Watersmeet Ranger District

The Watersmeet Ranger District is one of five districts on the one-million-acre Ottawa National Forest. The district has approximately 25 people who manage a variety of traditional lands, fisheries, recreation and timber programs. Both the Wilderness and the recreation area receive high use, particularly during the summer season. Five developed campgrounds and a major visitor center, add to the heavy recreation program. The Ottawa Visitor Center is currently open year-round with about 30,000 annual visitors.  

Watersmeet is located in Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula, an area known for its forest, lakes and streams. These headwaters boast beautiful, deep, clear, glacially formed lakes that provide water to the Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Mississippi Watersheds. Waterfalls are numerous and are major attractions to thousands of visitors annually. The Watersmeet area is a perfect spot for fishing, picnicking, swimming, boating, canoeing, hiking, biking, camping and hunting for grouse, black bear and white-tailed deer. Tourism and timber products are the major industries in this area of forested hills and interspersed lakes and rivers. There are several resorts for those who wish to come to the Northwoods to stay in a comfortable cottage, or the Sylvania Wilderness for those wishing a more primitive experience in a pristine setting. Watersmeet is in big snow country where the rolling hills provide some of the best cross-country skiing in the mid-west. With snowfall averaging more than 100 inches a year, skiing usually begins in early December and sometimes doesn't end until after Easter. A half-dozen ski resorts are nearby with Thanksgiving the declared opener for some. Major snowmobile trails cross the district, and some trails even take the riders to view waterfalls in winter splendor.

Contact the District Office