Hartwick Pines to host annual Wood Shaving Days Festival July 21-22

Hartwick Pines State Park will host its annual Wood Shaving Days Festival July 21-22 at the Logging Museum. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, guests can enjoy the sights, sounds and scents of the historic steam-powered sawmill cutting logs into pine boards, listen to traditional music, and enjoy the art of wood carving, wood burning and other woodcrafts. Festival highlights also include demonstrations by blacksmiths, weavers and wool spinners and a historic surveying re-enactment.

Wood Shaving Days will be held on the grounds of the Logging Museum (www.michigan.gov/loggingmuseum), which is located 8 miles northeast of Grayling in Hartwick Pines State Park. The Logging Museum is a field site of the Michigan Historical Museum and interprets the white pine logging era of 1840-1910. Wood Shaving Days is sponsored by the Friends of Hartwick Pines and all proceeds go toward the interpretive and educational programs at Hartwick Pines State Park.

Hartwick Pines State Park’s historic programs are administered by the Michigan Historical Center, an agency within the Department of Natural Resources.

For more information on the Michigan Historical Museum System, including hours of operation, admission fees, visitor information, programs and special events, go to www.michigan.gov/museumsystem.

For more information about Wood Shaving Days or other programs at Hartwick Pines, please call 989-348-2537. There is no charge for attending Wood Shaving Days, but a Recreation Passport is required for park entry.

The Recreation Passport is an easy, affordable way for residents to enjoy and support outdoor recreation opportunities in Michigan. By checking “YES” for the $10 Recreation Passport ($5 for motorcycles) when renewing a license plate through the Secretary of State (by mail, kiosk, online at www.expresssos.com or at branch offices), Michigan motorists get access to state parks, recreation areas, state forest campgrounds, nonmotorized state trailhead parking and state boat launches. In addition, Recreation Passport holders can enjoy real savings at businesses and retailers that participate in the Passport Perks discount program. The Recreation Passport is valid until the next license plate renewal date. Nonresidents can purchase the Recreation Passport ($29 annual; $8 daily) at any state park or recreation area or through the Michigan e-Store at www.michigan.gov/estore.

Learn more about this creative way of sustaining Michigan’s outdoor recreation and natural resources at www.michigan.gov/recreationpassport. For information on Passport Perks shopping discounts or how businesses and retailers can enroll in the program, visit www.michigan.gov/passportperks.