Wilderness State Park is a public recreation area located next to Lake Michigan, five miles southwest of Mackinaw City in Emmet County, Northern Michigan. The park covers 12,800 acres (5,200 hectares) and includes 26 miles (42 kilometers) of shoreline, forests, dunes, wetlands, camping areas, and many miles of hiking trails. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources manages the park. In 2006, the department approved a plan to set aside 4,492 acres (1,818 hectares) as a wilderness area. In 2012, the park was named a Michigan "dark sky preserve."
Description
One of the most notable physical features of the park is Waugoshance Point, which extends westward into northern Lake Michigan. Temperance Island and Waugoshance Island are also part of the state park, located beyond the tip of the point. Four lighthouses from Lake Michigan are near the park's western boundary. These lighthouses, located at Grays Reef, Skillagalee Island, Waugoshance, and White Shoal, help ships avoid the dangerous reefs and shoals near Waugoshance Point.
History
The state started buying the park's land in 1896 by purchasing it and using tax reversion processes. After more land was added because of tax nonpayment in the early 1900s, the area became the Emmet State Game Refuge in 1922. This land was used to breed game birds and other animals. In 1927, when the game reserve was managed by the Parks Division, it officially became Wilderness State Park.
The Civilian Conservation Corps worked in the park for six years during the 1930s. Workers built many structures, eight miles of trails, a public campground, and a four-acre pond called Goose Pond.
Wildlife
The park is home to many animals that are commonly seen in the northern Great Lakes ecosystem, such as American black bears, snowshoe hares, beavers, porcupines, bobcats, mink, muskrats, and otters. The park's rocky beach areas provide a good habitat for the federally endangered piping plover. In 2002, about one-third of Michigan's nesting pairs of piping plovers were found in Wilderness State Park. One of the earliest times people saw wolves in the Lower Peninsula was when a Coast Guard pilot spotted them near the park's shoreline in 1997. In 2015, officials from MDNR confirmed that wolves were present in the Lower Peninsula.
Activities and amenities
The state park provides opportunities for swimming, picnicking, launching boats, fishing, camping, and staying in cabins. The park includes over 30 miles (48 km) of trails for hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. These trails include a 10-mile-long (16 km) part of the North Country Trail.