Tippy Dam Recreation Area is a park in Northern Michigan that borders Tippy Dam Pond and the Manistee River and offers many opportunities for land and water fun. Tippy Dam Recreation Area is located two hours north of Grand Rapids, an hour south of Traverse City, and 45 minutes west of Cadillac. What most visitors won't notice — but might like to know — is that the dam spillways are also home to about 24,000 bats. The Tippy Dam Recreation Area is surrounded by almost 1 million acres of the Huron-Manistee National Forests, one of the Midwest's most beautiful forests. North of the site, the national forest includes the Manistee River Trail, one of Michigan's top backpacking adventures.