There are several places to enter the Hawk Woods trail system, including a pedestrian entrance on Bald Mountain Road, but the main trailhead is an information kiosk with a large map near the restroom. From here signs direct you into the forest along the Woodland Trail, passing spurs to the sleeping cabins and Log Cabin Lodge and arriving at the first junction in less than a quarter mile. All junctions are clearly marked with trail signs and at this one you continue west (right) towards Marsh Boardwalk.

Marsh Boardwalk Trail is 0.75-mile long that begins as a path and quickly reaches a bridge across Galloway Creek where it swings south.  Beyond the bridge you begin following an extensive stretch of boardwalk – thus the trail’s name – through a marsh of towering phragmites and cattails. You don’t see Galloway Creek much but do cross the stream again just before arriving at junction at Mile 0.7 where there is a deck featuring benches and picnic tables.

Continue south on the boardwalk, passing up junctions with Black Walnut Trail and a spur to the Hawk Woods Pond, to cross Sergeant Creek and arrive at Bluebird Loop at Mile 1. By following the loop in a counter clockwise direction you’ll pass six interpretive signs, most of them with benches and the final one at a junction that also features picnic tables.

Continue north at the junction to quickly cross Sergeant Creek a second time and arrive at Pond Trail, a half mile loop the skirts Hawk Woods Pond. Follow the loop in a clockwise direction to pass more picnic tables along its south shore and see a glacial erratic, a boulder deposited after glaciers receded some 10,000 years ago. At the west end of the pond you can veer off on Crawford Cut at Mile 1.8 and follow the short trail to see some of the largest hardwoods at the center.

Crawford Cut swings north, passes a research site that monitors forest health and arrives at a junction with the Woodland Trail. Head right to continue the walk the woods and reach the nature center and trailhead in less than a quarter mile.

From I-75 in Auburn Hills, depart at exit 81 and head south on for M-24 (Lapeer Road) for a Pontiac. Just past a sign for Hawks Woods, use a cross over to heads north on M-24 and then quickly turn right onto Bald Mountain Road. Follow Bald Mountain Road a mile north to the park’s entrance on the west side of the road.