Step Back in Time to 1896 and experience life in a Logging Camp at Hartwick Pines State Park (MI)

Hartwick Pines State Park visitors can journey back to 1896 and meet members of the Salling, Hanson and Company’s “Section 9 Camp” as they prepare for the coming winter logging season during an event planned from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17. Costumed interpreters will portray a saloon keeper, a railroad surveyor, the landlooker, the camp clerk, the camp cooks, a teamster, and some of the shantyboys, the men who cut down the trees.

The Logging Museum will be transformed into the “Section 9 Camp,” which was located in what is now Hartwick Pines, for the night. Visitors will take on the role of new employees of the Salling, Hanson and Company and journey from the “Grayling Train Depot” (the visitor center) to the logging camp. The lantern-lit, one-quarter mile walk between the visitor center and the logging museum will represent the eight-mile journey to the camp. There the newcomers will learn first hand about life in the bunkhouse, the search for tall timber, the huge appetites of the lumberjacks and the dangers of lumbering.

The campfire on the “camboose” will round out the evening. Visitors should plan on spending approximately an hour, but are invited to stay longer. Doors of the visitor center will open at 6:30 p.m., with tours starting at 7 p.m. The last tour will leave at 8:30 p.m.

Hartwick Pines State Park is located at 4216 Ranger Rd. in Grayling, Michigan. Hartwick Pines Logging Museum is part of the Michigan Historical Museum Family. It is administered by the Michigan Historical Center and the Parks and Recreation Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. For more information about this event or other programs at the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum, please call 989-348-2537 or visit www.michigan.gov/loggingmuseum.

There is no charge for this event; however a Recreation Passport is required for vehicles entering the park.

The Recreation Passport has replaced motor vehicle permits for entry into Michigan state parks, recreation areas and state-administered boating access fee sites. This new way to fund Michigan's outdoor recreation opportunities also helps to preserve state forest campgrounds, trails and historic and cultural sites in state parks, and provides park development grants to local communities.

Michigan residents can purchase the Recreation Passport ($10 for motor vehicles; $5 for motorcycles) by checking "YES" on their license plate renewal forms, or at any state park or recreation area. Nonresident motor vehicles must still display a valid nonresident Recreation Passport ($29 annual; $8 daily) to enter a Michigan state park, recreation area or state-administered boating access fee site; these can be purchased at any state park or recreation area, or through the Michigan e-Store at www.michigan.gov/estore. To learn more about the Recreation Passport, visit www.michigan.gov/recreationpassport or call 517-241-7275.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.