Rockport State Recreation Area
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Rockport State Recreation Area is a
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...
located along the shore of
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...
in Alpena and Presque Isle counties in the state of
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, United States. It is operated by the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan founded in 1921, charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appoint ...
and was established in 2012. The park contains limestone formations and an old limestone quarry. There is a deep water boat launch that can accommodate all sizes of watercraft. The park is located along the Lake Huron
Flyway A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrat ...
. It is used to gauge the health of Lake Huron and its shoreline environment. Several ship wrecks can be found off-shore in the
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve is a United States National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Huron's Thunder Bay, within the northeastern region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It protects an estimated 116 historically si ...
, including the ''Portland'' and the ''Portsmouth''. The park was previously known as "The Rockport property" and is not far north of
Alpena, Michigan Alpena ( ') is the only city and the county seat of Alpena County, Michigan, United States. The population was 10,197 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populated city in the Northern Michigan region, after Traverse City and Cadillac ...
. In Alpena County, about 11 miles south is the Michigan Nature Association's Julius C. and Marie Moran Peter Memorial Nature Sanctuary. The sanctuary encompasses 95 acres and Grass Lake.
Dwarf lake iris ''Iris lacustris'', the dwarf lake iris, is a plant species in the genus '' Iris'', subgenus '' Limniris'' and in the section ''Lophiris'' (crested irises). It is a rhizomatous, beardless perennial plant, native to the Great Lakes region of eas ...
, bird's-eye primrose and
eastern white cedar ''Thuja occidentalis'', also known as northern white-cedar, eastern white-cedar, or arborvitae, is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is native to eastern Canada and much of the north-central and northeastern ...
surround it, and running through it is Hamilton Road, Michigan's first declared "Natural Beauty Road" (1971). Rockport State Recreation Area was designated a Michigan "
dark sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts or reduces light pollution or maintains and protects naturally dark night skies. Different terms have been used to describe these areas as national or ...
" in 2016. Rockport State Park is Michigan's 100th state park and a dark sky preserve. It contains a abandoned limestone quarry,
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
fossils,
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...
s and a protected deep water harbor. It is a
U.S. 23 U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south a ...
route heritage site.U.S. 23 Heritage route
Discover Heritage Route 23
It is part of the "Alpena Blueway"
paddling Paddling, in regard to waterborne transport, is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using at least one hand-held paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel via generatin ...
route.


See also

*
Negwegon State Park Negwegon State Park is an undeveloped public recreation area on Lake Huron lying southeast of the unincorporated community of Ossineke in Alpena County and Alcona County, Michigan. The state park's occupy the southern tip of Thunder Bay, ...
*
Thompson's Harbor State Park Thompson's Harbor State Park is a remote and largely undeveloped public recreation area on Lake Huron covering in Presque Isle County, Michigan. The state park's of pristine shoreline encompass a varying terrain of second growth forest, limes ...


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Michigan Department of Natural Resources State recreation areas of Michigan Protected areas of Alpena County, Michigan Protected areas of Presque Isle County, Michigan {{AlpenaCountyMI-geo-stub