Rush Info On Backpacking Michigan

hey HF'rs.
this is directed to those of you in michigan.

we have a trip planned for pharaoh lake in the adirondacks, but hurricane earl
says otherwise. although rain is not a BIG deal, i'd rather have the chance at some
late summer sunshine, and not spend the 3 days under my tarp porch.

that said, michigan is close to us in cleveland, so we are thinking of diverting there instead. problem is, we have 1.5 days to plan. & know nothing of the area.

WE are looking for backpack camps, wilderness areas, solitude, awesome vistas, you know... "the perfect woods". state parks are out, too crowded.

ANY IDEAS>!>!??
any help would be AWESOME AND APPRECIATED!!!!

North Country Trail just off 131 is real nice. Much less crowded than down further near the Manistee River Trail. I am going to be paddling that area. The trail head is at the Old U.S. 131 state forest campground just north of Cadillac. You could leave your car there and go in and out. Lots of water opportunites as it follows the river. It is well marked and lots of pretty scenes of the river.

Good luck. I am leaving tomorrow morning for the paddle. You could also try calling the NCT headquarters in Lowell, MI for information. Have fun.

David

Just got back from Pictured Rocks this past week, get away from the parking lots and its pretty sparse for people scenery abound, but that is a long drive and you need reservations for the campsites, might be a bit late for that. Jordan River Valley is a great place, there are some smaller hiking areas on the east side, like Reeds Lake Foot Travel Area, the Hoist Lakes area. Try this site....for ideas in my neck of the woods....
http://www.getoffthecouch.info/index.htm

thanks !!! just called pictured rocks, and they said "come on up, we still have some camps open"!

thanks for the quick responses!! shooligan and canoebie
looks like you can't go wrong with whatever camp you get.
and plenty of perfect trees i imagine.

bonus too: same drive time as our planned trip to the adirondacks.

HF is my life sav'AH.

Canoebie's suggestion is spot on.
Do a Google search for North Country Trail Association and then call the headquarters, they will probably be able to help you out.

The website is a wealth of information and includes maps also (hope they have a map that is useable for your trip planning and execution).

And the NCT off of US-131 is located in a National Forest area and not a state Park. You may see crowds of people on the trip North, but you won't experience them on the trail.
HYOH/YMMV

I hope this helps you guys out.

Awesome! Benchmark is not a good site for hanging, only found about 2 or 3 spots, and we got swarmed on by the Black Flies there. Every other site I saw had awesome hanging opportunities. Watch out for the Micro-Bears, they can be real pushy.