Emmet County is the northernmost county in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 34,112, making it the second-most populous county in Northern Michigan (behind Grand Traverse County). The county seat is Petoskey, which is also the county's largest city.
Emmet County is located at the top of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, bounded on the west by Lake Michigan and on the north by the Straits of Mackinac. Its rural areas are habitat for several endangered species. Emmet County is home to Michigan's most endangered species and one of the most endangered species in the world, the Hungerford's Crawling Water Beetle. The species lives in only five locations in the world, two of which are in Emmet County. One of these, a two-and-a-half mile stretch downstream from the Douglas Road crossing of the East Branch of the Maple River, supports the only stable population of the Hungerford's Crawling Water Beetle, with roughly 1000 specimens. This area is largely within and along the boundary of the University of Michigan Biological Station. The other location in Emmet County, near the Oliver Road crossing of the Carp Lake River, revealed four adult specimens in 1997. Erosion along the road seems to have harmed the habitat and no specimens were found in the last survey conducted in 2003.
Emmet County is home to Wilderness State Park is a 10,512-acre (4,254 ha) state park in Carp Lake township on the shores of Lake Michigan. A prominent physical feature of the park is Waugoshance Point, which juts westward into the lake. Beyond the tip of the point, Temperance Island and Waugoshance Island are also parts of the state park. Waugoshance Point and the adjacent islands are nesting grounds for the endangered piping plover.
The Headlands is a 550-acre county park located west of Mackinaw City, Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. The park contains woodlands, over two miles of undeveloped shoreline, and many species of rare and endangered plant life. Marked trails are provided for hiking, bicycling and cross-country skiing. In May 2011, Headlands Park was awarded International Dark Sky Park designation by the International Dark-Sky Association.
Emmet County is home to the following State Parks:
- Wilderness State Park
- Colonial Michilimackinac
- Petoskey
- McGulpin Point Lighthouse