Covering more than 3.8 million acres, the state’s northern forests support the largest organized recreational system in the United States. Today through great foresight and commitment, the state has created 100 majestic state parks and numerous state forest campgrounds. Here are a sample:

Hiawatha National Forest encompasses nearly 880,000 acres. Just off the Lake Huron coast of the Upper Peninsula is historic Mackinac Island State Park, recently honored by National Geographic as one of the ten finest in America.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore located in Munising is home to spectacular multicolored sandstone cliffs, beaches, sand dunes and waterfalls along 40 miles of the Lake Superior shoreline.

In the sturgeon capital of Michigan, Onaway State Park has 10,000 acres of abundant fishing. Thanks to careful land-use management, you can still see and touch 90 species of trees native to Michigan. Most of the parks and forests are open year round, so the seasonal activities offer opportunities for every interest.