A 236-acre hunting camp located within the Pigeon River Country State Forest is now available to the public for recreational opportunities with the help of Huron Pines and Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources.
“I’m a public landowner; you’re a public landowner. Everyone who lives in Michigan is a public landowner, so this land belongs to all of us and is there for all of us,” said Chris Engle, communications associate for Huron Pines.
DNR Unit Manager of the Pigeon River Country State Forest said the property just recently opened in the past week.
"This tract is a great addition to the Pigeon River State Forest," Mark Monroe said. "We appreciate Huron Pines help."
Huron Pines, a northern Michigan conservation organization, became interested in acquiring the old hunting camp back in 2023, when the property was put on the market. The organization bought the property in 2024.
Engle said the cost of acquisition for the property was around $360,000 and was provided with some financial assistance from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, a fund that started up in 1976 to become a source of funding for opening land to the public.
“The forest is … the largest piece of contiguous public land in Northern Michigan, and what that means is it’s many, many, many parcels of public land altogether with very few to no private inholdings in that tract,” Engle said.
The land lies within the Pigeon River Country State Forest, which is around 110,000 acres. The property consists of rolling hills, streams for fishing, trails once used for hunting elk, dirt roads and more. Much like the rest of the forest, Engle said a lot of the property is undeveloped and will remain that way. Outside of general upkeep, there will be no renovations or developments in the future.
"That's one characteristic of the Pigeon River Country State Forest is that it's not developed," Engle said. "The whole idea is to buy these lands, preserve them, protect them, manage them as just public forest land and perpetuity."
Monroe said visitors are welcome to hike, hunt, fish, animal watch and explore the property as they like. There is no fee to get in, and visitors can access the park on Grass Lake Road.
"I'm excited for folks to explore the property and the great outdoors," Monroe said.
We note the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is a sponsor of WCMU. We report on them as we do with any other organization.
