Huron Pines Transfers ‘Elk Run’ Tract to Public Ownership
An aerial view of the Elk Run Tract in southern Cheboygan County
A 243-acre tract at the heart of Northern Michigan’s wild elk range is now in public hands following a transfer of ownership from Huron Pines to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on Sept. 19.
Elk Run is an expanse of mixed hardwoods, gentle hills and pine groves woven with wild elk trails extending north of Grass Lake Road in southern Cheboygan County. Huron Pines bought the property in April 2024 with the support of individual donors to our Community-Driven Conservation Campaign, allowing us to act quickly to take it off the market until grant funding could be obtained.
Huron Pines was reimbursed in 2025 with grants from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, advancing the transfer of Elk Run to permanent public ownership as part of the Pigeon River Country State Forest.
“This land that has been protected can be used and enjoyed for generations to come.”
The Elk Run acquisition is the latest project where Huron Pines assisted the DNR in consolidating public ownership of the PRCSF, Michigan’s largest expanse of public land that’s central to our state’s hunting, fishing and outdoor heritage. Huron Pines served an advisory and outreach role in the acquisition of both the Storey Lake and Walled Lake properties in the last decade, collectively adding 2800 acres to the expansive public forest known as “The Big Wild.”
The Elk Run property is home to mixed hardwood forests, plantations of red pine and open grasslands all interwoven with wild elk trails.
“Each acquisition in the PRC adds to the protective buffer around streams to keep them clean and cold, provides habitat for elk and makes Northern Michigan’s largest contiguous piece of state forest land more whole,” said Associate Director Lisha Ramsdell. “Protecting and stewarding land and water in the PRC has always been a priority for Huron Pines and will continue that way into the future.”
Entrance to the Elk Run property is on Grass Lake Road, two miles northeast of Pickerel Lake State Forest Campground. Click here for Google Maps directions.