Editorial: Michigan residents love their secluded places

May 14, 2008 10:09 am

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When state officials decided to close 20 state forest campgrounds in northern Michigan last year for budget reasons, it likely didn't seem a big deal to most of us.

The big state parks, with their beaches, RV hookups, hot showers, WiFi, camp stores and other amenities were still open. There was the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. And there were still lots of small or private campgrounds available for visitors and locals alike.

But the ripple effects went a lot deeper than that and pointed out just how intimate a relationship many residents have with their state. They know and cherish their small, secluded spots; the places you have to work at to get to -- just the kind of places that got shut down.

But Anne Zukowski of Charlevoix was back at Pinney Bridge state forest campground in Antrim County last weekend after the state reopened all 20 campgrounds shut down last year. Zukowski spent the weekend hiking in the Jordan River Valley; Pinney Bridge is a rustic site right along the Jordan.

Tricia Stevens of Interlochen is thrilled that an annual family camping trip at the Forks state forest campground on the Boardman River in Grand Traverse County is back on; after 60 years it was moved last year to another spot after the Forks was closed.

There is no denying the state's budget woes are real; every dollar the state spends should be weighed against every other dollar. But let's also hope the budget -- or the perceived need to make dramatic cuts -- never gets this bad again.

The re-opened campgrounds also include Twin Lakes, Black Lake Trail Camp and Stoney Creek Trail Camp in Cheboygan County; Walsh Road Trail Camp in Crawford County; Johnson's Crossing in Otsego County; and Long Lake in Wexford County.