Shauger Hill

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Looking to stretch your legs after taking in the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive? Check out the Shauger Hill Trail. It starts at the Scenic Drive's adjacent parking lot (just after turning off M109 and before the ranger booth) and loops through hilly, quiet woods. Shauger Hill doesn't access water or overlooks of Lake Michigan, but it's a shady escape on a hot summer day, and is especially beautiful in the fall.

Pets are NOT allowed on the trail from December 1 to March 31.

The trail, an easy loop taken in an overall clockwise direction without difficult uphill sections, is about 2.4 miles and crosses the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (paved) twice and also Shauger Hill Road (unpaved) twice.

A 1.5 mile hike along the unpaved Shauger Hill Road will lead you to a swim at North Bar Lake and Lake Michigan.

The Shauger Hill trail winds through mature beech-maple hardwood forests with birches fluttering gracefully in the occasional clearing. In the clockwise direction, about .3 miles from the trailhead is a beautiful large stand of mature beech. Among the maples are a number of striped maples as well as the more commonly seen red and sugar maples.

Shauger Hill's wildflowers are best in the spring before the forest canopy leafs over; look for the many black raspberry bushes lining the beginning of the trail. Pick a handful to enjoy along the way.

Skiing Shauger Hill
Skiers are advised to take the trail in reverse, starting from the ski trail sign at the parking lot. The downhill sections in the clockwise direction are advanced and steep and some have cut logs from trail clearings just off-trail around the bases of some of the hills.