#TrailTuesday: Exploring the Wilderness Trail Loop in Holly

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition journeys to the Detroit region's northernmost destination - Holly Recreation Area - and its quintessential Wilderness Trail Loop. We invite you to explore this oasis of wilderness on our metropolitan frontier!

"Wilderness in Oakland County - alright, I definitely need to check this one out."

Those were my thoughts as I first read about Holly Recreation Area's famous "Wilderness Trail Loop" in Jim DuFresne's 50 Hikes in Michigan guidebook, and admittedly, I was skeptical. Don't get me wrong, I was practically praying for the "wilderness" designation to hold true, but come on... Holly Recreation Area is located in Oakland County and bisected by I-75, one of the premiere commercial corridors of the entire State of Michigan. Could this trail really hold up to its name?

How does one even define "wilderness"?

The WILD Foundation has provided the most immediate definition available on Google: "Wilderness" is "the most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet – those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with roads, pipelines or other industrial infrastructure."

"Those last truly wild places." We at Expedition Detroit love that shorthand version of the definition, because it denotes a sense of scarcity to the nature of wilderness. Yes, the stunningly vast and untamed mountainous regions Out West undoubtedly qualify as wilderness. But under this definition, so does those hundreds of acres of forest that our forefathers decided were worth preserving in their God-ordained state, free from the scourge of development that the coming decades would unleash around them. Those sanctuaries that have become vital component's of North America's fight against a mental health epidemic. Those trails where you can just be in your natural state.

Yes: we're relieved to report that the Wilderness Trail Loop qualifies as a bona fide wilderness area. A truly wild place where you can explore free from developed society's omnipresence.

It's our pleasure to reintroduce Holly Recreation Area and its most beloved trail now.

MEET HOLLY RECREATION AREA

The formal history of Holly Recreation Area dates back towards the end of the Second World War. As hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, and pilots started to return from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific, those men also brought back an unprecedented interest and experience with outdoor recreation due to their military training, outdoor gear, and newfound leisure time afforded to them by postwar prosperity. From the mid-1940s on, this booming interest in America's outdoor spaces prompted an explosion in the development and protection of Federal, state, and community parks.

Holly Recreation Area and its 8,007 protected acres resulted from that interest. In 1944, the preliminary boundaries of Holly State Recreation Area were established and the park officially opened in 1948. The development of picnic areas, campgrounds, and structural facilities continued into the 1950s, including the establishment of Mt. Holly Ski Area (before its transfer to private ownership in 1966). The park's size continued to grow well into the 1980s as the Michigan Department of Conservation acquired approximately 3,500 additional acres straddling both sides of I-75.

Nearly 80 years since its establishment, the Holly Recreation Area of today still maintains its defining rolling woodlands and open fields for endless outdoor recreational opportunities. The recreation area has evolved into a generational destination for hiking, camping, swimming, picnicking, fishing, boating, and hunting. As of recent years, the park has also become increasingly sought-after for mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. Nonetheless, hiking still remains Holly Rec.'s most popular recreational activity, with 66% of park visitors exploring its forests and grasslands on foot.

And - you guessed it - the Wilderness Trail Loop represents Holly Recreation Area's most revered hiking route.

Let's get to the trail.

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