Porcupine Mountains

Proposed National ParkMichigan
Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine MountainsPhotograph: Sharon Mollerus, CC BY 2.0
All proposed National ParksPorcupine MountainsNo active campaign
Location
Michigan
Current protection
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
Status
No active campaign
Tier
Tier 2 · National Monument
In the book
Not featured in Undiscovered America

Why should it be a National Park?

The Porcupine Mountains hold one of the largest stands of old-growth northern hardwood forest left in North America, some 35,000 acres of hemlock and maple that were never logged, on the shore of Lake Superior. Aldo Leopold called it the Great Uncut.

Lake of the Clouds sits in a valley below a long escarpment, and the Presque Isle River drops through a string of waterfalls to the big lake. The Park Service approved it for National Park status in 1938. It should have happened then.

The history of National Park Campaigns

The Porcupines came closer than most. After a 1938 Park Service investigation led by Ben Thompson, the area was approved for National Park status, and negotiations began to bring land into federal ownership by donation. The Second World War ended the plans, and Michigan bought the tract itself in 1944 to save the old growth from logging.

Distinct National Park attempts
1 (1938 approval, dropped in the war)
Other designation attempts
1 (1945 state park)

Sources

  • National Park Service, Suggested Areas Resumes (1957)
  • Wikipedia, List of proposed National Parks of the United States
  • RESTORE: The North Woods, "Create National Parks" (restore.org, 2026)
Know of a campaign? Tell us
  1. 1928

    Individuals and conservation agencies begin pressing for protection.

  2. 1938

    A Park Service team led by Ben Thompson investigates, and the area is approved for National Park status.

  3. 1942

    Aldo Leopold advocates for the Great Uncut.

  4. 1943

    The Michigan Conservation Commission asks the legislature to buy about 46,000 acres.

  5. 1944

    The legislature appropriates $1,000,000 to buy the Porcupine tract.

  6. 1945

    Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is established.

  7. 2020s

    RESTORE: The North Woods proposes a North Woods National Park across the western Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin that would take in the proposed Copperwood mine beside the Porkies, which the group Protect the Porkies is fighting.