North Country National Scenic Trail

Good news for people who what to put 1150 miles on their boots all in the state of Michigan, the North Country National Scenic Trail is under construction. For those out there wondering what gibberish this is, it is a trail, much like the Appalachian trail, that stretches from North Dakota to New York. Nice. But before you lace up your boots there are some things to consider, first, the trail isn't finished. One area of the trail that is almost complete is the section that cuts through the Manistee National Forest, about 45 minutes south of The Sleeping Bear Dunes. The southern most trailhead does not even require you to have a parking permit (free) and is only about 2 hours and 15 minutes away (from me in East Lansing). To get there click this link, if you do not happen to be in East Lansing just change your starting address.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=1578646691554396740,43.565591,-85.837898&saddr=East+Lansing,+MI&daddr=43.565591,-85.837898&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=13&mra=pe&sll=43.569696,-85.79464&sspn=0.057088,0.141277&ie=UTF8&ll=43.289202,-84.671631&spn=1.835235,4.520874&z=8&om=1
Woah, I know. When traveling on the trail in the Manistee National Forest you are allowed to throw up tents just off the trail a ways (150 feet) and away from water sources (200 feet). It might be a good idea to print out the rules and bring them with you. They can be found here http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hmnf/pages/Recreation/camping.htm#DandPrules .
Once you are on the trail you got a good 60 to 70 miles of trail north of you to hike on in the Huron Manestee National Forest. Unfortunatly maps for this area are either not available online, or too hard for this humble writer to find, thus they must be picked up at a location like the supervisor's office.
Supervisor's Office
1755 S. Mitchell Street
Cadillac, Michigan 49601
1-800-821-6263
I have a hard copy of the maps and I will try to figure my scanner this weekend so I can put them up this weekend.
Until our paths cross again, happy trails.