Highland Recreation Area

Coordinates: 42°38′11″N 83°34′23″W / 42.63639°N 83.57306°W

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Highland State Recreation Area
Goose Meadow Picnic Area
Location within the state of Michigan Show map of Michigan Highland Recreation Area (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Highland Township, Oakland County, Michigan, USA
Nearest city	Milford, Michigan
Coordinates	42°38′11″N 83°34′23″W / 42.63639°N 83.57306°W / 42.63639; -83.57306
Area	5,900-acre (2,400 ha)
Governing body	Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Website	Official website

Highland State Recreation Area is a 5,900-acre (2,400 ha) state recreation area in the southeast part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in north Oakland County, 14 miles (23 km) west of Pontiac.

Haven Hill Natural Area, within the Highland State Recreation Area, was designated in 1976 as a National Natural Landmark.^[1]

Recreation Area

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), which owns and operates Highland, describes the recreation area as a parcel of forest, wetland, and kettle lakes primarily operated for light camping and drive-in/drive-out recreational day use. 45 miles (72 km) of trails in the recreation area are designated for hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian sports.^[1]

West of Duck Lake Road in Highland State Recreation Area, a group of small moraines are locally called "mountains"—the highest elevation in the park, Mount Kanzer, is 1,150 feet (350 m) above sea level. The highland for which this recreation area is named is this group of moraines.

National Natural Landmark

South of Highland Road ( M-59) and east of Duck Lake Road lies the 721-acre (292 ha) Haven Hill Natural Area and National Natural Landmark, a component unit of the Highland Recreation Area. MDNR describes Haven Hill as an area that contains "all of southern Michigan's principal forest types within one small area, including swamp forest of tamarack, cedar, beech-maple forest, oak-hickory forest, and mixed hardwood forest. The area has remained largely undisturbed for the past 75 years." Haven Hill was preserved as a natural area first by auto magnate Edsel Ford, whose estate it was, and then by MDNR after Ford's death in 1943.^[2]

Today

The Highland State Recreation Area, and the Haven Hill Natural Area embedded within the recreation area, are both located on M-59 directly west of Pontiac, Michigan. The nearest limited-access highway is U.S. Highway 23 at M-59/Highland Road.

Gallery

Park office
Teeple Lake Beach
Lakeside Picnic Area

References

^ ^a ^b "Highland Recreation Area". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
^ "Haven Hill Natural Area". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2010-06-08.

External links

Friends of Highland Recreation Area
Highland Recreation Area Pure Michigan
The Haven Hill Project
Haven Hill Project Blog
Haven Hill Project, Complete Haven Hill History
Haven Hill Project, First History Hike Video
Haven Hill Arch, White Lake, Michigan Waymarking.com
Haven Hill Natural Area Protected Planet (World Database on Protected Areas)

Protected areas of Michigan

National

Parks	Isle Royale Keweenaw (Historical) River Raisin (Battlefield)
Lakeshores	Pictured Rocks Sleeping Bear Dunes
Landmarks	Au Sable State Forest Dukes Research Natural Area Grand Mere State Park Haven Hill State Natural Area Newton Woods Porcupine Mountains Roscommon Virgin Pine Stand Strangmoor Bog Tobico Marsh Toumey Woods Warren Woods State Park Waterloo State Recreation Area
Forests	Hiawatha Huron–Manistee Ottawa
Wildlife Refuges	Detroit River Harbor Island Huron Kirtlands Warbler Wildlife Management Area Michigan Islands Michigan Wetland Management District Seney Shiawassee
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Au Sable Bear Creek Black Carp Indian Manistee Ontonagon Paint Pere Marquette Pine Presque Isle Sturgeon (Delta County) Sturgeon (Houghton County) Tahquamenon Whitefish Yellow Dog
Other Protected Areas	Father Marquette National Memorial Grand Island National Recreation Area Saint Helena Island National Scenic Area Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

State

Parks	Albert E. Sleeper Algonac Aloha Baraga Bay City Belle Isle Bewabic Brimley Burt Lake Cambridge Junction Cheboygan Clear Lake Coldwater Lake Craig Lake Dodge No.4 Duck Lake Fayette Fisherman's Island Fort Michilimackinac Fort Wilkins Fred Meijer White Pine Trail Gete Mino Mshkiigan Grand Haven Grand Mere Harrisville Hart–Montague Trail Hartwick Pines W.J. Hayes P.H. Hoeft P.J. Hoffmaster Holland Indian Lake Interlochen Kal-Haven Trail Lake Gogebic Lakelands Trail Lakeport Laughing Whitefish Falls Leelanau Ludington Mackinac Island Maybury F.J. McLain Charles Mears Meridian-Baseline Mill Creek Wm. Mitchell Muskallonge Lake Muskegon Negwegon Newaygo North Higgins Lake Onaway Orchard Beach Old Mission Otsego Lake Palms Book Petoskey Porcupine Mountains Port Crescent Sanilac Petroglyphs Saugatuck Dunes Seven Lakes Silver Lake Sleepy Hollow South Higgins Lake Wm. C. Sterling Straits Sturgeon Point Tahquamenon Falls Tawas Point Thompson's Harbor Traverse City Twin Lakes Van Buren Van Buren Trail Van Riper Warren Dunes Warren Woods Watkins Lake and County Preserve J.W. Wells Wilderness William G. Milliken Wilson Young
Recreation Areas	Bald Mountain Bass River Brighton Fort Custer Highland Holly Ionia Island Lake Lake Hudson Lime Island Menominee River Metamora-Hadley Ortonville Pinckney Pontiac Lake Proud Lake Rifle River Rockport Tippy Dam Waterloo W.C. Wetzel Yankee Springs
Forests	Au Sable Copper Country Escanaba River Lake Superior Mackinaw Pere Marquette
Underwater Preserves	Alger De Tour Passage Grand Traverse Bay Keweenaw Manitou Passage Marquette Sanilac Shores Southwest Michigan Straits of Mackinac Thumb Area Whitefish Point
Other	Agate Falls Scenic Site Bond Falls Scenic Site Douglass Houghton Falls Scenic Site Michigan Islands Wilderness Area Ocqueoc Falls Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center Wagner Falls Scenic Site

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