Forest Highways
Please note, though, this page only attempts to catalogue the Forest Highways—those primary access routes which provide all-weather access to all types of vehicles and are oftentimes paved. National Forests feature several lesser types of roads, each one of them numbered and signposted for inventory and navigational purposes. These roads are not detailed here, as there are literally thousands of them within Michigan alone. Examples of the various Forest Highway and Forest Road signage can be found on the Route Markers page. The various Federal Forest Highways are presented numerically by National Forest. (There are currently no known Federal Forest Highways in the Manistee National Forest.) Follow the quick links below to jump directly to the National Forest you desire:
Hiawatha N.F. (East Unit) | Hiawatha
N.F. (West Unit) | Huron N.F. | Ottawa
N.F. | ||
Hiawatha National Forest (East Unit) |
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Western terminus: | Western forest boundary along Worth Rd in Mackinac Co, just west of Campground Rd (FR-3108) |
| Eastern terminus: | M-123/Tahquamenon Tr northwest of Moran | |
| Length: | 6 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-2 follows Worth Rd for its entire length. Interestingly enough, Worth Rd was an early route of US-2 before the current shoreline routing was completed in the 1930s. At last check, FFH-2 is not signed. | |
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Western terminus: | M-123 southeast of Trout Lake at the eastern jct of M-123 & H-40 |
| Eastern terminus: | Eastern forest boundary along H-40 at Fibre | |
| Length: | 15 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-8 follows H-40 for its entire length. For this reason, FFH-8 is not signed while county-designated H-40 is. | |
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Southern terminus: | Southern terminus of county-designated H-63 (Mackinac Tr) at BL I-75 just north of St Ignace |
| Northern terminus: | Forest boundary at the Mackinac/Chippewa Co line along H-63/Mackinac Tr | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-26 follows H-63/Mackinac Tr for its entire length and, because it runs concurrently with an alread-signed route, FFH-26 is not itself signed. | |
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Western terminus: | M-123 at the western end of the I.L. "Curley" Lewis Memorial Hwy about halfway between Eckerman and Paradise |
| Eastern terminus: | Eastern forest boundary at the western edge of Bay Mills (cnr Lakeshore Dr & Tower Rd) | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-42 follows the Whitefish Bay National Scenic Byway for its entire length, which runs along the I.L. "Curley" Lewis Memorial Hwy and Lakeshore Dr. At last check, FFH-42 is not signed. | |
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Southern terminus: | Southern terminus of county-designated H-57 (Brevort Lake Rd) at US-2 between St Ignace and Brevort |
| Northern terminus: | Northern terminus of H-57 at M-123/Tahquamenon Tr at Allenville south of Moran | |
| Length: | 7.5 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-57 follows H-57/Bevort Lake Rd for its entire length and, because it runs concurrently with an alread-signed route, FFH-57 is not itself signed. It is assumed FFH-57 derives its route designation from the concurrent H-57. | |
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Southern terminus: | M-28 at Strongs Corners south of Strongs |
| Northern terminus: | Uncertain: Possibly at FFH-42/Lakeshore Dr about 9 miles north of Strongs | |
| Length: | 10 miles | |
| Notes: | At last check, FFH-83 is not signed and the designation only appears on official forest maps along Salt Point Rd starting at M-28 and proceeding northerly. From the official maps, it is unclear where FFH-83 terminates on the northern end, although it could be assumed the logical terminus would be at FFH-42/Lakeshore Dr. | |
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Western terminus: | M-134 in central Mackinac Co, approximately 1.5 mi east of I-75 |
| Eastern terminus: | Eastern forest boundary at the Marquette/Clark Twp line, northwest of Hessel | |
| Length: | 7.75 miles | |
| Notes: | At last check, FFH-84 does not seem to be signed in the field and runs along St Ignace Rd in its entirety. | |
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Southern terminus: | M-123/Tahquamenon Tr (cnr Charles Moran Rd) at Moran |
| Northern terminus: | H-40 (Unsigned FFH-8) approximately 5 miles west of Fibre | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-85 runs east from M-123 along Charles Moran Rd for about 1/4 mile, then turns north to follow East Lake Rd for its entirety to H-40/FFH-8. At last check, FFH-85 is not signed in the field. | |
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Southern terminus: | M-28 one mile west of Raco |
| Northern terminus: | FFH-42/Lakeshore Dr at Dollar Settlement | |
| Length: | 6.5 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-87 follows Ranger Rd between M-28 and Lakeshore Dr in its entirety. At last check, FFH-87 is not signed in the field. | |
Hiawatha National Forest (West Unit) |
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Southern terminus: | Nahma at the intersection of CR-499/EE.25 Rd, CR-495/Main St & CR-497/River St-GG Rd |
| Northern terminus: | Jct M-28/M-94 & H-13 at Wetmore, southeast of Munising | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-13 is the only signed Forest Highway in the Hiawatha National Forest (East and West Units) and is rather well-marked in its entirety. However, FFH-13 shares its route with county-designated H-13, which is rather poorly signed throughout. In fact, until 2005 the only references to H-13 is along US-2 at Nahma Junction and along M-28/M-94 at Wetmore. Delta Co does not recognize the existence of H-13, while the Alger Co Road Commission has traditionally not had the resources to post the necessary signs along the route. In 2005, however, several new H-13 route markers appeared in the Munising area. | |
Huron National ForestUntil further field-checking can verify whether these Federal Forest Highways in the Huron National Forest are sign-posted as such, it will be assumed here these Huron National Forest routes are not marked in the field. |
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Southern terminus: | Southern forest boundary at the Oscoda/Ogemaw Co line (cnr CR-487/Mapes Rd & County Line Rd) northwest of Rose City |
| Northern terminus: | M-72/Ryno Rd (cnr of CR-487/Mapes Rd), 5.5 miles west of Mio | |
| Length: | 9.5 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-1 runs along CR-487/Mapes Rd for its entire length. | |
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Southern terminus: | Jct FFH-5 in South Branch at the cnr of Heath Rd & South Branch-County Line Rd |
| Northern terminus: | FFH-10 at cnr of CR-498/Mack Lake Tr & CR-604/Curtisville Rd in Oscoda Co's Mentor Twp | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-3 runs along Mack Lake Tr (also designated CR-489 in Oscoda Co) for most of its entire length. | |
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Southern terminus: | Jct FFH-3 in South Branch at the cnr of Heath Rd & South Branch-County Line Rd |
| Northern terminus: | FFH-8/Bamfield Rd at Curtisville, 7.5 mi west of Glennie | |
| Length: | 7.5 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-5 follows South Branch Rd/County Line Rd northerly from South Branch along the Iosco/Ogemaw Co line, which turns into just South Branch Rd as it runs along the Oscoda/Alcona Co line. FFH-5 then turns east for a mile along Michaud Rd, then north again to follow Curtisville Rd to its northern terminus. | |
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Western terminus: | FFH-1 (at cnr CR-487/Mapes Rd & CR-488/Valley Rd) in southwestern Oscoda Co |
| Eastern terminus: | M-33 at the cnr of CR-488/Valley Rd, 7-1/3 miles south of Mio | |
| Length: | 5 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-5 follows CR-488/Valley Rd for its entire length. | |
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Southern terminus: | FFH-8/Bamfield Rd (at cnr AuSable Rd) about 3 miles west of Glennie |
| Northern terminus: | M-65/M-72 at cnr F-32/Aspen Alley Rd just south of Curran | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-7 follows AuSable Rd northerly from FFH-8/Bamfield Rd, on the east side of the Alcona Pond and AuSable River to F-32/FFH-12. From there, FFH-7 joins with county-designated F-32 and continues northeasterly along Aspen Alley Rd to its northern terminus at M-65/M-72. | |
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Western terminus: | FFH-5/Curtisville Rd at Curtisville |
| Eastern terminus: | M-65 in Glennie | |
| Length: | 7.5 miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-8 follows Bamfield Rd for its entire length. | |
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Western terminus: | M-33 at cnr CR-604/Curtisville Rd, 6 mi south of Mio |
| Eastern terminus: | FFH-7/AuSable Rd in western Alcona Co | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-10 follows CR-604/Curtisville Rd easterly from M-33 in Oscoda Co, then turns northeasterly along 4001 Rd and into Alcona Co to its eastern terminus. | |
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Western terminus: | M-33/M-72 at jct F-32/CR-600/McKinley Rd just north of downtown Mio |
| Eastern terminus: | FFH-7 at cnr AuSable Rd & Aspen Alley Rd southwest of Curran | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-12 follows county-designated F-32 (which is also designated CR-600 in Oscoda Co) for its entire length. | |
Ottawa National Forest |
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Southern terminus: | Wisconsin state line (the southern forest boundary) in southwestern Iron Co, at a connection with WI STH-17 |
| Northern terminus: | M-38 along the Ontonagon/Houghton Co line east of Mass City and Greenland | |
| Length: | __ miles | |
| Notes: | FFH-16 is the only signed Forest Highway in the Ottawa National Forest and is reasonably well-marked in its entirety. However, a long running error on the Official Michigan Highway Map issued by the Michigan Dept of Transportation has resulted in this highway being marked as "H-16" on many commerical maps today. It is assumed MDOT was attempting to symbolize the existence of FFH-16 using the erroneous "H-16" marker on the map. This route is in no way marked as county-designated "H-16" in the field, nor has it ever been. For more information about county-designated highways, see the County Routes section of this website. | |
Additional InformationBelow are direct links to the four National Forests in Michigan:
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Forest
Highways (or Federal Forest Highways) are those primary routes into
or within National Forests in the U.S. which may be designated by
the U.S. Forest Service, but are often maintained by local agencies,
such as the County Road Commissions in Michigan. An example of the
Federal Forest Highway route marker appears at right.