Father Marquette National Memorial
Explore Fayette Historic Townsite, a former iron-making town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Explore Fort Wilkins and the Copper Harbor Lighthouses in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to learn about people and events that shaped this region.
Explore the state’s 19th-century logging era at Hartwick Pines Logging Museum.
The museum has exhibits on everything from the CCC's role in planting trees and building roads to its impact on the environment.
The Mann House and its contents illustrate typical family life in the 1880s.
The house is under extensive renovation and is closed to the public. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant, lived in this Detroit house from 1849 to 1850.
The Michigan Iron Industry Museum is a great place to learn about the history of Michigan's iron industry.
Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park protects and interprets Michigan’s largest known collection of early Native American teachings carved in stone.
The Tawas Point Lighthouse is a fascinating attraction for maritime buffs and an exciting destination for birdwatchers.
This secret network aided thousands of people on their journey to freedom.
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The Forest Heritage Trail, which spans 19 miles along segments of the Iron Belle Trail and the Grayling Bicycle Turnpike, tells the stories of the area's forest heritage.
Developed by the Michigan History Center in partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Division and Central Michigan University, the project includes 19 interpretive panels that explore the area’s forest heritage. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Crawford County Historical Society served as community partners and helped make the project possible.
Crawford County has a rich collection of forest heritage sites. The trail connects three of them:
The forested landscape along the trail has been home to the Anishinaabe for thousands of years. Their many uses of the forest are part of the stories told in the interpretive panels.
Other stopping points include downtown Grayling and the location of a 2008 forest fire. Additional interpretive signs along the trail describe the importance of the Au Sable River, how logging helped create the town of Grayling and evolving forest management.
Trail users will also encounter the stories of people like philanthropist Karen Hartwick, who donated the 8,000-acre parcel that became Hartwick Pines State Park, a northern Michigan conservation officer named Reuben Babbitt and Fred Bear, an archery innovator whose business called Grayling home in the mid-20th century.
Forests are an important part of this area’s history and to the people who first lived here. To this day, the Anishinaabek engage with northern Michigan’s forests because of their natural and cultural significance.
The Forest Heritage Trail runs from North Higgins Lake State Park to Hartwick Pines State Park. The large stands od white pine that once grew here were cut down during the white pine logging era of 1860 to 1910. New stands of trees have since replaced the old growth forest.
Thanks in part to Dr. William J. Beal and early forestry efforts at the Higgins Lake Nursery, Michigan now has 20 million acres of forest spread across public and private lands. Today’s forests are sustainably managed so that future Michiganders will have access to abundant natural resources.
As you travel along the Forest Heritage Trail, discover the stories of people, places and events that make up the region’s rich history.