Marl Lake Trails (South Higgins Lake State Park)

Marl Lake Trail Loop B (Red)
Trailhead Elevation: 1,155 ft.
Distance: 2.76 mi.
Elevation Gain: 27 ft.
Start Time: 5:52pm
End Time: 6:35pm

Trip Report:
The Marl Lake Trails are three loops that hug the west and south sides of Marl Lake which is just south of Higgins Lake. They are easily accessible from I-75 and not too far south of Grayling. I was travelling up north for a conference in Bellaire and hoping to find a new hiking location along the way. This hit the spot perfectly. I figure it was a less than 15 minute detour off the interstate to hit the easy trailhead.

There is not much to say about the actual hiking, these trails are very easy to follow and well marked. There is the typical Michigan State Park signage at all the junctions. I used today to do some more experimenting with a hiking-running hybrid. The goal is to both move fast while also keeping heart rate under 120. I would trot for a minute and see how quickly my HR went up and then hike a bit to slow things down. The other goal was to simply not break a sweat.

The trail sections adjacent to the lake were quite beautiful and would have been even moreso on a sunny day. I ran into 4-5 other groups out for little dayhikes. It appears this is a fairly popular trail.

Track:
I have a track and waypoints from the hike all contained in the embedded Google Map. Check it out and use at your own risk.