8- The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 13, 2001
M0LES ROM PRAD S

There is a Hell, and it's not so far
away.
It might not be the vacation capital
of the world, but to the residents who
live there, Hell, Mich., a small town
near Pickney State Recreational Area
and Pickerel and Silver lakes, it should
be.
"The worst thing about living in Hell
is probably listening to people screech
their tires at 2:30 in the morning," said
Mike Brady, a resident of the town since
1974. "There's a bar right up there and
it's pretty much a tourist bar."
Brady said the town sees its fair share
of tourists, but mostly they come by for
the water, hiking trails and cycling.
"It's like a taste of the North and yet
you're not having to drive hours and
hours. There's noth pg east of 23," he said.
Sitting on a bench outside Hell Coun-
try Store and Spirits, the lone party store
of the town, Brady chatted with other
store goers.
Brian Deatrick, a resident since 1979
when he moved to Hell to "get out in the
country," said living there has reaped
some benefits.
"It does have character. It's friendly,"

Deatrick said. "it's fun to be from Hell. have he or a hot commodity.
Wherever you go, you ha e something to "I bo t h a itmle 'ottage on the
it peopte. It's atways the start of a con- lake. At the tm the property was
erssios, and you got to find some way rason 0e b it no its t si
to prove it to thein" Brad said. 'I paid $20.000 for my
Ht pruvitg that there is a Hell is Isu;at ad nw tthey are a ni
harder ttatn scme might thintk. $20 000.
The to al..eala it owtts a dot ott the r. 1. he.t . f di u tsAye'm
out-of-towtners to
send post cards and
letters from the
unique mailing
address.
The town boasts
*Hells Creek Ranch,
which offers visi-
tors 35-mile coun-
try side tours from
horse back and
four-hour long
canoe rides.
In all, the ranch p
covers over 1,000 MARIAsPROW/fly y
acres of state land. ABOVE: Hell Creek Ranch, on Cedar Lake Road offers
Camping at the. camping, canoeing, hiking and horseback riding. RIGHT:
ranch costs $16 a The rock outside Hell Country Store and Spirits welcomes
night, which guests to the town.
includes water and electric hook-up
Rustic sites are only $7 a night.
Traveling down the road, visitors can
also camp out at Pickney, which, accord-
ing to the website hellcreekranch.all-
hell.com, covers 10,201 acres of land
and has 245 camp sites.
But the popularity of the town is grow-
ing, and although the price to visit Hell is
holding steady at cheap, houses in Hell

UHell is only 350 miles south of Paradise, Michigan.
U There are more than 20 lakes within five miles of Hell.
Residents in Hell started the "Greetings from Hell" cat-
S - slog. Among other things, shoppers can buy cards for
" - anniversaries, birthdays, graduations and weddings.
The town sits at the northeast end of Hell Area, a
- chain of lakes and canals that can take travelers across
the state.
-compiled from websites www.hell2u.com and
s o o*-hellcreekranch.allhell.com.

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Mapscourtesyofwww.yahoo.com
banks en i .Driving directions to Hell, MI, from Ann Arbor. Total driving
distance Is 20 miles

Residents of Hell get the weather report from a National Weather Service satellite
hooked up at the town's country store.