Camp Grayling

Camp Grayling. . , Camp Grayling is the largest National Guard training facility in the United States. , , In 1913, lumber magnate Rasmus Hanson donated over 13,000 acres of cut-over land to the State of Michigan for military training. Originally named the Hanson Military Reservation, the property is today called the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center. , , It now covers over 147,000 acres in Crawford, Kalkaska and Otsego counties. More than 10,000 military personnel from National Guard units in the Midwest, U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve often train at Camp Grayling each year. , , Lake Margrethe , The eastern shore of Lake Margrethe lies within camp Grayling's boundaries. It was known as Portage Lake until 1917, when the State Military Board renamed it to honor Rasmus Hanson's wife. , , Hanson Hills Recreation Area and Winter Sports Park , In 1929, Hanson Hills opened as Michigan's first downhill ski area. People traveled on "snow trains" to Grayling and then rode on flatbed trucks to the winter sports park. The park added a 66-foot ski jump in 1934, and visitors enjoyed it for many years. Hanson Hills resides on lands managed by Camp Grayling and operates under a recreational lease from the National Guard. , , Tobaggan [sic] Run , In 1923, Clarence Johnson shoveled out the first ice slide at Collens Landing at Lake Margrethe. Ten people, including Mr. Johnson, bought a ten-foot toboggan from Sorenson and Son [and] took their new toboggan ...down the slide. , , What a ride it was! Over bumps and in and out of trees they went. The group finally made a header into a tree with aches and bruises for the riders and splinters out of the toboggan.... , , In 1925, two slides were built at Division Hill where Camp Grayling sits. [It] became the spot to toboggan. The slides had a six foot takeoff which gave a run of 1,100 feet. Water pails were used to dip water from the lake and carry it up to the slides , Crawford County Historical Society Newsletter , February, 2007 , , Middle left images caption... , Two soldiers from Michigan's 125th Infantry Regiment died while at Camp Grayling. , , In 1927, Pfc. John A. Conroy of Company D succumbed to pneumonia. Pvt. George A. Laine of Company A drowned in Frog Lake in 1939. Both soldiers are buried in a small fenced cemetery atop Mount Franklin. , , Center image caption: In 2005, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Lance Corporals Kevin Michalak of S Company and James Stine of H Company repaired a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee) in a Camp Grayling maintenance bay. They served in the First Battalion 24th Marines. , , Middle right image caption: During casualty evacuation training at Camp Grayling in 2018, part of the 1194th Engineer Company took cover from the rotor wash of a National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter.