List of Michigan state parks facts for kids
Hold cursor over park name; click to go to park article.
This is a list of Michigan state parks and related protected areas under Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) jurisdiction. The DNR Parks and Recreation Division manages these lands. DNR administers over 100 state parks and also operates 16 state harbors on the Great Lakes. Michigan's 103 state park 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.
Contents
History
Michigan's state parks system was started in 1919. Two Michigan state parks pre-date the creation of the park system in 1919: Interlochen State Park and Mackinac Island State Park.
Mackinac Island State Park was created in 1895. It had served as the nation's second national park from 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 it is not technically the first state park even though it predates Interlochen State Park by nearly 25 years.
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 11 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
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State trails
| 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 | 1991 | Converted rail-trail | |
| Kal-Haven Trail | Kalamazoo, Van Buren |
34.5 | 55.5 | 1991 |
 |
Converted rail-trail | |
| Lakelands Trail State Park | Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park | Ingham, Livingston, Washtenaw | 26 | 42 | 1990s |
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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 | 1994 |
 |
Converted rail-trail |
State recreation areas
- Bald Mountain State Recreation Area
- Bass River State Recreation Area
- Brighton State Recreation Area
- Fort Custer State Recreation Area
- Highland State Recreation Area
- Holly State Recreation Area
- Ionia State Recreation Area
- Island Lake State Recreation Area
- Lake Hudson State Recreation Area
- Lime Island State Recreation Area
- Menominee River State Recreation Area
- Metamora-Hadley State Recreation Area
- Ortonville State Recreation Area
- Pinckney State Recreation Area
- Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area
- Proud Lake State Recreation Area
- Rifle River State Recreation Area
- Rockport State Recreation Area
- Tippy Dam State Recreation Area
- Waterloo State Recreation Area
- W.C. Wetzel State Recreation Area
- Yankee Springs State Recreation Area
State forests
- Au Sable State Forest
- Copper Country State Forest
- Escanaba River State Forest
- Lake Superior State Forest
- Mackinaw State Forest
- Pere Marquette State Forest
- Agate Falls Scenic Site
- Bond Falls Scenic Site
- DNR Pocket Park
- Father Marquette National Memorial
- Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center
- Wagner Falls Scenic Site
Former state park units
- Benzie State Park – now the Platte River Campground of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- Bloomer State Park No. 1 – now Bloomer Park in West Bloomfield Township
- Bloomer State Park No. 2 – later incorporated into Rochester-Utica State Recreation Area, now Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills
- Bloomer State Park No. 3 – later incorporated into Ortonville State Recreation Area, northeast of Ortonville
- Bloomer State Park No. 4 – in White Lake Township
- Cheboygan State Park – original state park located on the site of the current Cheboygan County Fairground (not to be confused with present-day Cheboygan State Park)
- D.H. Day State Park – also known, at times, as Sleeping Bear and Sleeping Bear-Glen Lake State Park; now the D.H. Day Campground of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- Detour State Park – now Detour State Forest Campground in Lake Superior State Forest, west of De Tour Village
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 1 – later incorporated into Island Lake State Recreation Area
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 2 – now Lakeshore Park in Novi
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 3 – on Crescent Lake west of Pontiac, now Optimist Park, in Waterford.
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 5 – now Dodge Park V in Commerce Township
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 6 – now Beverly Park in Beverly Hills
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 7 – (1923–1947) now Horseshoe Lake State Game Area near Oxford
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 8 – now Dodge Park in Sterling Heights
- Dodge Brothers State Park No. 9 – now Dodge Park in South Rockwood
- Dodge Brothers State Park No.10 – later incorporated into Highland State Recreation Area near Highland
- East Tawas State Park - now East Tawas City Park in East Tawas
- Frank W. Fletcher State Park – now Fletcher County Park northwest of Alpena
- Gladwin State Park – now Gladwin City Park in Gladwin
- Hansen Military Reserve – southwest of Grayling, managed as a state park for recreation purposes
- Lake City State Park – at Lake City, now the Missaukee County Park
- Magnus State Park – now Magnus City Park in Petoskey
- Marquette State Park – 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 – in Paw Paw on Maple Lake
- Pere Marquette River State Park – four sites along the Pere Marquette River in Mason County
- Rochester-Utica State Recreation Area (originally Bloomer State Park No.2) – now Bloomer City Park (Rochester Hills) and River Bends Park (Shelby Township)
- Sidnaw State Park – formed from part of the Sidnaw Fish Hatchery lands near Sidnaw
- Van Etten Lake State Park – now Van Etten Lake State Forest Campground near Oscoda
- White Cloud State Park – now White Cloud City Park in White Cloud
