French Farm Lake Road

Trail Overview

French Farm Lake Road is a sandy dirt-based Emmet County road, part of the French Farm Flooding State WMA, within Michigan's DNR Gaylord Forest Management Unit. The trail showcases the natural sandy dirt terrain of the northern lower peninsula's landscape between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The road is placed on the northeast corner of the Lake featuring a scenic and camping focus, this is emphasized in its ease, with only mild splashes of water and potholes. The trail features a gentle track through the dense trees, with the lake in short view past the treeline to the east. The trail ultimately has 6 campsites along it and features a turnaround lot, hiking trailhead, and boat launch at the southern endpoint. Need a dose of nature while staying in the Mackinaw City area? Look no further, take the short drive to French Farm Lake, and get some fresh air.

Photos of French Farm Lake Road

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Difficulty

French Farm Lake Road is simple given a 1/10 base rating, having a well-packed gravel entrance transitioning into a packed sandy dirt base shortly into the track. In the warm months, it features only potholes and very mild water collection spots, providing only enough splash to show evidence a vehicle was not on a paved road. In cold months it could be a great snow-based road to have a little exploration to get to the south endpoint and see the lake frozen over, but as a sign states at the entry, this road is not maintained in the winter months and should be used with caution. The road could be mended and made a better 1/10, but could also see difficulty stepping up in times of frozen precipitation or extreme use.

History

The French Farm Lake was home to an 18th-century colonial frontier farm, ultimately growing food on the lake shorelines, this food was then transported to supply Fort Michilimackinac. In 1981-1982 the site was excavated by archaeologists, and later a monograph was written in 1982 and released in 1983 surrounding the discoveries, this work is called "Archaeological Investigations at French Farm Lake in Northern Michigan, 1981-1982. A British Colonial Farm Site."

Technical Rating