Hartwick Pines State Park sits outside Grayling, on rolling ground above the East Branch of the Au Sable. The Michigan DNR names the park for 49 acres of old-growth pine, some of the last of that timber left in the state, inside a 9,335-acre park. 1

What to see

The paved Old Growth Forest Trail is 1.25 miles and accessible. It is the walk to those pines. The Hartwick Pines Visitor Center holds exhibits on the forest. The Hartwick Pines Logging Museum is about a quarter-mile farther on the same trail. 13

The Michigan History Center runs the museum. From 1870 to 1900, Michigan led the country in lumber. The two museum buildings, put up by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, recreate an 1890s logging camp: bunkhouse, cook's shack, mess hall and blacksmith shop, plus a 1914 steam engine and sawmill. 2 The Old-Growth Forest Trail is paved but has two steep grades. 2

Glory and Bright lakes are the spring-fed lakes the DNR keeps for nonmotorized boats, with accessible fishing piers on both. The park lists 21 miles of trail in all. 1

Best seasons

This is a year-round woods. Summer is the museum and the paved pine walk. Fall is the hardwood around that old pine. Winter is the reason people search the park in November and December: the DNR lists cross-country skiing and snowshoeing among the things the park is for. Snowmobiles are kept off park trails and out of the campground; they may use open land in a portion of the park. 15 Those winter notes sit on our Winter page. Museum and visitor-center days change with the season and belong on those two pages. 23

How to get there

The DNR address is 3612 State Park Drive, Grayling, Michigan, 49738. 1 From the park entrance, the Grayling Bicycle Turnpike is a 10-mile paved trail into downtown Grayling and on to Hanson Hills. 1 A Recreation Passport is required for motor vehicles entering Michigan state parks. 4

Tips

  • Give the pines and the museum the same walk. The History Center asks you to allow time for both. 2
  • Trail status changes. The DNR posts closures on the park page; this page does not name which footbridges are out. 1
  • The Au Sable logging story continues downriver at Oscoda and Lumberman's Monument. The other old-growth page we keep is Porcupine Mountains.
  • We do not have a Hartwick listing in the shop. The Michigan-map ornament is the piece that names this peninsula.

Safety

Steep grades on the paved trail, winter ice and a working woods are the hazards here. This page does not report today's snow or whether the museum is open. Check the Hartwick Pines State Park page and the Logging Museum page before you go. 12