As peak fall color season approaches in Northeast Michigan, residents and visitors near Alpena have a wide range of places to explore, from a one-mile shoreline walk and an accessible waterfall pathway to rugged Lake Huron preserves and wooded trails built for several seasons. Visit Alpena’s guide, Find Fall Color in Alpena’s Top Walks in Nature, points to destinations with colorful forests, lakeside views, wildlife habitat and local history.
Waterfront walks and waterfalls
At Besser Natural Area, a 134-acre property, an easy one-mile trail passes through softwoods and leads to a sandy beach along more than 4,000 feet of Lake Huron shoreline. The area also contains one of Michigan’s last remaining stands of virgin pine.
The Ocqueoc Falls Bicentennial Pathway offers hiking, biking and cross-country skiing at Ocqueoc Falls, described by Visit Alpena as the Lower Peninsula’s largest waterfall and the only accessible waterfall in the United States for people with disabilities. Visitors can see the channel the Ocqueoc River cut through limestone bedrock, while salmon can be seen swimming through underground channels during spawning season. Remnants of an old mill race remain just above the falls.
Thompson’s Harbor State Park, 24 miles north of Alpena, covers 5,000 acres of limestone, sand dunes, upland and marsh. Those habitats support a variety of wildflowers, including one of Michigan’s largest populations of the state wildflower, the Dwarf Lake Iris. The park also contains some of the state’s remaining high-quality forest wet swale communities.
The Alpena Township Nature Preserve at Misery Bay offers nearly 10,000 feet of Lake Huron shoreline, coastal marshes, fens, old-growth northern white cedar forests and karst geology sinkholes. More than 150 species of rare plants are found there, and the variety of habitats creates opportunities for bird watching throughout the year.
Wooded pathways and outdoor adventure
Norway Ridge Pathway, five miles south of the City of Alpena, has 10 miles of groomed terrain through lowland forest and ridges of large red pines. Visit Alpena describes it as a year-round trail system suited to enjoying the changing seasons.
About 20 miles southwest of the city, Chippewa Hills Pathway is described as one of Northeast Michigan’s best-groomed trail systems. The property supports hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Its heavily wooded landscape includes old oak, maple and evergreen trees.
Rockport State Recreation Area, just north of Alpena, covers 4,000 acres of forest and includes an abandoned limestone quarry where visitors can search for Devonian Period fossils. Trails lead through shoreline beaches and sinkholes, and the area is an official Michigan Dark Sky Preserve for those who stay after sunset.
Negwegon State Park provides a more rustic experience, with a remote Lake Huron beach, 10 miles of hiking trails, four backcountry campsites and woodlands containing remnants of Native American life in stone structures and trail marker trees. The park is also designated as a Michigan Dark Sky Park.
Nature close to the city
Island Park sits in the heart of Alpena on a 17-acre island within the city’s 500-acre wildlife sanctuary. Visitors reach it by crossing a hand-hewn covered bridge from Duck Park. The island includes nature trails, fishing and bird-watching platforms, and five different ecosystems.
The Alpena Bi-Path provides another option without leaving the city limits. The route stretches just over 18 miles through city parks, along Lake Huron and the Thunder Bay River, and through downtown Alpena.
Together, these destinations offer several ways to see fall color around Alpena, whether the preference is a short shoreline walk, a longer wooded route, a waterfall outing, wildlife viewing or a stargazing-focused trip. Trail and park information in this article comes from Visit Alpena’s regional fall-color guide.