Briar Hill, at 1,706 ft, is the second-highest point in the

Lower Peninsula of Michigan The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

, behind nearby Grove Hill at 1,709 feet.https://peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=13402 It is entirely within the

Manistee National Forest The Manistee National Forest is a national forest located in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It has a total area of . It was established in 1938, and combined with the Huron National Forest in 1945 for administrative purposes, creating the Hur ...

. The area was carved out during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, and retreating glaciers left large deposits of sand, which created Briar Hill and the nearby Caberfae Hills. The region is subject to heavy lake-effect snow from

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. No official weather records are maintained on the hill. Fauna in the area includes black bears, coyotes, fisher, marten, mink, white-tailed deer, gray and red foxes, porcupines, river otters and beavers. Access to the area requires bushwhacking as there are no marked trails. Briar Hill in Autumn

References

External links

Briar Hill (1,706 ft), Michigan peakery.comDirections to the summit
Nature reserves in Michigan Landforms of Wexford County, Michigan {{WexfordCountyMI-geo-stub