Overlanding

Michigan

Why Michigan is a forest road state, not a mountain state

Michigan asks nothing of a vehicle at altitude. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the high point at 1,979 feet on Mount Arvon in Baraga County and the low point at 571 feet on Lake Erie, so the whole state fits inside a range most western passes cover in an afternoon. What it asks instead is distance, water, sand and cold. NOAA counts 3,224 miles of coastline here, and the Hiawatha National Forest alone runs its shorelines up to Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan.

Public land comes in two layers. Federal agencies hold 3,642,187 acres, about 10 percent of the state, and 2,879,011 of those acres are national forest: the Hiawatha at 879,000 acres, the Ottawa at a million and the Huron-Manistee at nearly a million. The state holds more. The Department of Natural Resources looks after roughly 4.6 million acres, including 3.9 million acres of state forest, 103 state parks and recreation areas and more than 140 rustic state forest campgrounds.

The driving is on forest roads, and there are a great many of them. The DNR’s inventory effective April 1, 2026 counts 13,494.1 miles of state forest road, of which 11,841.9 miles are open to off-road vehicle use all year. Our build of the Recreation.gov database finds 86 federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach, most of them on the national forests, and many of the Hiawatha entries are single rustic sites on a lake rather than a loop with a host. Winter closes a lot of this. Pictured Rocks reports more than 15 feet of snow a year and plows exactly one road.

Michigan by the numbers

Acres of federal land 1: 3.6M; About 10 percent of the state. The Forest Service holds 2,879,011 of them
Mount Arvon, the highest point in Michigan 2: 1,979 ft; Baraga County. The lowest point is Lake Erie at 571 feet
Miles of Great Lakes coastline 5: 3,224 mi; NOAA also counts 4,704,200 coastal residents in the state
Federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 4: 86; 77 on the national forests and nine in Park Service units; 78 can be booked ahead
Miles of state forest road open to ORV use all year 6: 11,841.9; Of 13,494.1 miles inventoried, effective April 1, 2026. The rest is closed or closed seasonally
Acres of state forest 7: 3.9M; Part of about 4.6 million acres the DNR looks after
State parks and recreation areas 8: 103; Plus more than 140 rustic state forest campgrounds, most of them first come, first served
Snow a year at Pictured Rocks 39: 140 to 160 in; Some years over 200 inches, with snow on the ground from late November through late April

Who holds the ground, and which roads you may use

The federal share is small for a northern state and it is nearly all forest. Of 3,642,187 federal acres the Forest Service holds 2,879,011, the National Park Service 632,443, the Fish and Wildlife Service 118,132 and the Department of Defense 11,991. The Bureau of Land Management holds 610 acres in the whole of Michigan, which is why nothing on this page carries a BLM route mile: the agency’s national route layer has no Michigan records at all.

The state system is larger and is where most Michigan driving actually happens. The DNR looks after about 4.6 million acres, inventories its forest roads every year and publishes the mileage open to off-road vehicles. It also designates three widths of trail and route: motorcycle trails maintained at 24 inches, ORV trails at 50 inches and ORV routes at 72 inches. A full-size truck does not fit the first two categories, which matters more here than any question of clearance.

State forest road mileage open to ORV use, effective April 1, 2026

01Upper Peninsula: 5,752.5 miles open all year, 118.4 miles closed or closed seasonally, 5,870.9 miles inventoried
02Northern Lower Peninsula: 6,080.3 miles open all year, 1,185.3 miles closed or closed seasonally, 7,265.6 miles inventoried
03Southern Lower Peninsula: 9.1 miles open all year, 348.5 miles closed or closed seasonally, 357.6 miles inventoried
04Statewide: 11,841.9 miles open all year of 13,494.1 miles inventoried

Source 1

Three national forests, and what each one is

The Hiawatha covers 879,000 acres across the eastern and central Upper Peninsula and runs its shorelines up to Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan. It takes in Grand Island, 13,500 acres of forest under 300-foot wave-cut sandstone cliffs, which is reached by passenger ferry from M-28 west of Munising rather than by road. Much of its campground list is single rustic sites on small lakes: East Lake, for one, is three primitive sites on a 53-acre lake with no drinking water, reservable only, at $8 a night from May 15 to Columbus Day.

The Ottawa covers a million acres of the western Upper Peninsula, from the Lake Superior shore at 600 feet to more than 1,800 feet in the Sylvania Wilderness, with over 50,000 acres of wilderness in three units, more than 196 miles of hiking trail, over 500 named lakes and nearly 2,000 miles of rivers and streams. The forest calls its country Big Snow Country and says parts of it take more than 200 inches of snow a year.

The Huron-Manistee holds nearly a million acres between Lakes Michigan and Huron in the northern Lower Peninsula, with four wild and scenic rivers: the Pine, the Manistee, the Au Sable and the Pere Marquette. It is checkerboarded with private and state land, which is why the forest tells visitors to carry a map that shows ownership. On all three forests the Motor Vehicle Use Map is the legal record of which road is open to which vehicle.

Source 25

Snow, the plow line and the spring thaw

Winter is the season that decides the calendar, and the agencies are blunt about it. At Pictured Rocks the Park Service plows Sand Point Road and nothing else; from December 1 through March 31 the unplowed park roads are snowmobile trails and are closed to every other vehicle. Alger County Road H-58 is plowed from Munising east only as far as Adams Trail, and from there to Grand Marais it is open to snowmobiles alone. In the Porcupine Mountains, M-107 beyond the Whitetail parking area and part of South Boundary Road close on December 1 until late spring, become snowmobile trails, and reopen when the Ontonagon County Road Commission judges them safe.

The short season shows up in every opening date. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Sleeping Bear Dunes is open to vehicles from about late May to late October. Seney National Wildlife Refuge runs its Marshland Wildlife Drive from May 15 to October 20. Drive-in campgrounds at Pictured Rocks run May 15 to October 15, the Hiawatha’s reservable single sites run May 15 to Columbus Day, and the Black River campground on the Ottawa runs May 15 to October 15. The Michigan Cross Country Cycle Trail stays technically open all year but is not maintained from December 1 to April 14.

Then comes the thaw, which is a legal event in Michigan. MDOT sets seasonal weight restrictions from frost depth measurements, road conditions and forecasts, and holds them until roadbeds stabilize. On routes it designates seasonal, the posted reduction is 25 percent for concrete and 35 percent for asphalt, with a 35 mph maximum for some vehicles. County road commissions and city public works departments set their own, usually but not always at the same time. A heavy expedition truck planning a March trip should check both.

Source 41

What Michigan asks of a vehicle

The ORV license is the first thing to understand, because Michigan writes it around what the road is rather than what the vehicle is. A $26.25 ORV license covers eligible county roads, state forest roads open to ORV use, eligible national forest roads and the frozen surface of public waters. A $10 trail permit is added, $36.25 in all, for state-designated ORV trails and scramble areas. Both run from April 1 to March 31. For a street-licensed truck the DNR’s own table says it plainly: nothing is needed on an ORV route a conventional passenger car could drive, both the license and the permit are needed on a route it could not or in a scramble area, and a 50-inch ORV trail is not open to that truck at all.

Entry to state land costs separately. The Recreation Passport is what gets a vehicle through the gate at all 103 state parks and recreation areas, the 140-plus state forest campgrounds and a long list of trailheads and boating sites. Michigan residents buy it with a license plate renewal for $15, and a non-resident annual is $42 with a $12 daily option. Where you may put the vehicle once you are on state land is also written down: the State Land Rules make it unlawful to park a wheeled motorized vehicle more than 50 feet from the traveled portion of a road, forest road, parking lot or trail open to that use. The Huron-Manistee draws its line at 25 feet.

Two Michigan situations catch visitors out, and both have their own rule below. The Mackinac Bridge is governed by sustained wind speed, and a tall vehicle can be held, escorted or turned back. Sand is the other: Silver Lake State Park is the only open dune riding in the state and it runs on documents, a flag and a tire pressure limit.

Source 9

Where you sleep

The rustic end of Michigan camping is the state forest system. There are more than 140 state forest campgrounds across the Upper and northern Lower Peninsulas, every one of them on a river or a lake, with vault toilets and a hand pump for water, no hookups, and one camping unit and six people to a site. Most are first come, first served, a few take reservations, and a handful stay open all winter. The DNR warns that campground roads can be rocky and narrow with a tight turning radius, and suggests tents, pop-ups, small trailers and truck campers over anything large.

Free dispersed camping sits beside that system on state forest land more than a mile from one of those campgrounds, with a registration card posted at the site. The national forests add their own dispersed camping, and our build of the federal reservation database finds 86 campgrounds in Michigan that a vehicle can reach, 77 of them Forest Service sites and nine in Park Service units, with 78 bookable ahead.

The Park Service runs the opposite system. At Pictured Rocks every site is reserved in advance, drive-in campgrounds are open May 15 to October 15 at $25 a night, and there is no camping outside a designated campground at all.

Source 14

Passes and routes

Alger County Road H-58, Pictured Rocks

Munising and Grand Marais, along the Lake Superior shore

The Park Service calls H-58 the main road through the national lakeshore and asks visitors to stay on it and on the marked access roads, some of which are unpaved. Miners Falls Road takes nothing longer than 32 feet; Chapel Road from June 15 to September 15 and Little Beaver Lake Road take nothing over 36 feet, or 42 feet as a vehicle and trailer. Beaver Basin Overlook is described as a rough four-wheel-drive road. Off road travel is prohibited, as is driving or parking on the shoulders, and the park warns plainly about costly towing off narrow two-tracks. 40

Vehicle
Any vehicle on H-58 itself. Several spur roads carry length limits

Season
All year to Adams Trail. From Adams Trail east to Grand Marais it is unplowed and open to snowmobiles only
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Sleeping Bear DunesPaved

7.4 miles

A one-way loop off M-109 north of Empire

A 7.4-mile one-way loop with twelve stops, which the Park Service says takes about two hours if you stop at all of them. Trailers are dropped at the lot by the entrance. The road has steep inclines the park warns can turn slippery with wet leaves, wind and rain. There is no fee to drive the county and state roads through the park, but stopping at the attractions needs an entrance pass. 43

Vehicle
No trailers. Maximum vehicle clearance 13 feet 6 inches

Season
Open to vehicles generally late May until late October, then closed to vehicles and open on foot
Copper Country Trail National Byway, US 41Paved

47 miles

Houghton to Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw

MDOT gives the byway 47 miles and lists it as one of the three Michigan byways that carry National Scenic Byway status. It follows US 41 from Houghton to Copper Harbor through former mining communities and dense forest, with Keweenaw National Historical Park on the route. The Park Service, measuring the drive rather than the byway, puts Copper Harbor 52 miles north of Houghton on US 41. Both ends are Isle Royale ferry ports. 21
Whitefish Bay National Forest Scenic BywayPaved

33 miles

Sault Ste. Marie and Brimley to M-123 by way of the Lake Superior shore

The Hiawatha describes paved two-lane roads with historic sites and views along Lake Superior. Travel south from Sault Ste. Marie on the Mackinac Trail, H-63, then west on 6 Mile Road to Brimley State Park, where Lake Shore Drive starts along the bay. Point Iroquois Lighthouse sits on the route with a visitor center, a tower and a boardwalk. MDOT’s byway guide gives the length as 33 miles. 26
Black River National Forest Scenic Byway, CR 513Paved

11 to 15 miles, depending on the source

Bessemer to Black River Harbor on Lake Superior

Three official lengths exist and all three are worth knowing. The Ottawa’s recreation area page says the byway starts northwest of Bessemer where CR 204 meets CR 513 and continues 11 miles to Black River Harbor. The same forest’s About the Area page calls it 12 miles of Black River Harbor Road. MDOT’s driving guide gives 15 miles. Short waterfall trails of a quarter to three quarters of a mile leave the road at Conglomerate, Potawatomi, Gorge, Rainbow and Sandstone falls. 32

Season
The harbour campground runs May 15 to October 15; day use areas stay open all year with fewer services
River Road National Scenic BywayPaved

22 miles

Lake Huron at Oscoda westward into the Huron National Forest

The Forest Service calls it the twenty-two mile River Road National Scenic Byway, running west from Lake Huron along the Au Sable, the river that floated white pine down to the Lake Huron mill towns. Lumbermen’s Monument Visitor Center sits at the center of it. Motorised trails for off-road vehicles and snowmobiles leave the byway, along with quiet trails, campgrounds and boat access. 36
Jack Pine Wildlife Viewing Tour

58 miles

Jack pine country of the Huron National Forest

A self-guided 58-mile auto tour through the jack pine country that Kirtland’s warbler depends on. The Forest Service marks it with signs carrying the warbler and the watchable wildlife symbol. It is the longest signed driving tour the Huron-Manistee publishes, and it crosses the kind of sand country that gives the Lower Peninsula its two-track reputation. 37
Marshland Wildlife Drive, Seney National Wildlife Refuge

7 miles, with an 8.5-mile Fishing Loop

Refuge entrance road off M-77 between Seney and Germfask

One-way, narrow and winding, and the refuge says outright that these roads are not appropriate for all vehicles. Trailers are dropped at one of the other refuge lots rather than taken around. The drive starts about a mile west of the refuge entrance road, five miles south of Seney on M-77. 46

Vehicle
Nothing over 28 feet long or 9 feet wide. Trees are trimmed to 11 feet

Season
May 15 to October 20
M-107 and South Boundary Road, Porcupine Mountains

Silver City and Ontonagon to Presque Isle and County Road 519 near Wakefield

The park roads of Michigan’s largest state park, 60,000 acres of old growth, Lake Superior shore and ridges, with a dedicated wilderness of 47,671 acres inside it and a 12-mile escarpment above Lake of the Clouds. In winter the closed sections become designated snowmobile trails and reopen to vehicles only when the Ontonagon County Road Commission judges them safe. Presque Isle stays reachable on County Road 519 east of Wakefield. 17

Season
M-107 beyond the Whitetail parking area and part of South Boundary Road close December 1 until late spring
M-22 BywayPaved

116 miles

Traverse City and Frankfort around the Leelanau Peninsula

MDOT gives the state scenic byway 116 miles and about three and a half hours of driving, and suggests three to seven days to do it properly. It runs past Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which makes it the paved spine most Lower Peninsula trips hang off. 21
Michigan Cross Country Cycle Trail

1,200 miles statewide, 208 of them in the Huron-Manistee

Across the Lower Peninsula, with 177 miles on the Manistee side and 31 on the Huron side

Worth knowing about precisely because you cannot drive it. The Forest Service states the allowance plainly: highway legal motorcycles 40 inches wide or less, and motorized vehicles over 40 inches prohibited. It is the long-distance motorized route through the Lower Peninsula forests, and a truck has to use the state forest road network beside it instead. 38

Vehicle
Highway legal motorcycles 40 inches wide or less. Anything wider is prohibited

Season
Open all year, not maintained December 1 to April 14
Silver Lake State Park ORV Area

Mears, on the Lake Michigan shore

Four hundred and fifty acres of open sand dune inside Silver Lake State Park, which the DNR calls the only riding of its type east of the Mississippi. Vehicles must stay inside the orange boundary markers and follow the signed direction of travel, and are not permitted at the water’s edge. Access to the dunes stops half an hour before closing each evening. 15

Vehicle
ORV license, trail permit and Recreation Passport for every vehicle. Orange flag. Maximum 15 psi

Season
Open to ORVs April 1 to October 31, with hours that shorten in spring and autumn

Rules worth knowing

Three widths of state route, and none of them fit a truck: The state designates motorcycle-only trails maintained at 24 inches, off-road vehicle trails at 50 inches and off-road vehicle routes at 72 inches. Nothing in that list takes a full-size vehicle. The state also notes that off-road vehicles are generally prohibited in state parks and recreation areas, with a handful of exceptions, so the designated network is for machines and the forest road system is for you. 11
The Porcupine Mountains hold a dedicated wilderness inside a park: The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park covers about 60,000 acres by the state’s park pages, and inside it 47,671 acres are dedicated wilderness by the natural areas page. Both figures are the state’s and they describe different things. The wilderness is where the road network stops and the park roads run round the edge of it. 18
The Hiawatha touches three of the Great Lakes: The Hiawatha National Forest reaches the shores of Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan, three of the five, across the Upper Peninsula. That is unusual enough to shape the driving: the forest is in two blocks with very different weather, and the shoreline roads are the reason to cross between them. 24
Grand Island is 13,500 acres reached by boat: Grand Island National Recreation Area holds 13,500 acres of forest under 300-foot wave-cut sandstone cliffs, and visitors reach it by passenger ferry or private watercraft. It is a Forest Service unit you cannot drive to, which is worth knowing before routing a day around it. 27
The single sites are booked, not found: Three primitive campsites sit on the 53-acre East Lake on the Hiawatha, by reservation only with no walk-ins, for up to 14 days at eight dollars a night, from 15 May to Columbus Day. That pattern, a handful of individually reservable sites at a named lake, is behind many of the Hiawatha entries in this guide’s campground count. 28
The Ottawa is a million acres and 196 miles of trail: The one million acres of the Ottawa National Forest lie in the western Upper Peninsula, with more than 196 miles of hiking and backpacking trail. It is the forest behind the Black River country and the western snowbelt, and Ironwood, with a population of about 5,000, is the largest town at its edge. 29
Two hundred inches of snow, and 50,000 acres of wilderness: Elevations on the Ottawa run from 600 feet at the Lake Superior shoreline to more than 1,800 in the Sylvania Wilderness, and the forest holds over 50,000 acres across three wildernesses, Sturgeon Gorge, McCormick and Sylvania, with over 500 named lakes and nearly 2,000 miles of river and stream. Portions of the forest receive over 200 inches of snow a year, which is why it is called Big Snow Country and why its 485 miles of groomed snowmobile trail matter more than its summer roads for half the year. 30
The Huron-Manistee is a million acres and four wild rivers: The Huron-Manistee National Forests cover nearly a million acres in the northern Lower Peninsula between Lakes Michigan and Huron, with four nationally designated wild and scenic rivers: the Pine, Manistee, Au Sable and Pere Marquette. It is the accessible forest for anyone coming north from Detroit or Grand Rapids. 33
Dispersed camping on the Huron-Manistee needs no permit: You do not need to pay a fee or obtain a permit to camp outside a designated campground on the Huron-Manistee, and dispersed and primitive tent camping is allowed almost anywhere unless posted closed or no camping. The one hard limit is water: dispersed camping is not allowed within 200 feet of a river, lake, stream or other body of water. 34
You may pull 25 feet off a forest road: The Huron-Manistee’s own FAQ says you can pull off along a road so long as you are far enough off not to impede traffic, and no more than 25 feet. That is the number that decides where a vehicle may sleep on this forest, and it is smaller than the 300-foot allowances common in the west. 35
On the Ottawa it is 14 days developed, 16 dispersed: Camping in a developed recreation site on the Ottawa is allowed for no longer than 14 days, and camping in general forest areas for no longer than 16 days in any one location, after which you must relocate at least five miles away. Two different numbers on one forest, and the longer one applies to the ground with no facilities. 30
At Sleeping Bear, the county roads are free and the attractions are not: There is no fee to drive the county and state roads that run through Sleeping Bear Dunes, but stopping at the attractions requires an entrance fee. The scenic drive closes to vehicles for the seasonal winter closure in late October or early November, weather depending. 44
At Isle Royale, your vehicle stays on the mainland: The Park Service states it in one line: your vehicle remains on the mainland. Isle Royale is reached by ferry or seaplane, and Copper Harbor, one of the departure points, is off US 41 just 52 miles north of Houghton. Plan the island as a trip away from the vehicle rather than with it. 45
The ORV license, the trail permit and what a plated truck needs: A $26.25 ORV license covers eligible county roads, state forest roads open to ORV use, eligible national forest roads and the frozen surface of public waters. A $10 trail permit on top of it, $36.25 in all, covers state-designated ORV trails and scramble areas. Both run April 1 to March 31. The DNR’s table for a street-licensed truck or passenger vehicle reads: neither document on an ORV route a conventional passenger car could drive, both on a route it could not and in scramble areas, and ORV trails for vehicles up to 50 inches wide are not open to it. 9
The test is the road, not the plate: The DNR answers this one directly. Neither an ORV license nor a trail permit is required to drive a street-licensed truck on designated ORV routes. If the route is not passable by a conventional two-wheel-drive passenger automobile designed for highway use, then the vehicle is being used as an ORV and needs both. The same test applies to a street-licensed off-road motorcycle, which also needs both on any designated trail. 10
Dispersed camping on state forest land: Camping away from a campground is allowed on state forest land and costs nothing, as long as the site is more than one mile from a state forest campground. It may not be in a state park, a recreation area, a state forest campground or a state game area, and not where camping is posted against. A backpacking registration card has to be filled in and posted at the site for the whole stay, kept legible, and left there when you go. Cards come off the DNR site or from a local DNR office. 12
Stay limits and the 50-foot parking rule: The State Land Rules printed on the camp registration card set the limits. It is unlawful to camp in a designated campground or location in a state forest or state game area for more than 15 consecutive nights, and a new camp has to be at least one mile from the last. It is unlawful to disperse camp for more than 21 days between October 1 and May 1. On state land outside parks, game areas and campgrounds it is unlawful to park a wheeled motorized vehicle more than 50 feet from the traveled portion of a road, forest road, parking lot or trail open to that use. Violations carry a fine of up to $500 and costs. 13
National forest camping is set forest by forest: The Ottawa allows 14 days in a developed recreation site and no longer than 16 days in any one location when camping dispersed, after which you move at least five miles. The Huron-Manistee charges no fee and requires no permit for dispersed camping, allows it almost anywhere that is not posted closed, and draws one hard line: not within 200 feet of a river, lake, stream or other water. Pictured Rocks is the opposite case. Every site there is reserved in advance, and camping outside a designated campground, including on the beach, is not allowed at all. 31
The Recreation Passport gets a vehicle through the gate: Motorised entry to all 103 state parks and recreation areas, the 140-plus state forest campgrounds, nearly 1,000 boating access sites and many trailheads runs on the Recreation Passport. Michigan residents buy it with a plate renewal for $15, or $29 for two years. A non-resident annual is $42, a non-resident day is $12, and a towed vehicle unhitched from a stationary RV is $9. Buying anywhere other than at plate renewal adds a $5 convenience fee. 8
Spring weight restrictions are a legal season: MDOT imposes seasonal weight restrictions each spring on state trunkline highways, set from frost depth measurements, road conditions and weather forecasts and held until roadbeds stabilize. On routes designated seasonal the posted reduction is 25 percent for concrete pavements and 35 percent for asphalt, with a maximum speed of 35 mph for some vehicles. In 2026 the first restrictions took effect at 6 p.m. on February 17. County road commissions and city public works departments set their own, usually but not always at the same time as the state. 20
Chains are allowed, studs effectively are not: Michigan publishes no traction law. The Michigan State Police point to the Vehicle Code, which lets a driver use a tire chain of reasonable proportion when it is required for safety because of snow, ice or another condition that tends to cause skidding, provided the chain does not touch the road surface. Studded tires are another matter: the state police note that no stud manufacturer has supplied MDOT with evidence that its product meets the required pavement wear specification, so the rules that would allow studs from October 1 to May 1 in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula are not satisfied. 22
Nothing outside a campground at Pictured Rocks: The national lakeshore takes no drop-ins. Every campsite there is reserved in advance through the federal reservation system, drive-in campgrounds run May 15 to October 15 at $25 a night across three rustic campgrounds, and backcountry sites carry a $15 reservation fee per trip plus $5 per person per night. Camping anywhere outside a designated campground is not allowed, and that includes the beach and any form of dispersed camping. 42
The Mackinac Bridge closes by wind speed: The Mackinac Bridge Authority publishes the thresholds, and they are sustained wind speeds rather than gusts. Below 20 mph there are no restrictions and the bridge speed limit is 45 mph. From 20 to 35 mph a high wind advisory asks high-profile vehicles, which includes RVs and anything towing, to hold 20 mph. From 35 to 50 mph those vehicles must wait for an escort. From 50 to 65 mph the bridge is closed to them, while a passenger vehicle towing nothing may cross at no more than 20 mph. At 65 mph and above it closes to everyone. 23
Sand riding has its own rulebook: Every motor vehicle on the Silver Lake dunes must carry an ORV license, an ORV trail permit and a Recreation Passport, and the passport applies to unplated vehicles too. An orange safety flag of solid material, not mesh, has to be bolted, welded or otherwise fixed in the position set for your vehicle type. Maximum tire inflation is 15 psi, with 12 to 15 recommended. Vehicles stay inside the orange boundary markers and follow the signed direction of travel, and helmets are required in the parking lot as well as on the dunes. 16
Burn permits are issued county by county, daily: Michigan does not publish fire restriction stages. It publishes a daily answer. The DNR keeps a map of counties showing whether burning permits are being issued that day, and if your county reads yes, that is your permit and there is nothing to print. Permits come from the DNR only for Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula counties; in the southern Lower Peninsula they come from the local fire department or governing body. Check local ordinances first, because a city, township or village rule comes before the state one. 19

How high is Michigan?

From Oscoda at 588 feet to Mount Arvon at 1,979. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

Watersmeet Where US 2 meets US 45 in the middle of the Ottawa National Forest. Nearest town to the Sylvania Wilderness and the forest’s highest ground. 1,598 ft
Ironwood Far western corner on US 2, at the edge of the Ottawa National Forest. The Ottawa calls it the largest city on the forest boundary, at about 9,000 people. The Black River byway leaves from Bessemer just east. 1,503 ft
Cadillac Supervisor’s office town for the Huron-Manistee National Forests. The USGS puts the geographic center of Michigan in Wexford County, 5 miles north-northwest of here. 1,308 ft
Grayling On I-75 at the Au Sable River, with state forest road country in every direction and the Huron National Forest to the east. 1,135 ft
Baldwin Middle of the Manistee National Forest, on the Pere Marquette. Sections of the Michigan Cross Country Cycle Trail and the forest’s motorcycle trails run either side of town. 837 ft
Marquette The largest city in the Upper Peninsula and its main stop for parts, tires and a hospital. Commercial flights serve it, and Munising is about 43 miles east. 664 ft
Houghton Keweenaw Peninsula service town on US 41, and the mainland headquarters for Isle Royale. The Ranger III sails from here and your vehicle stays behind. 634 ft
Grand Marais East end of County Road H-58 and the Grand Sable Visitor Center. The road east of Adams Trail is not plowed in winter, so this end goes quiet. 628 ft
Copper Harbor North end of US 41 and of the Copper Country Trail byway, 52 miles from Houghton by the Park Service’s reckoning. The other Isle Royale ferry leaves from here. 615 ft
Sault Ste. Marie Border city at the east end of the Upper Peninsula and the start of the Whitefish Bay byway south on the Mackinac Trail, H-63. 613 ft
Ontonagon On Lake Superior about 20 miles east of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, per the DNR. Last real services before the park’s campgrounds and the South Boundary Road. 613 ft
Munising West gateway to Pictured Rocks and the Hiawatha’s Munising Ranger District. The Grand Island ferry leaves from M-28 about 2.5 miles west of town. 607 ft
Manistique On US 2 on the Lake Michigan shore, in the Hiawatha’s Rapid River and Manistique district. Forest Road access to the single rustic lake campsites runs north on M-94. 600 ft
Traverse City Largest town in the northwest Lower Peninsula, on the M-22 byway and about an hour from Sleeping Bear Dunes. Full services before the smaller lakeshore towns. 596 ft
St. Ignace North end of the Mackinac Bridge, where I-75, US 2 and M-134 meet. The place to wait out a wind closure rather than sit on the approach. 590 ft
Oscoda Lake Huron end of the River Road National Scenic Byway, where the Au Sable reaches the lake. Eastern gateway to the Huron National Forest. 588 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

Mount Arvon The highest point in Michigan, in Baraga County. Our own reading of the USGS elevation surface at the summit is 1,978 feet 1,979 ft
Mount Curwood A few miles from Arvon and within two feet of it on our reading. The USGS names Arvon as the state high point 1,977 ft
Summit Peak High ground of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Our own reading, because no state page publishes an elevation for it 1,956 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition: Highest and Lowest Elevations, and Geographic Centers. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export, campgrounds a vehicle can reach in Michigan. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
NOAA Office for Coastal Management. Michigan state page: coastline miles and coastal population. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. State Forest Roads: current road inventory, mileage effective April 1, 2026. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Public lands: acreage of DNR-managed land. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Recreation Passport: what it covers and what it costs. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. ORV riding: purchase permit, learn requirements, including the license and permit table by vehicle type. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Street-licensed ORVs: frequently asked questions. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Where to ride ORVs: designated routes, trails and scramble areas. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Backpacking, hike-in and backcountry camping: dispersed camping in state forests. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Forest Resources Division. Camp Registration Card PR4134, with State Land Rule excerpts R299.921, R299.922, R299.924 and R299.926. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. State forest campgrounds: rustic camping, facilities and site rules. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Silver Lake State Park ORV Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Rules and regulations at Silver Lake ORV Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, including winter road closures. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Natural areas: Porcupine Mountains, dedicated wilderness size and description. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Permission to burn: check open burning status by county. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Transportation. Annual spring weight restrictions begin Tuesday to protect Michigan’s roads (news release, February 12, 2026). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan Department of Transportation. Pure Michigan Byways and Tour Routes Driving Guide, driving distance panels. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Michigan State Police. Traffic Laws FAQs: tire chains and studded tires under MCL 257.710. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Mackinac Bridge Authority. What wind conditions result in high wind warnings, escorts, partial closures, and full closures?. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest. Hiawatha National Forest home page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest. Tours, including the fall color tours that give the forest’s acreage. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest. Whitefish Bay National Forest Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest. Grand Island National Recreation Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest. East Lake Campsites, an example of the forest’s single rustic sites. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest. Ottawa National Forest home page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest. About the Area: elevations, wilderness acreage, snowfall and the Black River byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest. Camping and Cabins: developed and dispersed camping limits. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest. Black River Harbor Recreation Area and the Black River Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Huron-Manistee National Forests. Huron-Manistee National Forests home page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Huron-Manistee National Forests. Camping and Cabins: dispersed camping on the Huron-Manistee. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Huron-Manistee National Forests. Frequently asked questions, including parking off a forest road. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Huron-Manistee National Forests. River Road National Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Huron-Manistee National Forests. Tours, including the Jack Pine Wildlife Viewing Tour. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Huron-Manistee National Forests. Michigan Cross-Country Cycle Trail (MCCCT). Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Basic Information: park size, weather and snowfall. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Directions and Transportation: County Road H-58, spur roads and vehicle size limits. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Winter Road Closures. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Camping at Pictured Rocks. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Explore Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Frequently asked questions: fees, roads and trailers. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park. Directions: ferry and seaplane access, and where your vehicle stays. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Seney National Wildlife Refuge. Visit Us: Marshland Wildlife Drive and Fishing Loop vehicle restrictions. Retrieved September 19, 2026.

Reviewed September 19, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages Michigan

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Michigan
10.0% 3,642,187 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of Michigan

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Map layers

Find a place

Layers

Federal land Who manages the ground, by agency

State and local land State forests, parks and wildlife areas, county and city land, nationwide

BLM roads and trails Routes managed for public motorized use

Forest roads and trails Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map

Wilderness BLM Wilderness and study areas, closed to vehicles

Camping and trailheads BLM campgrounds, OHV areas and trailheads

Base map

Map Topo Satellite

Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

State land
County and city land
Regional agency or district
Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Open the full map