Wilderness State Park (Mackinaw City, Michigan)

As our bicycling stories go, this one is going to be fairly tame. But don't think things are getting boring - we have a doozy of a bike story when we catch you all up to our present location.

We had read about Wilderness State Park when we were in St. Ignace. It's in the northeast corner of Michigan. It's mainly a campground, but it also has rustic cabins that can be rented, mountain bike and hiking trails. It also has a number of endangered plants and birds that call it home.

So, on Thursday September 6, we packed up the water, fruit and Poptarts (our standard bike trip food) and road off to ... The Mackinaw Bakery for some Buttermilk Sticks and Caramel Pecan Swirls. One should never start a bike trip without proper nourishment! Then we were off to Wilderness Park. The bike route through the park is a beautiful, laid back type of ride that runs along the main road of the park (Wilderness Park Drive). Parts of it hug the Lake Michigan shore, with great views of the Lake and the Bridge. There are small beaches along the way. Other parts are entirely wooded and you can smell the pines and cedar while you ride.


We came across a very large boulder that the sign states was transported there by a glacier during the last ice age. There are also a number of hiking trails that you can take. We biked the entire length of Wilderness Park Drive, about 15 miles from Mackinaw City. The Drive ends at a hiking path that goes out to Waugoshance Point. We followed the trail, marked by rock piles as far as we could, about a mile. We're pretty sure we didn't reach Waugoshance Point, but we did find an end to the trail. At least, for us it was since we didn't have wading boots with us (how neglectful of us to leave those back on Meridian).

We're still on the lookout for the elusive Michigan Moose. We didn't see one on this bike trip. But we did find this cute little frog who gladly posed for us.