A Return Trip

I’ve spent many weekends through the years at the Pinckney State Rec Area. All have been with different people and different circumstances. This particular trip to Crooked Lake was over Mother’s Day weekend. The idea was giving my wife a weekend alone as a present and taking the three boys out on a camping trip. It’s the first time we’ve done this, but it seems like I might have started a tradition.

Pinckney is one of the big state parks fairly close to my neck of the woods (less than an hour and a half drive). It boasts multiple campgrounds, a dozen and a half lakes, and miles of hiking trails all on over 11,000 acres. You can make multiple visits and still not do the same things twice. We stayed at the rustic Crooked Lake campground this trip, but the park also offers the Modern Bruin Lake campground, as well as hike in sites.

A word of warning regarding getting to your destination: you might not be able to trust your GPS. I had forgotten this from my last trip and as of this writing the issue still hadn’t been corrected. Putting “Pinkney State Recreation Area” in got us to the park, but nowhere near any campground or ranger station. It was basically just a spot on a dirt road with directions to walk into the woods from there. Make sure to put in the actual address for the campground you’re staying at and checkup that your pin is actually somewhere you can drive to.

The Campground

It had been a few years since my last visit. It had been a one-on-one trip with my middle son, our first. He was eager to come back with his brothers. That stay had also been at Crooked Lake but a different site. I chose 9 due to its proximity to the fishing pier, despite being on a corner. I generally avoid corner sites in the middle of a campground due to traffic, but I was pleasantly surprised with my decision this time. Having only 22 sites and not all full during a May weekend, the traffic was minimal, and the site was rather large giving the boys room to roam.

If you’re looking for more seclusion, 19 and 20 are at the end of the cul-de-sac. Zane and I had stayed at 19 on our last trip, but that site was smaller and a little back on a hill. That said, I’d definitely consider taking 19 and 20 with a larger group to have the far end of the campground to ourselves. There are several connected sites, i.e. 23 and 24, which also would be great options for a multi-site group.

Overall, I don’t know if I really saw any sites as being bad options, and the campground in general was fairly quiet and chill, at least on the weekend we were there. The site itself is back quite a bit from the day-use area in this part of the park and has a very up north feel.

Fishing

The boys, Zane in particular, were excited to get out on the pier. This was one of our first trips of the year with weather conducive to fishing. They had a number of new lures and baits they want to try out. The fishing pier at Crooked Lake is basic, but more than adequate for the casual child angler. There is also a “unimproved” boat launch area for canoes or a small rowboat. I wouldn’t suggest bringing anything large out on this small lake.

The boys had some pretty crazy luck last year when going out, and I’ve been sure to tell them that you won’t always catch fish every time you go out. This was one of those times. The lake is a little under 60 acres and 40’ deep at it’s deepest, and I know full well there are fish out there we even saw them in the water on multiple occasions. However, whether it was the new bait or just luck not being with us, they were shutout both morning and afternoon trips without hardly a nibble.

They were a little disappointed, but I chalked it up as a good experience. When the first bait didn’t seem to be working they were willing to try multiple different spots and lures and techniques. None of it worked this time, but they took it more or less in stride. This little lake is just for fishing and wildlife watching with no beach or swimming area. For this you have to head to one of the larger lakes.

Silver Lake Day Use Area

Being Mid-May, the water was still a little cool for swimming. That said, my boys probably still would have hopped in if I let them. I’ve watched them spend a full afternoon as the only swimmers on a Lake Superior beach while passerbys looked at them befuddled. I nixed the idea on this trip by not bringing swim gear. We did actually see a few folks in the water… in wetsuits.

Our main reason for heading out here was just for a little more room to roam.  Not that we couldn’t toss a frisbee at the campsite, but the day use area is pretty expansive, and mostly empty on an early season morning. In addition to swimming, a playground, volleyball courts and another fishing pier, there is also concessions during the summer and boat rentals.

While here we also topped off water supplies. For some reason the pump at Crooked Lake was acting up on this stay. It worked, but with more elbow grease than really should be necessary. It would have been fine if it was the only source, though the boys were frustrated that they couldn’t use it themselves. Heading off to get water is one of their favorite shows of independence that they can do on our trips. The pump at the trailhead at Silver Lake worked just fine and they were able to fill hydro packs before starting on our next activity, hiking the trails.

The Potawatomi Trail, etc

The trails are a big attraction to my repeat visits to Pinckney. I admit though that I didn’t know the rather interesting history before this trip. A very new looking sign had been erected at the trail head talking about how the system came to be. Apparently, a Boy Scout troop took the initiative to petition the state back in the 60’s to create a trail system, since they had consistently had to go out of state for backpacking opportunities. The state took them up on this, and the Pinckney-Waterloo trail that is part of this system is still considered a must-do weekend trek in lower Michigan.

We weren’t looking for a multi-day experience this time around, but there are many other options to be had. This particular afternoon we opted for the Silver Lake loop, that measures in at around 2 miles. This was a pleasant little hike, though couple be considered intermediate in some areas. My five year old was able to complete the loop, with minimal stops, but there are some pretty good inclines. Despite extensive work to keep erosion in check, there are a few spots that are a little rough. Nothing dangerous by any stretch. However, I wouldn’t call it “easy”.

There are some definite rewards and points of interest if you do venture out. At one point the trail goes over a small bridge across a river connecting two lakes. The bridge is higher than it strictly needs to be for foot traffic in order to allow for canoers and kayaks a path underneath. Without knowing the names of the two lakes the boys took it on themselves to call them “Mac” and “Cheese”. This joke stuck for quite a while.

One of the stops that I was very interested in was the remains of an old homestead. The stone chimney and root cellar are all that remains of a cabin built in the mid-1800s. A plaque at the site gives more detailed information, but I’m always fascinated by these remnants of civilization. The boys also found them rather cool and insisted on posing. It also made for a rather great conversation starter about life and the passage of time which was a pleasant surprise that kept us occupied the rest of the hike.

Too Short of a Stay

As with most weekend trips, this was over far too quickly, although we were all missing mom by the end. I do take trips with the boys individually, but it was our first family trip missing one part of the family. We all agreed that it felt rather weird. Having an all-boys trip might now be an annual tradition, but none of us wanted to make it too much of a habit.

With that said, there is obviously the vast majority of the 11,000 acres that we left unexplored. The boys, as they usually do, were talking about coming back even before we were packing up, and we likely will. This park is part of my pre-child memories, and you never know how things are going to hold up. In this case, though, the experience was even better this time around.

Whether this would be your first time our a return visit, this should be pretty high on your list if you live in the area. It might night checkoff all the boxes of adventuring out in the wilderness since it’s less than a half hour from downtown Ann Arbor. However, it absolutely feels like you’re far more distant. For a relaxing weekend enjoying what the outdoors has to offer this place is a great options for all ages and all experience levels. It has a little something for everyone and plenty of room to roam.