Covering 7,817 acres (3,163 ha) of rolling woodland and open fields, the park area is bisected by Dixie Highway and Interstate 75, with a majority of park features to the east, and the Holdbridge Lakes Mountain Bike Area to the west, featuring the Gruber's Grinder trail. Features include an 18-hole disc golf course, 35 miles (56 km) of hiking and mountain biking trails, a model airplane flying field, opportunities for swimming, fishing, boating, and hunting. Winter activities include cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Camping is provided for at 160 campsites and 3 rustic cabins, one of which is the Rolston Cabin. There is a groomed beach with picnic tables, a snack bar, and boat rentals on Heron Lake. The park area also encompasses McGinnis Lake, Valley Lake, and Wildwood Lake.
The Dixie Highway was a United States automobile highway, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. It was part of the National Auto Trail system, and grew out of an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final result is better understood as a network of connected paved roads, rather than one single highway. It was constructed and expanded from 1915 to 1929.
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs north–south from Miami, Florida, to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. I-75 enters the state from Ohio in the south, north of Toledo and runs generally northward through Detroit, Pontiac and Bay City, crosses the Mackinac Bridge, and ends at the Canadian border in Sault Ste. Marie. The freeway runs for approximately 396 miles (637 km) on both of Michigan's major peninsulas. The landscapes traversed by I-75 include Southern Michigan farmland, northern forests, suburban bedroom communities, and the urban core of Detroit. The freeway also uses three of the state's monumental bridges to cross major bodies of water. There are four auxiliary Interstates in the state related to I-75, as well as nine current or former business routes, with either Business Loop I-75 or Business Spur I-75 designations.
Gruber's Grinder a mountain bike trail in Holly, Michigan, United States.
The park typically sees the highest number of visitors in August and September, coinciding with the Michigan Renaissance Festival, which is located near the park.
The Michigan Renaissance Festival (MIRF) is a Renaissance fair, an interactive outdoor event that focuses on recreating the look and feel of a fictional English village called Hollygrove during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the latter half of the 16th Century. A large number of patrons also regularly attend the festival in costume further fleshing out the streets with nobles, pirates, Vikings, wizards, rogues, wenches, and an assortment of fantasy characters. The festival also includes many nationally known Renaissance festival stage acts, juggling shows, sword fighting shows, lane acts, a two-hour feast performed twice daily, three full contact joust shows performed daily, and activities and games for children of all ages. The festival is owned by Mid-America Festivals.
The area is managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor and accepted by the Natural Resources Commission. Currently the Director is Keith Creagh. The DNR has about 1,400 permanent employees, and over 1,600 seasonal employees.
Cowan Lake State Park is a 1,775-acre (718 ha) Ohio state park in Clinton County, Ohio, in the United States. It is operated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Cowan Lake State Park is open for year-round recreation and is known for a variety of birds that attract birdwatching enthusiasts to the park in southwestern Ohio.
Bald Mountain State Recreation Area is a 4,637-acre (1,877 ha) state park located near Lake Orion, Michigan off M-24. It consists of some of the most rugged terrain in southeastern Michigan. The recreation area is composed of a North Unit and a South Unit, which are not contiguous. The South Unit itself includes two parts separated by M-24, but the section west of M-24 has no recreational facilities or trails and is primarily undeveloped forest and grassy plains segmented by a few through-roads.
F.J. McLain State Park is a 443-acre (179 ha) state park on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Houghton County, Michigan. It is located on M-203 halfway between Hancock and Calumet.
The Kettle Moraine State Forest is a state forest in southeastern Wisconsin. The chief feature of the reserve is the Kettle Moraine, a highly glaciated area. The area contains very hilly terrain and glacial landforms, such as kettles, kames and eskers. The 56,000-acre (23,000 ha) forest is divided into two large and three small units, which are spread across a hundred miles.
Wilderness State Park is a public recreation area bordering Lake Michigan, five miles southwest of Mackinaw City in Emmet County in Northern Michigan. The state park's 10,512 acres (4,254 ha) include 26 miles (42 km) of shoreline, diverse forested dune and swale complexes, wetlands, camping areas, and many miles of hiking trails. The state park is operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which has, as of 2006, approved a proposal that 4,492 acres (1,818 ha) be officially dedicated as a wilderness area. Wilderness State Park was designated a Michigan "dark sky preserve" in 2012.
Cheboygan State Park is a public recreation area covering 1,250 acres (510 ha) on the shores of Lake Huron in Cheboygan County, Michigan, United States. The state park offers views of the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light and the remains of the 1859 Cheboygan Point Light plus a distant view of the Poe Reef Light, some six miles to the northeast.
Grand Mere State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Michigan near Stevensville. The state park is located adjacent to Interstate 94. Protected from Lake Michigan by the dunes to the west, the park has many natural features not found throughout the rest of the state. In 1968 it was designated a National Natural Landmark.
Harrisville State Park is a public recreation area covering 107 acres (43 ha) on the shore of Lake Huron off U.S. Route 23 in Harrisville and Harrisville Township, Alcona County, Michigan. The state park was established at six acres (2.4 ha) in 1921 and was among the first 25 parks created following the inception of the Michigan State Parks Commission in 1919.
Albert E. Sleeper State Park is a public recreation area on Lake Huron in Lake Township, Huron County, Michigan. The state park encompasses 723 acres (293 ha) four miles northeast of Caseville, close to the tip of The Thumb of Michigan.
Fort Custer State Recreation Area is a 3,033-acre (12 km2) State Recreation Area located between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Michigan. The area features lakes, the Kalamazoo River, over 25 miles of multi-use trails, second growth oak barrens and dry-mesic southern (oak-hickory) forests.
Proud Lake State Recreation Area, located in Commerce Township, Oakland County, near Wixom, Michigan, is a state park under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The recreation area has a total area of 4,700 acres (19 km2) and it offers various outdoor activities including hiking among 20 miles (32 km) of hiking trails, cross-country skiing, fishing in the Huron River, hunting, canoeing, and picnicking. A campground has 130 campsites and a 24-person cabin for rent.
Seven Lakes State Park is a public recreation area covering 1,434 acres (580 ha) one mile northwest of Holly in Holly Township, Oakland County, Michigan. The state park's 230 acres (93 ha) of water are found in six named lakes that include 170-acre Big Seven Lake, Little Seven Lake, and 44-acre Dickinson Lake.
Pinckney State Recreation Area is a Michigan state recreation area in Dexter, Sylvan and Lyndon Townships, Washtenaw County and Putnam and Unadilla Townships, Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The park is 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) and sits at an elevation of 922 feet (281 m). The park is connected to the nearby Waterloo State Recreation Area by the 35-mile (56 km) Waterloo–Pinckney Trail. Pinckney State Recreation Area is open for year-round recreation including hiking, fishing, swimming, hunting and a variety of winter sports.
Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area is located in White Lake Township, Oakland County, Michigan, just west of Waterford, Michigan. It is 3,745 acres (15.16 km2) in size.
Waterloo State Recreation Area is the third-largest park in Michigan, encompassing over 21,000 acres (85 km2) of forest, lakes and wetlands. Located in northeast Jackson County and parts of Washtenaw County, the park is the largest in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and features 4 campgrounds, 11 lakes, a nature center, and over 50 miles (80 km) of trails - some for horses, bicycles, hiking and cross-country skiing. Waterloo SRA includes the Black Spruce Bog Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark and borders the 11,000-acre (45 km2) Pinckney Recreation Area on the east and the 950-acre (3.8 km2) Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary to the west. The land preserved by the park is not all contiguous and numerous private landholdings and roads run through the park area. The area is characterized by moraines, kettle lakes, swamps and bogs left by retreating glaciers after the last ice age. The park was created by the federal government during the Great Depression and is long-term leased to the state.
Yankee Springs State Recreation Area is a state-managed protected area located in Yankee Springs Township in Barry County, Michigan.
Greenbrier State Park is a public recreation area located on South Mountain near Boonsboro in Washington County, Maryland, USA. The state park has camping, hiking trails, and a 42-acre (17 ha) man-made lake. It is managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Deam Lake State Recreation Area is an Indiana State Recreation Area in Clark County, Indiana in the United States. The park is 1,300 acres (530 ha) and sits at an elevation of 535 feet (163 m). Deam Lake State Recreation area is open for year-round recreation, however the campground closes each year from the Sunday before Thanksgiving to March 1 of the following year. Much of the recreation is centered on Deam Lake. It is named for Charles C. Deam, the first state forester of Indiana.
Ionia State Recreation Area is a 4,500-acre (1,800 ha) recreation area, located in Ionia County, Michigan.
