Put on your boots: Tread Lightly Day Michigan hits Holly Oaks ORV Park

Posted by Talbot Payne on July 4, 2024

Put on your boots, roll up your sleeves, and shove your off-roader into all-wheel drive.

Michigan’s spectacular nature parks are a national treasure, and this weekend national nonprofit Tread Lightly! is hitting state trails with a first-ever stewardship day. The mission, called “Tread Lightly! Day Michigan,” will include the Detroit area’s Holly Oaks ORV park, one of the Midwest’s premier vehicle off-road playgrounds.

Sponsored by onX Offroad, Tread Lightly! crews will hit Holly Oaks’s 260 acres of hills, dirt tracks, trails, valleys and ridges from 9 a,m. to 3 p.m. Saturday for grooming, repairs, safety enforcement and recreational fun. A sort of outdoor open house, the event encourages members of the public to help maintain the off-road treasure. Carved from the carcass of a former sand and gravel mine, Holly Oaks features 250 feet of elevation change across winding trails on the backside of Holly Oaks ski area.

Jeep Wrangler surveys the landscape at Holly Oaks ORV Park.

Jeep Wrangler surveys the landscape at Holly Oaks ORV Park. Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Other state parks on Tread Lightly’s to-do list Saturday include Mio, the Hiawatha National Forest, the Ottawa National Forest and Sand Lake Recreation Area. Organizers encourage participants to bring their vehicles, mudder shoes and long pants for the day’s chores.

“I’m thrilled to give back to my home state through this work and encourage Tread Lightly! supporters in Michigan to do the same,” said Mike Sype, marketing chief for the Utah-based Tread Lightly!

Holly Oaks ORV Park opened in 2020 and dovetailed with the U.S. overlanding explosion — a trend turbocharged by the COVID pandemic as Americans went virtual and took to the roads and outdoor recreation areas. In addition to its daily off-road offerings, the park has become the site of the annual, nationally-known Detroit 4Fest off-road event as well as a venue for automakers to introduce their latest off road-focused machines.

Tread Lightly! Day Michigan

Jeeps, Ford Broncos, Toyota 4-Runners, pickups — as well as side-by-sides and dirt bikes  — regularly crawl the park’s trails while families enjoy the scenery. Sections of the park are modeled after Utah’s famed natural off-road attractions, such as Potato Salad Hill and Hot Tub.

The front of the property includes manicured areas like a closed dirt track for speed runs as well as Darlene’s Ridge, which tests vehicles’ vertical acumen. The “North 60” acres of the property are a more free form “scramble area” in which riders are free to make their own paths. Holly Oaks is jointly operated by Oakland County Parks in a partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Tread Lightly partner onX Offroad offers GPS-based smartphone app that provides current and accurate mapping information for trail exploration.

Detroit 4Fest fun. Wranglers and Broncos and side-by-sides line up to climb Darlene's Ridge at Holly Oaks Park.

4Fest fun. Wranglers and Broncos and side-by-sides line up to climb Darlene’s Ridge at Holly Oaks Park. Henry Payne, The Detroit News Detroit

“OnX Offroad understands the vital importance of conservation and protection of public lands and motorized trails,” said the company’s senior brand manager, Becky Marcelliano. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership through Tread Lightly! Day Michigan and beyond.”

Z Performance, a local off-road events company, helped organize the Holly Oaks event. The ORV park is located off I-75 (Grange Hall Road Exit 101) and Dixie Highway.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

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