Lapeer State Game Area History

Lapeer State Game Area: the “big woods” hiding in plain sight

If you’ve ever taken the back way out past farm fields and two-tracks north of town and felt that little shift—less traffic, more sky, a different kind of quiet—you’ve brushed up against the Lapeer State Game Area. It isn’t a park with a big entrance sign and a perfect loop trail. It’s more like a patchwork of Michigan that still feels wild, stitched together by wetlands, woods, old dikes, and wide-open pockets where the wind can actually do what it wants.

On a cold morning, you’ll hear your boots crunch in the frost and the dry cattails clicking in the breeze. In summer, it’s warm grass, dragonflies, and that hum you only notice when you finally stop talking. And in fall, you can practically feel the calendar change—more trucks at pull-offs, more orange in the distance, and that shared, unspoken “yep… it’s that time.”

What a lot of folks don’t realize is just how big it is. The Lapeer State Game Area covers more than 9,000 acres of DNR-managed land spread across multiple townships in central-northern Lapeer County. Translation: it’s a huge backyard for Lapeer, and you can be in it fast without planning a whole weekend around it.

Before it was “the game area,” it was shaped by ice, timber, and hard work

Long before the state put a name on it, this landscape was built by ice and water—kettle lakes, low wetlands, and rolling ground that never quite feels flat. The way the land dips and rises out there isn’t random. It’s the kind of terrain that makes you slow down a little, especially if you’re walking a two-track and the trees suddenly open up into a marshy basin.

Then came the human chapter that so much of Michigan shares: logging first, farms after. In the 1800s, loggers worked the area for oak, hickory, and white pine. After that logging era (roughly 1870 to 1885), agriculture became the dominant land use—and if you’ve driven the edges of the game area, you can still see that farm-country “frame” around it today.

That’s a big part of why the place feels the way it does now. It isn’t just one habitat type. It’s woods next to wetlands next to managed openings, and then—right over the next rise—working fields beyond the boundary. It’s that “in-between” character that makes it feel like classic Lapeer County.

How the state started piecing it together

The Lapeer State Game Area didn’t appear overnight. The story of it becoming public land starts in the early 1940s. By 1943, Michigan conservation leadership was moving forward with land acquisitions, and funding tied to the Pittman–Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act helped those early purchases get off the ground. By June of 1944, roughly 1,700 acres had been purchased.

The original goal wasn’t just “buy land.” It was a specific kind of land plan: a place that could support wildlife through refuge units while still keeping other parts open for public hunting. That multi-use idea—quiet zones for wildlife alongside areas meant for public recreation—still explains a lot of what you experience out there today.

One of the early pieces that adds a little local flavor to the history is the Conklin-King Ranch. It’s described as a working horse farm near Sawdel Lake, offering boarding and trail riding. So even in those earlier days, this wasn’t land with one single identity. It was already a mix of working use and outdoor use—just under different ownership.

Where the Vernors connection fits in

The Vernors story is part of the patchwork, not the whole quilt—but it’s worth knowing because it helps explain why some corners feel so “held back” from development. In 1955, the state purchased a large James Vernor estate—3,351 acres—including the entire shoreline of Long Lake and surrounding wetlands. The northwest shore was developed as “Acadia Ridge Farm,” including thoroughbred horses.

When you hear locals mention “the Vernor place,” that’s the thread they’re tugging on. It’s not a theme-park attraction or a neat little museum stop. It’s more like one chapter in the bigger story of how this area became protected and managed land.

Long Lake, impoundments, and the places you can’t just wander into

Here’s where first-time visitors sometimes get surprised: the game area isn’t one big open lawn. It’s managed land, and some sections are intentionally quiet for wildlife. You’ll see it right on signage and maps—areas marked as refuge where entry isn’t allowed. That’s not red tape for the sake of it. It’s part of how the whole place works.

Long Lake is a centerpiece of that story. It’s an impoundment inside the game area, and it’s part of a set of three consecutive impoundments built in 1964 through cooperation between DNR divisions. Over time, refuge boundaries and public access rules have been adjusted, debated, and refined—another reminder that this is living, managed land, not just “woods that happen to be there.”

If you take one practical tip from this whole article, make it this: if you see signs or a boundary that looks official, trust it. Don’t assume every dike, shoreline, or “looks-like-a-path” route is meant for public wandering. The best days out there come when you treat it like shared space and move with a little respect.

• Best “just go walk” times: Weeknights when the light’s dropping, or early weekend mornings before the day gets busy.
• What to bring: Waterproof boots in spring, bug spray in summer, and a little patience year-round—this is a place you explore, not a place you rush.
• Season reality check: In hunting seasons, be visible and stay aware. This land is built for multiple uses on purpose.

What locals actually do out there

Hunting is the obvious one—and for many families around here, it’s tradition as much as it is recreation. But even if you’re not a hunter, the Lapeer State Game Area still matters because it offers something we don’t have unlimited amounts of: space. Space to breathe, space to watch birds lift off a marsh, space to feel like you’ve left town without actually going far.

There’s also a very practical, very Lapeer-specific feature right inside the larger story: the DNR-operated Lapeer Shooting Range—better known to locals as the “Lapeer Pit.” It offers handgun and rifle stations and includes accessibility features like accessible parking and paths. It’s seasonal, so it’s the kind of thing you check before you go, but it’s a big part of how people use this area today.

And then there’s the quiet stuff—wildlife watching, photography, listening for sandhill cranes or geese overhead, catching that golden-hour glow over wet grass. Some parts even point you toward “watchable wildlife” viewing areas. It’s one of those places where you can show up with no plan at all and still leave feeling like you did something.

The Lapeer State Game Area feeling

What makes this place special isn’t one single landmark. It’s the layers. Logged land and farm land, private holdings and horse ranch history, major purchases like the Vernor estate, then decades of public management aimed at habitat and opportunity—right next to the roads we drive every day.

So if you’ve been craving something simple—fresh air, a quieter horizon, a place that feels like “old Michigan” without driving hours—pick a decent day, toss boots in the back seat, and go take a slow lap around the Lapeer State Game Area. Don’t worry about doing it perfectly. Just go get that first deep breath that smells like cattails and cold air, and let the place do what it does.

Sources: Michigan Department of Natural Resources; The Michigan Botanist (University of Michigan); Lapeer State Game Area Report (December 2010)