Hartwick Pines State Park
4601 Hartwick Pines Rd, Grayling, MI
Grayling, MI
A surviving grove of towering white pines that shows what nearly all of northern Michigan looked like before the loggers came.
Hartwick Pines protects one of the last surviving stands of old-growth white pine in Michigan, a grove of towering trees that gives a glimpse of the vast forest that once covered the northern half of the state. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries loggers cut nearly all of it, and only a few pockets like this one were spared.
The park pairs that living forest with a logging museum that tells the human side of the story, the camps, the rivers full of floating logs, and the boomtowns that rose and fell with the timber. A gentle, paved trail winds among the giants, so almost anyone can walk beneath trees that were already old when Michigan became a state.
What Guests Love
- Standing beneath towering old-growth white pines that escaped the saw
- The paved, gentle Old Growth Forest Trail, easy for all ages and abilities
- The logging museum that tells the story of Michigan's timber boom
- Quiet forest walks with the chance to spot deer, elk sign, and songbirds
Worth Knowing
- A Michigan Recreation Passport is required on the vehicle to enter state parks
- The signature Old Growth Forest Trail is paved and accessible, an easy loop
- The logging museum buildings are seasonal, so check ahead outside summer
- Stay on the trails; the old pines are protected and the forest floor is fragile
Details
Grayling, MI
Learn about Hartwick Pines State Park
The forest that once covered the north
When the first loggers arrived, an enormous forest of white and red pine blanketed northern Michigan, some trees rising well over a hundred feet with trunks several feet across. That timber built cities across the Midwest, and in the span of a few decades almost all of it was cut. The bare, stumped-over land that remained came to be called the stump country.
The grove at Hartwick Pines survived largely by luck and by the decision of one family to protect it. Karen Hartwick donated the land in memory of her husband, and the state made it a park in the 1920s. Standing among these pines, you are seeing what nearly the whole region looked like before the axe, a rare survivor rather than the rule.
Walking among the giants
The centerpiece is the Old Growth Forest Trail, a gentle paved loop that carries you into the heart of the grove past some of the tallest and oldest trees. Because it is paved and mostly level, it welcomes families with strollers, older visitors, and wheelchairs, letting nearly anyone stand beneath the big pines.
The park is far larger than the old-growth grove, with miles of additional trails through pine and hardwood forest, along the Au Sable River headwaters, and past small lakes. These quieter paths reward hikers, cyclists, and cross-country skiers who want more than the short loop.
The logging museum
A logging museum within the park brings the timber era to life with reconstructed camp buildings, tools, and displays about the loggers, the river drives, and the sawmills. It captures both the scale of the work and the hardship of the men who did it, deep in the winter woods far from home.
The story it tells is bittersweet: the same industry that built the state also stripped the forest bare and set the stage for wildfires that swept the cutover land. The museum helps visitors understand why a grove like this one matters, and why so little of it was left.
Wildlife and the seasons
The forest shelters white-tailed deer, porcupines, pileated woodpeckers, and a wide range of songbirds, and the surrounding region is home to Michigan's reintroduced elk herd, whose bugling can sometimes be heard in nearby areas in autumn. Look and listen quietly and the woods reveal more than they first show.
Summer is the busy season, green and full, with the museum buildings open. Fall brings color to the hardwoods among the evergreens and cooler, quieter trails. Winter blankets the pines in snow and opens the park to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, when the old grove is at its most hushed and beautiful.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Grayling
Grayling
About 8 miles, a 15 minute drive
A small northern town on the Au Sable River, the heart of Michigan's canoe and fly-fishing country.
Au Sable River
About 8 miles
A clear, spring-fed river famous for trout fishing and canoeing, and the site of a legendary long-distance canoe marathon.
Hanson Hills Recreation Area
About 10 miles
A local recreation area near Grayling with trails for hiking, mountain biking, and skiing.