1
Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
10,298 acres5.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Lake
Lake, MI parks, trails & bike paths
About 21% of Lake is conserved land, roughly 4,727 acres. There are about 9.6 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit (5.9 mi) and Houghton Lake Flats Flooding State WMA (0.5 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Lake, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Lake outdoors
Conserved land
21%
4,727 of 22,514 acres
Trails
9.6 mi
0.3 mi per sq mi · 4 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
4
3,979 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 0.1 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Houghton Lake Flats Flooding State Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1,642 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Pere Marquette State Forest - Cadillac Unit
Managed by Michigan Department of Natural Resources
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Houghton Lake Public Water Access Site
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Campgrounds in Lake
Houghton Lake State Forest CampgroundIn Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit
West Houghton Lake Campground
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
4,727 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 5 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.1 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Lake
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Conservation Area 4,407 acPrivate Park 315 acConservation Easement 5 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Area Dead Stream SwampState Conservation Area | State natural resources | 1,854 | Open |
| Houghton Lake Flats North Flooding State Wildlife Management AreaState Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,714 | Open |
| Dead Stream Flooding State Wildlife Management AreaState Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 839 | Open |
| Eureka Hunt ClubPrivate Park | Private owners | 315 | Open |
Nearby
Lake and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake | 21% | 9.6 mi | 4 |
| Markey | 7.3% | 15.5 mi | 3 |
| Enterprise | 39% | 24.0 mi | 2 |
| Lyon | 16.9% | 92.7 mi | 5 |
| Roscommon | 12.4% | 246.4 mi | 4 |
| Gerrish | 3.5% | 23.8 mi | 2 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Lake's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.