New Michigan DNR shooting range in Marquette County open for season

Marquette, Mich. — The new Skoglund-Erickson Shooting Range in Marquette County has opened for the season.

The public range is located in Richmond Township, west of Marquette, 2.7 miles south of Marquette County Road 480, along the road to the Goose Lake Boating Access Site.

“We remind shooters to help ensure the safety of themselves and others while using the range,” said John Pepin, Michigan Department of Natural Resources deputy public information officer. “We also urge those who use the range to do their part to keep the facility clean and free from vandalism.”

The all-accessible facility will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last shot at 4:45 p.m.) through early December. Admission and shooting are free of charge.

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The facility offers:

• Four 10-yard pistol shooting stations;

• Four 25-yard rifle stations;

• One 50-yard rifle station;

• Three 100-yard rifle stations;

• Two 200-yard rifle stations;

• Two 400-yard rifle stations;

• Areas for shotgun and archery shooting;

• Two pit-style lavatories;

• State-of-the-art sound control measures and environmental containment features.

Steel targets are available at the 200- and 400-yard distances. There may be some paper targets available for the other distances, but they go fast, so it’s recommended that visitors bring their own bull’s-eye-style targets. No human silhouette targets are allowed.

Targets can be attached to plywood boards. Tape or a staple gun is needed to secure targets to the target backing (tape and staple guns are not provided).

Visitors also must bring their own targets for shotgun and archery shooting.

Funding for the range was provided through a federal grant administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and supplemented by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.

The range – built on 25 acres owned by the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. – is dedicated to Michigan Conservation Officer Emil Skoglund and Game Warden Arvid Erickson who were shot and killed by an ex-convict not far from the shooting range location in September 1926.

For more information on the DNR’s public shooting ranges in Michigan, visit the DNR’s webpage.