Metamora-Hadley State Recreation Area is a state-managed protected area 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 ...

, located in Hadley Township in

Lapeer County Lapeer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 88,619. The county seat is Lapeer. The county was created on September 18, 1822, and was fully organized on February 2, 1835. The name ...

, northwest of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. It is located eight miles south of the city of Lapeer. The closest urban community is the village of

Metamora, Michigan Metamora is a village in Lapeer County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 565 at the 2010 census. The village is located within Metamora Township. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total ar ...

, which lies to its east and is used in its

postal address An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along w ...

. The park is in area and has 214 camping sites distributed across a "north" and "south"

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

, and one cabin. The north campground has larger lots which can accommodate larger trailers than the south campground. There is a six-mile (10 km)

nature trail An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, techno ...

, as well as picnic areas, a beach with boat rentals, and a camp store. The recreation area lies around Lake Minnewanna, an

man-made lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

History

In its first stages, Metamora-Hadley was laid out differently from today. The original beach was where the current north campground is, and the present-day beach was forest. The drive behind the campground host spot was the original location of the dumping station. Lake Minnewanna was made by damming the creek that flows through the area.

External links

Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area

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 ...

Map of Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area
Michigan DNR Protected areas of Lapeer County, Michigan State recreation areas of Michigan {{LapeerCountyMI-geo-stub