These Quirky Short Michigan State Highways Exist Only to Travel to State Parks

There's an odd little set of Michigan's state highway system and they are the roads that exist only to connect a state park to Michigan's highway network.

There are currently 8 of them across the system with 5 in the Lower Peninsula and 3 in the Upper Peninsula. The furthest south highways are found in Bay City and Ludington. As the main purpose of these roads is to connect the entrances of state parks to the greater highways network, it should not be surprising they they are generally short - just a few miles. The longest clocks in at 10 miles while the shortest, M-212 in Aloha is the shortest state highway in Michigan.

Some of the route dead end at the park entrances while some continue on as part of the local/county road network.

READ MORE: Michigan Just Quietly Killed an Iconic State Highway

While there are currently 8 of these routes, there were more but they have been decommissioned by the Michigan Department of Transportation. M-110 once ran from Manistee to Orchard Beach State Park while M-107 once ran from M-64 at SIlver City to the Porcupine Mountains.

Of note, the list below does not include M-185 on Mackinac Island. While a state park does exist on the island, M-185 does not connect to the rest of the state's highway network and is a unique car-free loop road around the island.

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Here are the current Michigan state highways that exist only to connect to state parks.

There are other highways in the state system that have little quirks like these highways that exist only to leave the state. They are often short in milage, like the state park highways and connect Michigan routes to highways from neighboring Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.