Michigan State Parks Archives

The Playhouse In the Woods

This log cabin sits on a hill in the Highland Recreation Area off M-59. It was constructed as the carriage house and chauffer’s living quarters for Edsel Ford’s Haven Hill Lodge that that stood nearby. The Chauffer ended up living in the lodge and Edsel’s children used the carriage house as a playhouse. The main lodge burned down in a fire several years ago. You can read about it in my post HERE

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The Memorial Log Lodge

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan State Parks .

In 1927, Mrs. Karen Hartwick donated land to the state of Michigan In honor of her husband Major Edward E. Hartwick, who died in action during World War I. The land was used to create Hartwick Pines state park. In 1929, the Department began construction this building as a memorial to Mrs. Hartwick’s husband. However, work was halted by the Great Depression. Work resumed in 1933 when workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps finished the interior of the Memorial Building and constructed other buildings in the park. The lodge was used as a visitors center until a new one was constructed in 1994. The old lodge has been sitting vacant since 2012.

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Rockport State park

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan State Parks .

Rockport State Park is one of Michigan’s newest and most unique state parks. From 1914 until the end of the 1950s the site operated as a quarry loading freighters that carried the stone all around the Great Lakes. The foundations of the loading dock still stretch out into the crystal clear blue water of Lake Huron north of Alpena.

Photo of the loading dock and powerhouse from 1922

Stone from the quarry was used for the base of the towers on the Mackinac Bridge. After the quarry closed the buildings and structures were removed and the land sat vacant. In 2012 the site was converted into a state park allowing visitors to hike and explore the rocky landscape. You can still find remnants of structures and machinery along some of the trails in the old quarry.

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Porcupine Mountain Ghost Town of Nonesuch

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, Michigan State Parks, upper peninsula .

The Porcupine Mountains in the western Upper Peninsula is the largest state park in Michigan. It is known for its hiking trails, waterfalls, and the Lake Of The Clouds. But few people know that hidden among the trees are the ruins of an old mining town. Nonesuch is a type of copper ore that exists in sandstone and the town was named after the ore. Mining began in 1867 and ended in 1912.

At its peak, the town had a population of 300 people and besides the mining buildings, it had a school, boarding houses, stables, and even a baseball team. Today stone walls can be found in the area where the town once stood. I also found some old cast iron machine parts including a large gear half-buried in the ground and held in place by a tree root.

The ruins can be found near the Little Iron River. A parking lot can be found off South Boundry Road with a trail that is about a half-mile long that will take you to the ruins. To find the parking lot drive straight south of the visitor center. A short road keeps going south where South Boundry Road curves to the west. Down that short road, you will find a small parking lot and an informational sign for the town of Nonesuch.

If you visit please stay on the paths and do not mess with the crumbling walls so they will remain open to visitors.

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Michigan’s 26 Star Flag

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan State Parks, upper peninsula .

I visit a lot of locations around the state and it’s always nice to see the red white and blue flag of the USA proudly flying on a flag pole. I took this photo at Fort Wilkins State Park at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. I have visited it a few times and never noticed it, but I got to looking closely at the photo. The U.S. flag seemed a little different. I counted up the stars and it only has 26 of them. Fort Wilkins was built in 1844 and back then, the official American flag only had 26 stars. The historic design from when the fort was constructed proudly flies over the fort today.

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Cambridge Junction

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan Historical Markers, Michigan State Parks .

At the corner of the Old Chicago Road (U.S. 12) and the La Plaisance Pike (M-50) in Michigan’s Irish Hills, is Cambridge Junction Historic State Park / Walker Tavern Historic Site. The site contains a modest, one-and-a-half-story farmhouse that has sat on its original site for nearly two centuries. Built about 1832, the white clapboard Walker Tavern is perched atop of a small bluff overlooking U.S. 12. It originally was only a few footsteps off the “Old Sauk” Native American trail, which became U.S. 12 and was the main route for connecting Detroit and Chicago. The tavern quickly became a gathering place where travelers making the grueling five-day trip could rest, enjoy a meal or stay the night. The Michigan History Center has operated the tavern as a historic site since 1965.

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Hartwick’s Big Wheel

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan State Parks .

This bright red “Big Wheel” greets visitors at the entrance to Hartwick Pines State Park. Years ago lumberjacks would use them with a team of oxen to pull out logs from the Michigan forest. The park has 49 acres of old-growth pine forest and a logging museum open during the summer. The road to the visitors center along with the parking lot is plowed. The visitors center is closed but the trails for hiking and cross country skiing are open. I started to hike to the chapel but with the cold temps and the fact that I was alone, I decided it would be better that I wait for a warmer day and a hiking partner.

P.S. I have been selected by the Michigan DNR to be a Photo Ambassador. If you have followed my work for a while you know I enjoy spending time at our state parks along with camping at some of them while out exploring the Great Lakes State. I am looking forward to working with the DNR in an official capacity. I am still doing what I have always done but you may see a few more pics from the state parks or my pics on their Instagram account @Mistateparks

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The Michigan State Park Cemetery

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, Michigan State Parks .

This old forgotten cemetery sits up on a hill not far from the parking lot for the Hamlin Lake beach in Ludington State Park. Long before the area was a state park it had a sawmill town called Hamlin. It was founded in 1852 by lumberman Charles Mears. He built a wooden dam on the Big Sable River and the town continued to prosper until the dam broke in 1888.

I shared this photo as part of a presentation about a year ago and it was after that an older gentleman came up to me. He told me that he was a ranger at Ludington State Park in the 60s and that an old coffin had washed up onto the banks of the Big Sable River near the mouth at Lake Michigan. From the age of the coffin and corpse, they figured it was someone from the old town of Hamlin who was buried next to the river. He told me they re-buried it in the old cemetery on the hill. I have never been able to confirm the story with a newspaper article but I have no reason to doubt what he told me.

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The Sun Setting on July in Michigan

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan State Parks .

I took this pic of the sun setting over Grousehaven lake in the Rifle River Recreation area a week or tow ago, I meant to post it earlier but life gets in the way of what I want to do. it’s hard to believe another month is gone this year and this summer is going by so fast. I always of plans of doing visiting new places in Michigan that I want to explore. Having a family, I have commitments to them first, but I still have so much to do, I hope August does not go by as fast as June or July, but I have a strange feeling it will go by just as fast or even faster, yeah I know time remains constant but there never seams to be enough of it. I still have more post coming, and I want to thank you for following me, even when I get busy and miss a few days.

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Final Round of the Michigan State Park March Madness Poll

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan State Parks, SP March Madness .

Congratulations to Tahquamenon Falls State Park for winning the 2016 March Madness Poll. It’s one of my favorite places in Michigan. Thank you to everyone that voted. I love the state parks in Michigan they have so much to offer and affordable to visit.

After thousands of votes cast, we are down to the final round with the last two parks going head to head to determine this years champion. I had thought one of these would have won the first time I did the March Madness Poll, but that was Ludington and last year it was Tawas. I love both the Island and the T-Falls and both wonderful parks for different reasons.

I know it’s hard to pick between them, but I would love it if you voted before Sunday March 27th so we could crown this years winner.

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