Hunting for our Christmas tree in the National Forest!

Ready to plan your hunt?

For a great day of family fun while hunting for a Christmas tree hunt in a National Forest near you, I recommend the following preparations:

•  Plan to spend the whole day, don’t rush. One year, we tried to cram our Christmas tree hunt into an afternoon and ended up hunting well into twilight and hauling our tree out of the woods in the dark! Don’t get me wrong, we still had an amazing time, but I would have enjoyed it even more if we’d had more time for our fireside picnic. And, especially if this is your first time… it will take longer than you think.

• Pack a picnic. We love to bring snacks, hot cocoa, and s’mores supplies. Especially if it’s cold, we sometimes build a little campfire to warm our fingers and toes (of course, we make sure to build it in a safe spot and extinguish the fire completely before we leave). We try to move slowly through the adventure, making time to enjoy the woods before cutting our tree and coming home.

• Review the maps provided by your local organization to make sure you know where you are, and more importantly are not allowed to cut a tree. Be a good citizen and pay attention to private property signs. In Michigan, small parcels of private property and National Forest land are often intermingled. It’s also helpful to review aerial maps (on google) ahead of time to look for heavily forested areas and to identify areas with conifers.

• Take some printed maps along on your adventure. Sometimes our day proceeds exactly according to plan, but more often than not we have to adjust our plans along the way. We regularly find ourselves without cell service at various points during our hunt and are always grateful to have printed maps. We have an atlas that covers the whole of southern Michigan. We also print maps from recreation.gov to make sure we have the most updated information. If you live in Michigan, here are some additional maps to reference:
  https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd536815.pdf
  https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd536816.pdf

• Brush up on your tree identification skills. Your National Forest may limit the specific types of trees you’re allowed to harvest for your Christmas tree. If you’re not 100% confident in your tree identification skills, bring a book along with you!

• Consider buying two permits. If you have enough space in your home, think about buying a second permit so the kids can select and bring home their own tree. Crafting a love of the forest and outdoor adventures is a key point to this adventure for Robbie and me. You should see the pride in my girls’ faces as the find the perfect tiny tree for their bedroom. They name the tree, they carefully carry her to the car, place her in their shared room, decorate her with their favorite ornaments (she’s so small, it really only takes a few lights/ornaments and you could easily use paper chains and other homemade decorations if you don’t have extras), and water her every day. I said “no” to a second tree for years and I’m so happy I finally realized how much extra fun it could add to our adventure.

• Get ready for a fun family adventure!