Scouting Opportunities in the Manistee National Forest
Having enjoyed scouting growing up, and seeing the extreme need in our modern society for boys to get outside and get in touch with their masculine nature, I feel it only appropriate to share the endless opportunities that the Manistee National Forest holds for Scouts. Featuring a plethora of hiking trails, biking trails, campgrounds, rivers and lakes, the Manistee National Forest might be Michigan scouting's best kept secret and most underutilized resource. I began looking into a variety of merit badge requirements and before long had to stop myself… You could accomplish just about any requirement or combination of requirements during an outing to our neck of the woods.
To keep things simple, I picked three merit badges and tailored a two-night, three-day outing to see what we could get done. The badges – Camping, Hiking, and Canoeing or Kayaking, have quite a few prerequisites that are easy enough to do just about anywhere, so I honed in on some of the more difficult requirements that you could complete during this hypothetical outing. The trip begins with you and your troop arriving at the Seaton Creek Forest Service Campground for your first night. There are a number of requirements you could get crossed off your Camping Merit Badge list that night after camp is set up… but the real work starts the following day. In the morning, you and your Troop would drive downstream to Red Bridge Access Site on the Manistee River where you’d park your vehicles. You would then start an 11-mile hike back upstream to your campsite at Seaton Creek. This hike is the Manistee River Trail and it is a gorgeous, well-established trail that weaves in and out of spectacular views of the Manistee River. This long day hike would cross off requirement 4a from your Hiking Merit Badge requirements list (a 10 mile hike) and requirement 9b2 off of your Camping Merit Badge requirements list (Backpack, Snowshoe, or Cross-Country Ski for at least 4 miles).
After spending your second and last night at Seaton Creek Campground, you would begin with your third day by taking a short hike from your camp down a trail to the bank of the Manistee River. From there you’d find yourself hiking across a suspension bridge to the far bank. It is a pretty cool spot! Once you crossed the river, you would hike downstream a short ways until you arrive at Woodpecker Creek Access Site. This is where we come in - we would have pre-placed for your arrival all of the canoes, kayaks, paddles and PFD's that you would need for a beautiful 3.5 - 4 hour float down the river through the gorgeous Manistee River Valley. You will paddle back to Red Bridge Access Site, where your vehicles are waiting for you from your hike the day before.Your troop could start crossing off requirements for their Canoeing or Kayaking Merit Badges as soon as they reach the boats and equipment (please reference badge requirements, too many to list out!). This section of the Manistee River generally has a good current to it, but it also features some sections with slower water (especially towards the end), as well as large eddies in which your troop could exercise maneuvers required of the badges such as recovering a swamped boat or demonstrating different strokes. Upon completion of your trip you’d also be able to cross off the second required activity of the Camping Merit Badge Requirement 9b: take a non-motorized trip on the water of at least 4 hours or 5 miles. Once you finish your trip at Red Bridge, you can hop into your vehicles and drive back to camp to pack up and head home!
This is but one example of many different trip options you and your Troop have available to you with a trip to the Manistee National Forest. If you wanted to skip the 11-mile hiking requirement and want to focus instead on the Camping and Canoeing and/or Kayaking Merit Badges, then we have a great option for that as well! We have a campground here at our facility that many Troops use as their base camp for paddling both the Pine and the Big Manistee Rivers. We provide all of the paddling equipment you would need for trips on either river, including a 'Paddling Primer' where we give the Scouts basic instructions on how to maneuver their watercraft, what way to lean if they bump into something on the water, etc. These tips are extremely useful when it comes to keeping the boats upright!
We also offer Scout Troop Specials that you can find here: https://www.thepineriver.com/page/scouts-pine-river
I'd encourage you to review the Camping, Hiking, Canoeing and/or Kayaking Merit Badges for a more in depth plan of how to tackle as many requirements as possible with your next trip to the Manistee National Forest. If you need any help planning your trip, feel free to give the office a call at 231-862-3471 and one of our adventure specialists will be happy to assist!