Lake Hudson State Recreation Area is a public

recreation area A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions. By country Canada In the province of British Columbia, recreation areas are lands set aside for recreational use. These lands are also being evaluated to determine w ...

located within southwestern

Lenawee County Lenawee County ( ') is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 99,423. The county seat is Adrian. The county was created in 1822, from territory partitioned from Monroe County. Its g ...

in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. With its main entrance located along M-156, it is mostly located within Hudson Township and a very small portion extending south into neighboring Medina Township. The park was established in 1979, and it encompasses 2,796 acres (4.37 sq mi; 11.32 km²) surrounding the Lake Hudson reservoir. Lake Hudson is recognized as the first

dark-sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts artificial light pollution. The purpose of the dark-sky movement is generally to promote astronomy. However, astronomy is certainly not the only obje ...

in the United States, when it was designated as such in 1993. It is governed by the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor a ...

and is operated and maintained by the nearby

Hayes State Park Walter J. Hayes State Park is a public recreation area covering on the southeast corner of Wamplers Lake in the Irish Hills region of the state of Michigan. Most of the state park lies within Lenawee County with a small portion extending into Ja ...

in the northern portion of the county.

Lake Hudson

The main geographic feature of the recreation area is Lake Hudson (sometimes referred to as Hudson Lake). The lake has a surface area of and a maximum depth of . The lake was originally three separate smaller lakes called Bear Lake, Covell Lake, and Haley Lake. All three lakes were individual water bodies and connected by Bear Creek until the creation of a small earthen dam at the southern end of Bear Lake eventually flooded the area and connected the three lakes, which are combined today as Lake Hudson. Lake Hudson contains a single public access boat ramp. Despite the lake's larger size, the entire lake is designated as a "no-

wake Wake or The Wake may refer to: Culture *Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies *Wakes week, an English holiday tradition * Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ...

" lake. While motorized vessels are permitted, it is unlawful to move at speeds creating a wake. The lake is a well known fishing destination, as it is frequently stocked by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources with

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

and

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskellun ...

. The largest muskellunge caught in Lake Hudson is recorded in the state's Master Angler Entries at 47 inches (119 cm) long. Several similarly sized muskellunges are also listed. In addition to walleye and muskellunge, other fish species in the lake include

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black sp ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrarchi ...

, and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

Activities

The Lake Hudson State Recreation Area includes a semi-modern campground consisting of 50 campsites. The campground features electrical hookups but no sewer connections or shower facilities, and a

hand pump Hand pumps are manually operated pumps; they use human power and mechanical advantage to move fluids or air from one place to another. They are widely used in every country in the world for a variety of industrial, marine, irrigation and leis ...

is the only source of

potable water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...

. There are vault toilets in the campground, boating access site, and the day-use beach area. The forest area surrounding Lake Hudson is commonly used for seasonal

game hunting Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for field sports, sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the "game (hunting), game", is typically a mature male specimen from a p ...

, including

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

deer hunting Deer hunting is hunting for deer for meat and sport, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food source of animal protein that can be obtained through deer hunting. ...

. The forest contains numerous trails, but motorized vehicles are not permitted off the main roads. In addition to camping, fishing, and hunting, other activities within the recreation area include picnicking,

metal detecting A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

, swimming, bird watching, hiking, photography, and

geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

. In 1993, Lake Hudson was designated as the first

in the United States. It is currently one of seven such preserves in the state of Michigan, along with Negwegon State Park,

Port Crescent State Park Port Crescent State Park is a public recreation area on Lake Huron southwest of Port Austin in Huron County at the tip of The Thumb of Michigan. The state park covers along state route M-25 in Hume Township. The park occupies the site of Po ...

, Rockport State Recreation Area, Thompson's Harbor State Park,

Wilderness State Park Wilderness State Park is a public recreation area bordering Lake Michigan, five miles southwest of Mackinaw City, Michigan, Mackinaw City in Emmet County, Michigan, Emmet County in Northern Michigan. The state park's include of shoreline, d ...

, and the internationally recognized Headlands Dark Sky Park. As required by the designation, the park must utilize measures to reduce

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...

, such as dimming headlights and outdoor lighting. Sizable communities near Lake Hudson include the village of Clayton about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north, the city of

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

eight miles (12.9 km) northwest, and the city of Morenci nine miles (14.5 km) south. Nearby state parks within 30 miles (48 km) include

Cambridge Junction Historic State Park Cambridge Junction Historic State Park is a historic preservation area located three miles south of Brooklyn in Cambridge Township, Michigan. The state park is the site of Walker Tavern, a major stopping place for stagecoaches traveling between ...

, and

Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve is a combination public recreation area and nature preserve located five miles west of Manchester in Jackson and Washtenaw counties, Michigan. The area occupies a total of , with the Michigan Departme ...

, as well as

Harrison Lake State Park Harrison Lake State Park is a public recreation area located southwest of Fayette, Ohio, in the United States. The park surrounds Harrison Lake, which has a maximum depth of fifteen feet near the dam and provides a habitat for bluegill, ch ...

south in Ohio.

References

{{authority control Protected areas of Lenawee County, Michigan Protected areas established in 1979 1979 establishments in Michigan Dark-sky preserves in the United States State recreation areas of Michigan