Schrier Park Winter Sports Fest

Saturday, Portage held its annual Winter Sports Fest in Schrier Park. It's a low-key, free event which gave people a chance to try snow shoes or cross-country skis, to ride in a horse-drawn sleigh, or to learn about dogsledding or winter camping. Dan Keto of the Kalamazoo Nature Center discussed nature in Winter. Lee's Sports provided equipment and instruction.

I tried a pair of snowshoes and enjoyed hiking the snowy trails.


update: Schrier Park Winter Sports Fest 2012 is scheduled for Saturday January 21, from noon-3:30pm. Free.

Ski Warren Woods

This Tuesday, I was supposed to be on jury duty but my group was excused. I'd already cleared the day, so I had it free for skiing. Kalamazoo's snow was still a little sparse, so I headed for Love Creek County Park. After a couple of nice loops I decided to try another spot in Berrien County.

A guidebook suggested Warren Woods State Park and it was decidedly different from Love Creek: no grooming, no degree-of-difficulty ratings, no visitor center, no off-street parking, and no other people. It did share a substantial amount of lake effect snow.

Warren Woods has over 300 acres of hardwood forest. About half of it is old-growth maples & beech (with a bad beech vandalism problem.) The path is fairly level except for steep sections on the banks of the Galien River, where I took off my skis and walked. The trail runs nearly a mile from Warren Woods Rd to Elm Valley Rd, a fairly straight line through the center of the park. I'd forgotten how much work it is to break trail in deep snow. The return trip was easier since I could ski in my own tracks.

A few miles further west on Warren Woods Rd, I drove past the Chikaming Township Park and Preserve (pdf) which had some nice looking trails, but I didn't have time or energy to try them.



Warren Woods State Park
Elm Valley Road or Warren Woods Road
about 3 miles north of Three Oaks Michigan
(pdf map)

Dogsled event

On Saturday, we went to Ft Custer Recreation Area to see the dogsled races. I wasn't sure exactly where they were taking place, so we drove around the empty park for a while before finding the dogsledders in the campground. There were a lot of dog teams there, some harnessed to sleds and some resting in campsites. It felt very northern. Some of the dogs were very tranquil while others would howl when people or dogs walked past. The people were all friendly and one invited us to pet her dogs.

I couldn't figure out how the races worked, since I expected officials to start a group of teams and, later, timers to record the finishes but none of that was in place. Yet it was enjoyable watching the eagerness and the power of the dogs running through the woods. Fresh snow, mild temperatures, and a brilliant blue sky contributed to the pleasant outing.

Later, I read on the dogsled club website that this weekend's races at Ft Custer had been canceled and that a fun run would be held instead. Their other races this season are all a few hours north of Kalamazoo.

National Geographic State Park Guide

National Geographic Guide to the State Parks of the United States, 3rd edition
National Geographic Society
2008

This guidebook describes over 200 state parks and illustrates them with National Geographic's renowned color photographs. Parks are grouped into ten regions-- New England, Middle Atlantic, Southeast, Great lakes, Central Plains, South Central, Southwest, The Rockies, Northwest, Far West-- with color locator maps for each area.

Two of the selected parks are fairly close to Kalamazoo: Hoffmaster State Park and Indiana Dunes State Park. The rest of the parks in the Great Lakes region are within a day's drive and almost all of them have campgrounds.

Nearby Parks

P.J. Hoffmaster State Park
10 miles south of Muskegon, MI on US 31 and Pontaluma Road.
"Many park visitors come to enjoy the beach at the north end of the park, but there are many opportunities for solitude hiking among the wooded sand dunes that have been anchored here by trees that have taken root." Dune Climb Stairway, Gillette Visitor Center, 10 miles of trails, cross-country skiing, 293 campisites, 1183 acres, fee.
P.J. Hoffmaster State Park
6585 Lake Harbor Road
Muskegon, MI 49441


Indiana Dunes State Park
2 miles north of Chesterton,IN on Indiana 49.
"Nestled withing the 14,000 acre Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore this state park holds some of the prize scenary of a nonpareil lakeside landscape, including the highest dunes on the shore, dune 'canyons' blown out by winds off Lake Michigan, and a popular swimming beach." Nature center, Trail 8 to Mount Tom, Trail 9 around Beach House Blowout, smelting (April, May), cross country skiing, 140 campsites, 2182 acres, fee.
Indiana Dunes State Park
1600 N. County Road 25E
Chesterton, IN 46304

Great Lakes State Parks

Michigan
1. P.J. Hoffmaster
2. Hartwick Pines
3. Mackinac Island
4. Fort Wilkins
5. Porcupine Mountains

Indiana
1. Indiana Dunes
2. Brown County
3. Spring Mill
4. Falls of the Ohio

Illinois
1. Starved Rock
2. Mississippi Palisades
3. Giant City
4. Ferne Clyffe
5. Fort Massac

Ohio
1. Maumee Bay
2. Kelley Island
3. Hueston Woods
4. Hocking Hills

Wisconsin
1. Devils Lake
2. Peninsula
3. Rock Island
4. Copper Falls

Minnesota
1. Forestville/Mystery Cave
2. Blue Mounds
3. Tettegoche
4. Itasca
5. Soudan Underground Mine

Available from Amazon, the National Geographic Store, other booksellers and libraries.

Night visitor

Just past the winter solstice, Michigan has about six hours less daylight than it does in mid-summer, so it can can feel pretty dark and gloomy. For nocturnal animals, the long night means more overlap with people. On New Year's Day, this raccoon (Procyon lotor) was in my backyard during dinner.

Feather track

Mice aren't the only animals to leave interesting tracks in the snow. Birds of prey often leave imprints of their wingtips when they strike. I think these tracks may have been from an owl. (Only the right side is shown in the picture, the left wing marks were mixed with a lot of small mammal tracks.)

Natural Michigan part 2 (Southwest)

Natural Michigan: A Nature Lover's Guide to 228 Attractions
by Tom Powers
1995

This guidebook describes over 200 natural areas throughout the state, with directions & small maps and some black & white photos. In my first post on this guidebook, I selected areas closest to Kalamazoo. Here are a few more suggestions, a bit further south, but still reasonably close to Kalamazoo.

Southwest Michigan Natural Areas

1. Sarret Nature Center
"There, in a gallery of manmade structures-- towers, elevated platforms, benches, boardwalks, and an extensive system of woodchip covered paths-- you can view 350 acres of swamp and floodplain forest from a wide range of perspectives." Nature trails, birdwatching, visitor center.

directions:from I-94, east of Benton Harbor, take I-196 north 1 mile to Red Arrow Highway (first exit). West on Red Arrow to Benton Center Road (first intersection). North on Benton Center 3/4 mile to entrance. 2300 Benton Center Rd, Benton Harbor.
Sarret Nature Center


2. Love Creek Nature Center
"Your camera will also come in handy during walks down any of the 200-acre center's 13 nature trails." Visitor center, wildflowers, hiking, birdwatching, cross county skiing.

directions: From Berrien Springs take M-139 (Old US-31)southeast to Pokagon Road. East on Pokagon, 2 miles to Huckleberry Road. 1 mile north on Huckleberry to entrance. 9228 Huckleberry Rd, Berrien Center
Love Creek Nature Center


3. Dayton Creek Wet Prairie Preserve
"This quietly spectacular preserve holds one of the last vestiges of a 15,000-acre prairie that at one time spread over much of the Michigan/Indiana border." 47 acres, Nature Conservancy, wildflowers, wet!

directions: From US-31 exit onto US-12, then 2 miles west to Red Bud Trail. South on Red Bud 2 miles to Curran Road. West on Curran, 2 miles to preserve.


4. Bertrand Park
"This heavily wooded 121-acre Berrien County park is as pleasing to the senses today as it must have been to the Indians who passed through it on the Saul and Chicago trails and to the French voyageurs who paddled their fur-laden canoes down the historic St. Joseph River, which marks the park's west boundary." Hiking, birding, picnic shelters, playgrounds, disc golf, cross country ski trails.

directions: From Niles take M-51 south 2 miles to Ontario Drive. East on Ontario 1/2 mile to Adams Road. 1/2 mile south on Adams to park entrance. Admission
Madeline Bertrand County Park

5. Trillium Ravine Plant Preserve
"Press on through all this natural beauty until you get to a V-shaped ravine with almost geometrically perfect sides. By late spring its steep slopes are blanketed in a rich, dense green that from a distance looks like the felt covering on a pool table." Wildflowers, mature hardwoods, toadshade and prairie trillium (bloom as early as April 9th), Michigan Nature Association, 15 acres.

directions: From Niles, north on Business US-31 to Walton Road (US 31). Southwest on Walton to Geyer Road. 0.6 miles east on Geyer to preserve.
Trillium Ravine


6. Fernwood, Inc.
"Fernwood, a 105-acre privately owned preserve and botanical garden on the east bank of the St. Joseph River where you can enjoy the peace and beauty of nature from a garden gazebo, a riverbank, the midst of a garden, or a hillside full of azaleas." Nature trails, arboretum, garden beds, greenhouse.

directions: From Niles, take US 12 west 4 miles to Red Bud Trail. North on Red Bud to Walton Road to Range Line Road.
13988 Range Line Road.
admission.
Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve

7. Dowagiac Woods
"Spring is without a doubt the best time to visit, Fifty different blooming species of wildflowers literally carpet the forest floor then in a spectacular display." Trails, wildflowers, birdwatching, Michigan Nature Association.

directions: From Dowagiac, 4 miles west on M-62 then south 1 mile on Sink Road to Frost Road. 1 miles east on Frost to parking area.
Dowagiac Woods

8. Russ Forest Park
"At this Cass County park, you have the rare opportunity to picnic, hike and study nature in a national Natural Landmark that also serves as a living research laboratory." Nature trails, Newton Woods, old growth hardwoods, trout stream, picnic area & playground.

directions: Eight miles west of Marcellus on Marcellus Highway.
Fred Russ Forest Park


9. Dr T.K. Lawless County Park
"A covey of knobby hills and deep hollows ripple the parks landscape." Trails, birdwatching, picnic area with sports fields, cross-country skiing.

directions:From Vandalia, east on M-60, two miles to Lewis Lake Road. South on Lewis to Monkey Run St. East on Monkey Run .5 mile to park entrance.
admission fee
Dr. T.K. Lawless Park


10. White Pigeon River Nature Sanctuary
"Fifty-eight acres of steep hillsides, old river channels, flooded bottomlands, lagoons and riverbanks, plus a riot of plant and animal life are good reasons to visit and explore this premier example of the work of the Michigan Nature Association." Birding, wildflowers, nature trail.

directions: From White Pigeon, West on US 12 then South on Burke Road. Park at intersection of Burke & Silver Creek Road.
White Pigeon River Nature Sanctuary

11. Pahl Point Park
"On the face of it, this small St. Joseph County park hardly seems worth going out of your way to visit." Diverse habitat, birding, covered bridge, wildflowers.
directions: from Mendon, 3 miles West on M-60, then South 3.3 miles on Silver St.
St. Joseph County Parks

This book may be out of print. Amazon and Barnes & Noble may have copies through their affiliates. I found it at my local library.