Centerline road to 5 mile road

7 miles: 138 miles total

This section of trail passes through relatively flat terrain, passing by remote McCarthy Lake and crossing over the headwaters of the Big Sable River. It was mushroom season along the North Country Trail. Although I’ve eaten some of the most obvious edible mushrooms that grow in Michigan, I’m not enough of a mycologist to confidently identify most mushrooms I encounter on the trail.

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Harebell blossom
White water lilies floating along the shore of McCarthy Lake.
Remote McCarthy Lake has a National Forest Service campsite on it’s northern shore accessible by a very rough Forest Service road.
Orange meadowhawk dragonflies are common in open areas of bracken fern.
  • Indian pipe
  • Wintergreen blossoms
Headwaters of the Big Sable river