About: Hartwick Pines State Park

Hartwick Pines State Park is a public recreation area covering 9,762 acres (3,951 ha) in Crawford County near Grayling and Interstate 75 on the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The state park contains an old-growth forest of white pines and red pines, known as the Hartwick Pines. It is claimed by the Michigan Department of Natural resources that this old growth area, along with the Red Pine Natural Area Preserve in Roscommon County resembles the appearance of all Northern Michigan prior to the logging era. These areas do, however, lack the reoccurring low intensity fires which once occurred throughout northern Michigan, impacting regeneration of red pine and eastern hemlock, as well as leading to an increased content of hardwood species such as sugar maple and beech.