks and recreation areas statewide collectively saw more than 26 million visits in 2016.

History

Michigan's state parks system was started in 1919. Three Michigan state parks pre-date the creation of the park system in 1919: Mackinac Island State Park (1895), Michilimackinac State Park (1909) and Interlochen State Park (1917).

Mackinac Island State Park was created in 1895. It had served as the nation's second national park for two decades beginning in 1875. In 1909, Michilimackinac State Park was created in nearby Mackinaw City. Both of these parks, along with Historic Mill Creek State Park are under the jurisdiction of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission.

Interlochen State Park was purchased by the Michigan Legislature in 1917 and was the first public park to be transferred to the Michigan State Park Commission in 1920. Because Mackinac Island State Park was a federal gift with its own commission and jurisdiction, for those reasons some choose to not consider it the first state park even though it predates Interlochen State Park by nearly 25 years.

Since 1919, 33 additional state park units have been decommissioned for varied reasons. The majority of these former state park units, 16, were transferred to counties or cities and are still local parks today. Four of the former units were incorporated into Michigan's two National Lakeshores when were created in the 1960s and 70s, while five others were removed and reverted into surrounding state lands (state game areas, state forests, state fish hatcheries, etc.). Four of the units were incorporated into larger state recreation areas in the 1940s in the Greater Detroit area, although one of those recreation areas is now a local park. Two of the former state park units are now state forest campgrounds and another two units existed on state lands which were sold to private interests and closed. (The Former state park units section lists each of these former units.)

Additional DNR facilities

DNR operates 746 boat launches on 57,000 acres (230 km²) of designated public water access sites. It also operates 16 "harbors of refuge" as well as providing support for the other 61 harbors in the system. The harbors of refuge are approximately 30 miles (50 km) apart along the Great Lakes shoreline to provide shelter from storms and often provide boat launches and supplies. There are 13 state underwater preserves covering 2,450 square miles (6,300 km²) of Great Lakes bottomland and ten of them have a maritime museum or interpretive center in a nearby coastal community.

The DNR Parks and Recreation Division also manages 138 state forest campgrounds (including a dozen equestrian campgrounds). The Michigan state game and wildlife areas encompass more than 340,000 acres (1,400 km²). DNR also oversees the trail systems in the state. This includes 880 miles (1,400 km) of non-motorized trails, 1,145 miles (1,800 km) of rail-trails, 3,193 miles (5,100 km) of off-road vehicle (ORV) routes and 6,216 miles (10,000 km) of snowmobile trails.

For a discussion of all protected areas in Michigan under all jurisdictions, see Protected areas of Michigan.

Michigan state parks

Name	County	Size		Estab- lished	Lake / river	Image	Remarks
		acres	ha
Algonac State Park	St. Clair	1,450 acres	590 ha	1937	St. Clair River		Rare savanna lands
Aloha State Park	Cheboygan	107 acres	43 ha	1923	Mullett Lake		On the Michigan Inland Waterway
Baraga State Park	Baraga	56 acres	23 ha	1922	Lake Superior		On Keweenaw Bay
Bay City State Park	Bay	2,389 acres	967 ha	1923	Lake Huron		On Saginaw Bay
Belle Isle Park	Wayne	982 acres	397 ha	2014	Detroit River
Bewabic State Park	Iron	315 acres	127 ha	1966	Fortune Lake
Brimley State Park	Chippewa	151 acres	61 ha	1922	Lake Superior		On Whitefish Bay
Burt Lake State Park	Cheboygan	406 acres	164 ha	1920	Burt Lake
Cambridge Junction Historic State Park	Lenawee	80 acres	32 ha	1965	none		Historic Walker Tavern
Cheboygan State Park	Cheboygan	1,250 acres	510 ha	1962	Lake Huron
Clear Lake State Park	Montmorency	290 acres	120 ha	1966	Clear Lake
Coldwater Lake State Park	Branch	400 acres	160 ha	1987	Coldwater Lake
Craig Lake State Park	Baraga	8,459 acres	3,423 ha	1967	Craig Lake
Dodge #4 State Park	Oakland	139 acres	56 ha	1922	Cass Lake
Duck Lake State Park	Muskegon	728 acres	295 ha	1974	Duck Lake
Fayette Historic State Park	Delta	711 acres	288 ha	1959	Big Bay de Noc, Lake Michigan
Fisherman's Island State Park	Charlevoix	2,678 acres	1,084 ha	1975	Lake Michigan
Fort Wilkins Historic State Park	Keweenaw	711 acres	288 ha	1923	Lake Superior		Site of Copper Harbor Light
Grand Haven State Park	Ottawa	48 acres	19 ha	1920	Lake Michigan
Grand Mere State Park	Berrien	985 acres	399 ha	1973	Lake Michigan
Harrisville State Park	Alcona	107 acres	43 ha	1920	Lake Huron
Hartwick Pines State Park	Crawford	9,672 acres	3,914 ha	1927	East Branch Au Sable River		Old-growth white and red pine forest
Hayes State Park	Lenawee, Jackson, Washtenaw	654 acres	265 ha	1920	Wamplers Lake, Round Lake
Historic Mill Creek State Park	Cheboygan	625 acres	253 ha	1978	Near Lake Huron		Contains Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park
Hoeft State Park	Presque Isle	301 acres	122 ha	1920	Lake Huron
Hoffmaster State Park	Muskegon, Ottawa	1,100 acres	450 ha	1963	Lake Michigan
Holland State Park	Ottawa	617 acres	250 ha	1926	Lake Macatawa, Lake Michigan
Indian Lake State Park	Schoolcraft	847 acres	343 ha	1932	Indian Lake
Interlochen State Park	Grand Traverse	187 acres	76 ha	1917	Green Lake, Duck Lake		First state park created under Michigan state parks system
Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park	Grand Traverse	47 acres	19 ha	1920	Lake Michigan		On Grand Traverse Bay
Lake Gogebic State Park	Gogebic	1,329 acres	538 ha	1926	Lake Gogebic
Lakeport State Park	St. Clair	565 acres	229 ha	1938	Lake Huron
Laughing Whitefish Falls State Park	Alger	960 acres	390 ha	1946	Laughing Whitefish River
Leelanau State Park	Leelanau	1,350 acres	550 ha	1964	Lake Michigan
Ludington State Park	Mason	5,300 acres	2,100 ha	1927	Lake Michigan
Mackinac Island State Park	Mackinac	1,800 acres	730 ha	1895	Lake Huron		Home to historic Fort Mackinac.
Maybury State Park	Wayne	944 acres	382 ha	1971	none
McLain State Park	Houghton	443 acres	179 ha	1930	Lake Superior
Mears State Park	Oceana	610 acres	250 ha	1920	Lake Michigan
Meridian-Baseline State Park	Ingham, Jackson	188 acres	76 ha	1967	Shaw Branch
Michilimackinac State Park	Emmet, Cheboygan	37 acres	15 ha	1904	Straits of Mackinac		Includes Colonial Michilimackinac and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse
Mitchell State Park	Wexford	1,289 acres	522 ha	1920	Lake Mitchell, Lake Cadillac
Muskallonge Lake State Park	Luce	217 acres	88 ha	1956	Lake Superior
Muskegon State Park	Muskegon	1,233 acres	499 ha	1923	Lake Michigan, Muskegon Lake
Negwegon State Park	Alcona, Alpena	591 acres	239 ha	1962	Lake Huron
Newaygo State Park	Newaygo	257 acres	104 ha	1966	Hardy Dam Pond
North Higgins Lake State Park	Crawford	429 acres	174 ha	1965	Higgins Lake
Old Mission State Park	Grand Traverse	520 acres	210 ha	1989	Lake Michigan		Leased to Peninsula Township and operated as Lighthouse Park
Onaway State Park	Presque Isle	158 acres	64 ha	1920	Black Lake
Orchard Beach State Park	Manistee	201 acres	81 ha	1921	Lake Michigan
Otsego Lake State Park	Otsego	1,293 acres	523 ha	1920	Otsego Lake
Palms Book State Park	Schoolcraft	388 acres	157 ha	1929	Kitch-iti-kipi, Indian Lake
Petoskey State Park	Emmet	203 acres	82 ha	1961	Little Traverse Bay
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park	Gogebic, Ontonagon	59,020 acres	23,880 ha	1944	Lake Superior
Port Crescent State Park	Huron	600 acres	240 ha	1955	Lake Huron
Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park	Sanilac	240 acres	97 ha	1971	Little Cass River
Saugatuck Dunes State Park	Allegan	1,000 acres	400 ha	1977	Lake Michigan
Seven Lakes State Park	Oakland	1,434 acres	580 ha	1971	Big Seven Lake
Silver Lake State Park	Oceana	2,936 acres	1,188 ha	1920	Lake Michigan, Silver Lake		Includes Little Sable Point Light
Sleeper State Park	Huron	723 acres	293 ha	1924	Lake Huron
Sleepy Hollow State Park	Clinton	2,678 acres	1,084 ha	1965	Lake Ovid
South Higgins Lake State Park	Roscommon	1,000 acres	400 ha	1924	Higgins Lake
Sterling State Park	Monroe	1,300 acres	530 ha	1935	Lake Erie
Straits State Park	Mackinac	181 acres	73 ha	1924	Straits of Mackinac		Includes Father Marquette National Memorial
Sturgeon Point State Park	Alcona	76 acres	31 ha	1960	Lake Michigan
Tahquamenon Falls State Park	Chippewa, Luce	46,179 acres	18,688 ha	1947	Tahquamenon River
Tawas Point State Park	Iosco	183 acres	74 ha	1960	Lake Huron
Thompson's Harbor State Park	Presque Isle	5,109 acres	2,068 ha	1988	Lake Huron
Twin Lakes State Park	Houghton	175 acres	71 ha	1964	Lake Roland
Van Buren State Park	Van Buren	400 acres	160 ha	1966	Lake Michigan
Van Riper State Park	Marquette	1,055 acres	427 ha	1956	Lake Michigamme
Warren Dunes State Park	Berrien	1,952 acres	790 ha	1930	Lake Michigan
Warren Woods State Park	Berrien	311 acres	126 ha	1949	Galien River
Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve	Washtenaw	1,122 acres	454 ha	2016	Watkins Lake
Wells State Park	Menominee	678 acres	274 ha	1925	Lake Michigan		On Green Bay
Wilderness State Park	Emmet	10,512 acres	4,254 ha	1927	Lake Michigan
William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor	Wayne	31 acres	13 ha	2004	Detroit River
Wilson State Park	Clare	36 acres	15 ha	1920	Budd Lake
Young State Park	Charlevoix	563 acres	228 ha	1920	Lake Charlevoix

Michigan state recreation areas

Michigan trail state parks

The following state trails are units of the State Park System. Several other state trails fall under Department of Natural Resources jurisdiction and/or maintenance, but are not state park units and are not included here.

Name	Official name	Counties	Length		Estab- lished	Image	Remarks
			mi	km
Hart-Montague Trail State Park	William Field Memorial Hart-Montague Trail State Park	Muskegon, Oceana	22	35	1988		Converted rail-trail
Kal-Haven Trail	Kal-Haven Bicycle Trail Sesquicentennial State Park	Kalamazoo, Van Buren	34.5	55.5	1988		Converted rail-trail
Lakelands Trail State Park	Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park	Ingham, Livingston, Washtenaw	26	42	1991		Converted rail-trail
Van Buren Trail State Park		Van Buren	14	23	1994		Converted rail-trail
White Pine Trail State Park	Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park	Kent, Mecosta, Montcalm, Osceola, Wexford	92	148	1996		Converted rail-trail

Former state park units

• Benzie State Park – (1929–1975) donated to the National Park Service in 1975 and is now the Platte River Campground of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
• Bloomer State Park No. 1 – (1922–late 1960s) 36 acres, absorbed into Proud Lake State Recreation Area; now Bloomer Park in West Bloomfield Township
• Bloomer State Park No. 2 – (1922–1945) 50 acres, originally Dodge Brothers State Park No. 7; incorporated into Rochester-Utica State Recreation Area, now Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills
• Bloomer State Park No. 3 – (1922–1944) 100 acres, later incorporated into Ortonville State Recreation Area, northeast of Ortonville
• Bloomer State Park No. 4 – (1922–1947), 28 acres, now Bloomer Park in White Lake Township, undeveloped site sold as it was "not of state park calibre" with funds used to purchased additional lands for the new Rochester-Utica State Recreation Area
• Cheboygan State Park – (c.1921–1945) 15 acres, original state park located on the site of the current Cheboygan County Fairground, originally known as O'Brien's Grove (not to be confused with present-day Cheboygan State Park)
• D.H. Day State Park – (1920–1975) later consolidated with nearby Sleeping Bear-Glen Lake State Park (1959); donated to the National Park Service in 1975 and is now the D.H. Day Campground of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
• Detour State Park – (1958– ) 403 acres, now Detour State Forest Campground in Lake Superior State Forest, west of De Tour Village
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 1 – (1922–1944) 22 acres, name later changes to Island Lake Dodge Brothers No.1 State Park; incorporated into Island Lake State Recreation Area in 1944
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 2 – (1922–1947) 26 acres, now Lakeshore Park in Novi
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 3 – (1922– ) 13 acres, on Crescent Lake west of Pontiac, now Optimist Park, in Waterford.
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 5 – (1922– ) 80 acres, now Dodge Park V in Commerce Township
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 6 – (1922– ) 35 acres, now Beverly Park in Beverly Hills
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 7 – (1922–1947) originally designated Dodge Brothers State Park No. 11, renamed to No. 7 when the original No. 7 became Bloomer State Park No. 2; 240 acres, now Horseshoe Lake State Game Area near Oxford
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 8 – (1922–1973) 41.2 acres, now Dodge Park in Sterling Heights
• Dodge Brothers State Park No. 9 – (1922–1960) 30 acres, now Dodge Park in South Rockwood
• Dodge Brothers State Park No.10 – (1922–1944) 78 acres, incorporated into Highland State Recreation Area near Highland in 1944
• East Tawas State Park - (1921–1965) now East Tawas City Park in East Tawas
• Frank W. Fletcher State Park – (1920–c.1947) 160 acres, now Sunken Lake County Park northwest of Alpena
• Gladwin State Park – (1921–1982) 302 acres, now Gladwin City Park in Gladwin
• Grand Marais State Park - (1931–1966) incorporated into the easternmost portion of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Grand Sable Dunes Area)
• Hansen Military Reserve – (c.1921– ) southwest of Grayling, managed as a state park for recreation purposes
• Lake City State Park ( –c.1947) – at Lake City, now the Missaukee County Park
• Magnus State Park ( –1949) – 16 acres, now Magnus City Park in Petoskey
• Marquette State Park ( –1947) – now a subdivision of homes west of Marquette
• Munuskong State Park – a Dodge Brothers state park on Munuscong Bay northeast of Pickford, now part of the Munuscong State Wildlife Management Area
• Paw Paw State Park – (c.1921–c.1927) in Paw Paw on Maple Lake
• Pere Marquette River State Park – (1927–c.1940s) four sites—33, 12, 77 and 189 acres, respectively, along the Pere Marquette River in Mason County
• Pictured Rocks State Park (1953–1966) - incorporated into the westernmost portion of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
• Rochester-Utica State Recreation Area (originally Bloomer State Park No.2) – (1945–1992) a portion was also part of Spring Hill Farm, the country estate of boxer Joe Louis, (1939–1944); now Bloomer City Park (Rochester Hills) and River Bends Park (Shelby Township)
• Saint Clair (County) State Park – (1926–1949) 17 acres, former St. Clair County Park (1919–1926) gifted to the state; abandoned as a state park in 1949 due to the proximity of nearby Port Huron (Lakeport) State Park and given its small size; deeded to township and is now Burtchville Township Park.
• Sidnaw State Park – (1931– ) 1,500 acres, formed from the Sidnaw Fish Hatchery lands near Sidnaw
• Sleeping Bear-Glen Lake State Park – (1946–1959) 2,044 acres (5,800 acres in proposed park boundary), centered on state lands received from the federal government in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area, later consolidated with D.H. Day State Park (1959); donated to the National Park Service in 1975 and is now part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
• Van Etten Lake State Park – (1928– ) now Van Etten Lake State Forest Campground near Oscoda
• White Cloud State Park – (c.1921–c.1980) now White Cloud County Park in White Cloud

Michigan state forests

The Au Sable River runs through the Au Sable State Forest

Michigan's state forest system is administered by the Forest Resources Division (FRD) within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, not the Parks and Recreation Division (PRD) which manages the state park system, however the Parks and Recreation Division took over the recreation responsibilities of the Forest Resources Division (e.g. the state forest campgrounds and the trails and pathways within the state forests) in January 2012.

• Au Sable State Forest
• Copper Country State Forest
• Escanaba River State Forest
• Lake Superior State Forest
• Mackinaw State Forest
• Pere Marquette State Forest