Hartwick Pines Wood Shaving Days July 21-22

Between 1840 and 1910, the white pine forests of Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula were filled with the shouts of lumbermen, the scent of freshly cut pine, and the roar of the sawmill. On Saturday and Sunday, July 21 and 22, the by-gone logging era comes to back life during the Wood Shaving Days Festival at the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum. Located in Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling, Michigan, the free event is an annual tradition that transports visitors back in time.

Nestled within one of Michigan’s largest remaining stands of virgin white pine, the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum recreates life in a 19th century lumbering camp, complete with sleeping quarters, a mess hall, a kitchen, and large lumbering equipment.

During the Wood Shaving Days Festival, the museum bursts to life with activities that would have been common during lumbering’s heyday. Wood workers demonstrate historic tools and techniques, and blacksmiths pound and shape metal into a range of practical and decorative items. A steam powered sawmill shears through logs, making boards like those used in homes and businesses throughout the Midwest at the turn of the 20th century.

A woman stands in front of a large fire pit in period dress

Guests are invited to tour the museum’s camp buildings, which provide a glimpse into the daily lives of the hard-working lumbermen of the 19th century. Live period music and cooking, weaving, and wool spinning demonstrations round out the day’s activities.

The annual Wood Shaving Days Festival runs July 21-21, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission to the festival is free, but a Recreation Passport is required for park entry. The festival is sponsored by the Friends of Hartwick Pines and all proceeds go toward the interpretive and educational programs offered at Hartwick Pines State Park.

Hartwick Pines Logging Museum is a nationally accredited museum located in Hartwick Pines State Park, which is eight miles northeast of Grayling on M-93. Admission to the museum is free. For seasonal hours and additional visitor information, call 989-348-2537 or visit www.michigan.gov/loggingmuseum.