North Country National Scenic Trail

The North Country Trail is the long-distance footpath of northern Michigan: a national scenic trail that comes up through the Manistee National Forest, crosses the middle of the northern Lower Peninsula, touches Little Traverse Bay at Petoskey and ends its Lower Peninsula run at Mackinaw City. You do not need to thru-hike it: pick a section for a day hike or a weekend.

Congress designated it a National Scenic Trail in 1980, and the National Park Service administers it. In all it runs about 4,800 miles across eight states, from North Dakota to Vermont, and volunteers build and maintain most of it. In Michigan, chapters of the North Country Trail Association each look after a stretch with the Forest Service, the DNR and local partners.

Manistee National Forest. In the Manistee National Forest, the trail runs for roughly 130 miles, crossing the Big Sable, Pere Marquette, Manistee and Little Manistee rivers and passing marshes along the way. The most popular piece is the Manistee River Trail loop: a 246-foot suspension bridge just below Hodenpyl Dam links the river trail on one side of the Manistee River with the North Country Trail on the other, making a loop of about 20 miles.

Grand Traverse country. North of Hodenpyl Dam Pond, the trail heads through the Pere Marquette State Forest, the Valley of the Giants and the Sand Lakes area, along the Boardman and Manistee rivers, and through the trail towns of Fife Lake and Kalkaska.

The Jordan River Valley. From southeast of Mancelona to east of Harbor Springs, the trail drops through the Jordan River Valley and follows the Jordan River, passes lakes and ponds, and crosses the 45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.

Petoskey to Mackinaw City. Coming into Petoskey from the south, hikers get their first look at Lake Michigan from an overlook, then follow the Bear River to the bay and walk through Bayfront Park and past Petoskey State Park. North of Harbor Springs, the trail crosses the forested dunes of Sturgeon Bay near Cross Village, a cedar swamp and several streams, runs through Wilderness State Park and reaches Mackinaw City, where it ends at the North Central Trailhead before the trail continues across the Straits.

Hiking is free, but parking, camping and park entry can carry fees on some stretches, and conditions change with the season. Check the North Country Trail Association’s maps and the land manager for the section you plan to hike before you go.