| Southern Terminus: |
Military Rd approximately ¼ mile northeast of the Camp Grayling (Michigan National Guard) Main Gate, approximately 3½ miles southwest of Grayling |
| Northern Terminus: |
In Hartwick Pines State Park just north of Bobcat Tr at the former ain park entrance, 7 miles northeast
of Grayling |
| Length: |
10.991 miles |
| Maps: |
Route Map of M-93 |
| Notes: |
It could be argued that M-93 is essentially two spur-routes joined into one by way of concurrent segments with other highways. One of the two "spurs" leads from M-72 to the main entrance to the Michigan National Guard's Camp Grayling training facility southwest of Grayling. The other "spur" serves as a state highway access route into Hartwick Pines State Park. In between, M-93 runs concurrently with M-72 and BL I-75, joining the two "spur" routes into one single route. |
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In "State Trunkline Needs, 1960–1980," a set of maps prepared by the State Highway Dept's Office of Planning, Programming Division in 1960 showing possible additions, upgrades and improvements to the state trunkline system over the ensuing twenty years, MSHD staff recommended retaining the status quo for the route of M-93 during that timeframe, including maintaining the route all the way northerly to County Rd 612 north of Hartwick Pines State Park and through the main portion of Camp Grayling to 11th St on the western edge of the camp area. While M-93 has remained as a connecting route between Camp Grayling the City of Grayling and Hartwick Pines State Park, it has been slightly shortened on each end and realigned in the Lake Margrethe area later in that decade. |
| History: |
1920 (June 25) – A new state trunkline highway route is established in Crawford Co beginning at Camp Grayling (roughly at the cnr of Bear Creek Rd & Wilson Hill Rd) in the Hanson Military Reserve southwest of Gaylord and continuinging northerly and easterly along Margrethe Blvd, then via Old Lake Rd and the current route of M-72/M-93 to approximately the Au Sable River immediately west of Grayling. This new trunkline, given the designation of M-93. The remaining ½ mile gap between the eastern end of M-93 and M-18 (later US-27, now BL I-75) in Grayling has not been officially established as a state trunkline route initially. |
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1920 (July 9) – Approximately two weeks after the first 3.9-mile segment of M-93 is officially established as a state trunkline highway between Camp Graying and the Au Sable River just west of Gaylord, an additional 0.5 mile of trunkline is assumed into the system beginning near the Au Sable River at the eastern end of the initial segment and continuing northeasterly to a new terminus at M-18 (later US-27, now BL I-75) in Grayling at the cnr of Lake St, McClellan St & Cedar St. |
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1922 (June 2) – A 1.49-mile long extension of M-93 at Camp Grayline in the Hanson Military Reservation southwest of Grayling is officially established as a state trunkline highway, beginning at the western terminus of M-93 and continuing southwesterly and westerly via Howe Rd to 11th St, where it now terminates. |
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1928 (June 28) – During a major extension of the route of M-76 where 24.7 miles of new trunkline mileage is added between Grayling and Kalkaska, the easternmost 1.4 miles of M-93 becomes concurrently designated with the newly extended M-76 as it travels between Grayling and Kalkaska. |
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1929 (Dec 2) – A 7.2-mile long state trunkline highway route is officially established along the path of present-day Hartwick Pines Rd from US-27/North Grayling Hwy northeasterly to Townline Rd on the Grayling/Maple Forest Twp line, primarily to provide an access route to Hartwick Pines State Park which was deeded to the state in 1927 and became a state park that same year. However, the established route is not yet constructed, so a "marked and maintained" route using existing local roads is temporarily signed as M-93. The temporary signed route begins at the former eastern terminus of M-93 at US-27/McClellan-Cedar Sts and proceeds northeasterly along Lake St, then easterly and northerly via North Down River Rd, northerly on Wilcox Bridge Rd, easterly via Wintergreen Ln, northeasterly along Jones Lake Rd, northery via Peters Rd, jogging westerly on Karen Lake Rd, northerly via Bobcat Trl to end at the new state park. |
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1932 (July) – Hartwick Pines Rd, the officially-established route of the new northeasterly extension of M-93 from US-27 north of Grayling to the main facilities at Hartwick Pines State Park, is completed and opened to traffic. M-93 now runs along its established route from Grayling northerly with US-27 to Hartwick Pines Rd, then northeasterly along the newly-completed roadway to Bobcat Trl. The route from Bobcat Trl northerly to its official terminus at Townline Rd is not yet constructed to state trunkline standards, however. The route of "Temporary M-93" along Lake St, North Down River Rd, Wilcox Bridge Rd, Wintergreen Ln, Jones lake Rd, Peters Rd, Karen Lake Rd, and Bobcat Trl remains under local jurisdiction and all Temporary M-93 route markers are removed. |
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1932 (Oct 29) – An additional 1.0 mile of Hartwick Pines Rd from Townline Rd on the northern edge of Hartwick Pines State Park northerly to County Rd 612 approximately 5½ miles east of Frederic is established an an extension of M-93, although it is not yet improved to state trunkline standards. |
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1932 (Oct 29) – When officially established as a state trunkline route in 1928, the portion of M-76 from M-93 west of Grayling westerly into Kalkaska Co traveled along an unimproved, one-lane, winding path which was not built as a functioning state highway. On this date, the 15.5 miles of that winding path are cancelled as a state trunkline highway route and turned back to local control. Simultaneously, a new path for M-76 is officially established on a more direct alignment following the present-day M-72, shortening the concurrency with M-93. |
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1935 – Construction on both the northernmost two miles of the portion of M-93 established on Dec 2, 1929 and the 1.0 mile extension from Oct 29, 1932 is completed and the remainder of M-93 from the developed area of Hartwick Pines State Park northerly to County Rd 612 is completed and fully open to traffic. |
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1940 (Nov 12) – A new, more direct alignment for M-93 is established and opened to traffic along the present-day route of M-93 between Margrethe Blvd and M-72 approximately 1½ miles west of Grayling. Most of the former route along Old Lake Rd is turned back to county control, while a portion of the former route through the Grayling Winter Recreation Area (the present-day Hanson Hills Recreation Area) is abandoned and obliterated as a public roadway. |
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1941–45  – The route of US-27/M-93 on the north side of Grayling is relocated onto a brand-new alignment (along present-day BL I-75/M-93) due to the expansion of the Grayling Army Airfield in support of Army Air Force training requirements for World War II.
- 1941 (May) – The existing Michigan National Guard airfield is taken over by the federal government and becomes the Grayling Army Airfield. The Army embarks on a project to enlarge the existing airfield, constructed in 1927–29. This project extends the airfield and its runways across the existing route of US-27/M-93 between North Down River Rd (present-day F-32) and M-93/Hartwick Pines Rd. US-27/M-93 is moved onto a "temporary" gravel road which is the northerly continuation of Grayling's McClellan St which then bends northwesterly to merge back into the former route at the jct of US-27 & M-93. A portion of the former route is obliterated and lies under the airfield's expanded runways.
- 1943 (Late) – Construction on the "temporary" alignment for US-27/M-93 north of Grayling, which had been displaced by the expansion of the Grayling McNamara Army Airfield when it was taken over by the federal government in 1941, is completed with a 20-foot wide gravel surface, bypassing the expanded airfield to the east.
- 1944 – The final touches on the new US-27/M-93 alignment to the east of the airfield are completed with the completion of its 22-foot wide concrete surface. The federal government covers the entire $93,700 cost of relocating the highway around the airfield.
- 1945 (June 26) – Four years after the process of relocating US-27/M-93 due to the construction of the Grayling Army Airfield and two years after the roadway initially opens to traffic, the new 2.3-mile long alignment is officially established as a state trunkline route, while the former 2.5-mile long route is officially cancelled. The 0.51-mile portion of the old alignment which remains open as public roadway (from the north airfield boundary northerly to N Grayling Hwy) is turned back to county control and become Airport Rd, while the segment through the airfield itself is abandoned as a public road and obliterated. Parts of the original 1929 and 1931 pavement not physically obliterated by airfield construction still remain in between the runways and taxiways to the present day, as is the 0.23-mile section of the former highway from McClellan St northwesterly to North Down River Rd, which is abandoned as a public roadway, although the original concrete pavement is still there to the modern day.
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1948 – The final 8 miles of gravel-surfaced M-93, in the Hartwick Pines area, are paved. |
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1961 (Dec 1) – With the completion of the new I-75 freeway bypassing Grayling, the concurrent US-27/M-93 routing on the north side of town becomes BL I-75/M-93 and the newly-concurrent BL I-75 continues with M-93 for an additional 1.8 miles back to the new I-75 freeway north of Grayling. (No changes to the route of M-93 occur at this point other than the changing of the concurrent route designation.) |
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1966 (June 30) – What could be considered as completing the effort which began with the 1940 realignment of M-93 onto a more direct alignment between M-72 and Margrethe Blvd occurs when a further realignment of M-93 along its present-day route from Margrethe Blvd southwesterly into the heart of Camp Grayling is officially assumed into the state trunkline system. The new 1.36-mile long segment moves the highway onto a less windy route and away from the homes and cottages lining the eastern shore of Lake Margrethe. The new southern terminus of M-93 is now at the cnr of Howe Rd & 1st St, approximately ¼ mile beyond the main entrance gate for Camp Grayling. The 3.3-mile long former route is turned back to local and National Guard control. The portion turned back to the county runs along Margrethe Blvd from M-93 approximately ½ mile southwest of Old Lake Rd to the new alignment at the Camp Grayling main gate as well as the portion of Howe Rd within Camp Grayling from 4th St westerly to 11th St. The part of the former M-93 transferred to National Guard control within Camp Grayling runs along Armory Rd (Wilson Hill Rd according to some sources), then Lake St (Soldier Dr on some maps) along the shore of Lake Margrethe, and 4th St southerly to Howe Rd (where county jurisdiction picks up again westerly to 11th St). |
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1968 (Aug 30) – M-93 is scaled back by 2.97 miles on the north from its former terminus at County Rd 612 to terminate at the main entrance of Hartwick Pines State Park. The former route north of M-93 along Hartwick Pines Rd from that point northerly is turned back to county control. |
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1990s – In the early 1990s, the DNR conducted a massive overhaul of Hartwick Pines State Park, moving the main entrance off M-93 southwesterly more than a mile. Even with this change, the state still maintains Hartwick Pines Rd as M-93 all the way to the former park entrance at Bobcat Tr. |
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2012 – The southern terminus of M-93 in Crawford County at Camp Grayling is relocated 0.24 miles northeast to the intersection of M-93 & Military Rd due to the MDOT abandonment of jurisdiction of M-93 in the vicinity of the main gate. The existing entrance to Camp Grayling does not meet the Army Access Control Point (ACP) design standards as established by the US Army Corps of Engineers. A redesigned entrance meets current standards and enhances the safety and appearance of the area. Camp Grayling staff proposed a roundabout be constructed between Military Rd and the entrance gate to improve the safety and security of the motorists, provide unaware motorists the chance to turn around before entering the base, slow traffic on approach to the guardhouse, and enhance the impression of visitors. The roundabout and other improvements are funded by the Michigan National Guard.
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| Controlled Access: |
No portion of M-93 is freeway or expressway. |
| NHS: |
The portion of M-93 running concurrently with M-72 from jct BL I-75 in Grayling westerly is on the National Highway System (NHS). (1.37 miles) |
| Memorial Highway: |
At present, no portion of M-93 has been designated as part of a Memorial Highway. |
| Photographs: |
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| Weblinks: |
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