The unique Michigan Highways serve exclusively to connect to the state parks

There is a strange little system of state highways in Michigan and these are the roads that serve only to connect a state park to the Michigan highway system.

There are currently 8 of them throughout the system, with 5 in the Lower Peninsula and 3 in the Upper Peninsula. The southernmost highways are in Bay City and Ludington. Since the primary purpose of these roads is to connect state park entrances to the larger highway system, it’s not surprising that they are generally short – just a few miles. The longest is 10 miles long, while the shortest, M-212 in Aloha, is the shortest state highway in Michigan.

Some routes end at park entrances, while others continue as part of the local/regional road network.

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While there are currently 8 of these routes, there were more, but they were decommissioned by the Michigan Department of Transportation. M-110 once ran from Manistee to Orchard Beach State Park, while M-107 once ran from M-64 in Silver City to the Porcupine Mountains.

Note that the following list does not include M-185 on Mackinac Island. Although there is a state park on the island, M-185 is not connected to the rest of the state’s highway system and is a unique car-free beltway around the island.

These are Michigan’s current state highways that serve only as connections to state parks.

There are other highways in the state system that have little peculiarities, like these highways that exist only to leave the state. They are often short, like the state park highways, and connect Michigan routes with highways from neighboring states Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin.