Bowman Lake Trail

Unmarked from the road and hidden among the towering pines of the Manistee National Forest is Bowman Lake, a beautiful body of water surrounded by forested ridges and towering pines. The lake, really a glacial depression, lies in the southern end of the Bowman Lake Foot Travel Area, a 1000-acre tract that the U.S. Forest Service calls a “semi-primitive non-motorized area.” The hilly terrain is crisscrossed by unmarked paths and split north-to-south by almost 3 miles of the North Country Trail, the national trail that will span 3200 miles from North Dakota to New York when it is completed. But circling the lake is Bowman Lake Trail, a 2.5-mile pathway that is well marked by a series of blue diamonds and easy to follow. The trail makes for a scenic but short day hike that is ideal for hikers under the age of six. You can spend one to two hours walking the path, or pack in lunch, a rod and reel, and a can of worms and spend the afternoon fishing along the shoreline for panfish and bass. Bring a tent and sleeping bags and spend the night on a ridge above the lake, and chances are you might be the only ones watching the moon rise over the water.