Hartwick Pines State Park is a public recreation area located in Crawford County, Michigan, near Grayling and Interstate 75 on the Lower Peninsula. It covers 9,335 acres (3,778 hectares). The park includes an old-growth forest of white pines and red pines, known as the Hartwick Pines. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources states that this forest, along with the Red Pine Natural Area Preserve in Roscommon County, resembles the appearance of northern Michigan before logging began. However, these areas do not have the repeated low-intensity fires that once occurred in northern Michigan. These fires helped red pine and eastern hemlock trees regrow and limited the number of hardwood trees, such as sugar maple and beech. Without these fires, hardwood species have become more common in these areas.
History
The Hartwick Pines are a 49-acre (20 ha) old-growth forest that remained after a local timber company set aside the land from logging in 1927. At that time, very few old-growth pine forests were left in northern Michigan. Karen Michelson Hartwick, the wife of lumberman Major Edward Hartwick, gave the grove—then 85 acres (34 ha) in size—and 8,000 surrounding acres (32.4 km²) of land that had been logged to the state of Michigan as a tribute to the logging industry.
The Salling Hansen Lumber Company cut down much of the land in the Hartwick Pines area during the 1880s and 1890s. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps planted many of the park’s trees as part of a large project to restore the land. Because of this, the forest is called "second growth."
On November 11, 1940, the Armistice Day Blizzard severely damaged the old-growth pine grove. Wind caused 36 acres (15 ha) of trees to fall, leaving behind the 49 acres (20 ha) that remain today.
Logging museum
The Hartwick Pines Logging Museum was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1934 and 1935. It includes rooms that look like they were from the past, along with photographs and objects from the time when logging was important in northern Michigan. The museum is inside two buildings that copy old logging camps. Outside, there are displays of logging tools and a steam-powered sawmill that runs during summer events. The museum is managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Michigan History Museum.
Activities and amenities
The Michigan Forest Visitor Center has an exhibit hall that shows the history of Michigan’s forests, an auditorium, classroom space, a bookstore run by the non-profit Friends of Hartwick Pines, and restrooms. The auditorium can seat 105 people and includes a slide show with nine projectors. The slide show lasts about 14 minutes and explains the history of logging from the past to the present. Programs and special events are held throughout the year.
The state park includes a campground, a day-use area, and a network of trails that are open all year for hiking in summer and cross-country skiing in winter. The Old Growth Forest Trail to the pine grove is a loop that is 1 + 1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) long. The Old Growth Forest is a group of pines that are all about the same age and are estimated to be between 350 and 375 years old. The tallest trees are between 150 and 160 feet tall, and have a width of more than four feet at breast height (DBH). These eastern white pines are some of the largest trees in the eastern United States. The last remaining virgin maple and beech hardwood forest in the state is located at Warren Woods State Park.
There are two foot trails on the south side of M-93. The Au Sable River foot trail is about three miles long and crosses the East Branch of the river at two places. The Mertz Grade Trail goes through forests and fields for about two miles. It was named after the early logging railroad spur that runs alongside part of the trail.
There are four small lakes inside the state park. Two of the lakes were originally called Bright and Star Lake. However, because there were many lakes with the name Star Lake, they changed the names to Bright and Glory Lake.
In the news
New drilling methods have made it possible to search for oil and gas in areas of northern Michigan that were not useful for drilling before, including parts of state forests. However, in 2014, the state of Michigan chose not to sell the rights to drill for oil and gas under Hartwick Pines.