Urban Legend: Does Michigan Have Any Unpaved State Highways?

Throughout the vastness of Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula there are plenty of desolate areas far from any cities or settlements of any size. So if you were a betting person would you say there is a chance for Michigan to have state highways that are unpaved?

While rare across America, unpaved state-maintained and signed highways do exist. The topic came up recently on the subreddit dedicated to Geography on Reddit. The original question asked if New Mexico was the only state in the Union with unpaved state roads. In fact it's not.

There are stretches of unpaved signed highways in New Mexico, Montana, Minnesota, the Dakotas, California, Oregon, and Washington. Several exist in Alaska. But what about Michigan? One commenter speculated

I’d be surprised if Michigan’s upper peninsula doesn’t have some unpaved state highways. I did a lot of motorcycling when I lived there and there are a lot of unpaved roads.

One may think so, but there are, we belive, no unpaved roads in the state highway system (meaning routes that are an M-xx highway like M-28 or M-6).

Even in the most remote areas like, say, the Keewenaw Peninsua or around Ontonagon, any signed state highway is paved.

There may be dirt or gravel county or forest highways, but if it's an M-DOT signed route, it'll be paved anywhere in Michigan.

Looking to explore Michigan roads? Check these out.