Hewen’s Creek Park is one of the newest hiking areas within easy access of Monroe County.  The park is located in extreme southeast Washtenaw County near the intersection of Bemis Rd. and Hitchingham Rd.  This places the park within a very short drive of much of west and north Monroe County.

Ypsilanti Township administers the park, but the trail system was the result of much volunteer labor from mountain bikers and other trail users.  In fact, the construction of this trail and the Munson Park trail in Monroe should be studied by local governments to see how public-private-volunteer coalitions can work.  In both cases local bike shops provided logistical support.  Governments provided the land and limited supplies.  And local bikers and hikers planned and constructed the trails.  The Michigan Mountain Bike Association has a particularly significant role in much southeast Michigan trailcare.  I don’t think that it gets enough credit.  I’d invite you to follow the MMBA volunteer forums linked below to see the evolution of this particular trail.

Now, back to the trail itself…

Hewen’s Creek Park is 192 acres in size.  The creators of the trail system list it at 4.5 miles in length, but I think that this is conservative.  I believe it to be in the 5 to 6 mile range.

The main trail head is on the north side of Bemis Road between Stony Creek and Hitchingham Roads.  The lot is muddy and only has room for about four cars.  There is a small sign to indicate the park’s entry.  Do not let the condition of the parking lot fool you.  There is a very nice park here.

Hikers and bikers will proceed north on a wide two-track.  This is a “legacy” path left from before the park’s acquisition.  Within the first few hundred feet, you will see a small lake to the left.  This lake was created by impounding Hewen’s Creek.  A farm is on the far side of the lake and cattail marsh decorates much of the shore.  Visitors can fish the lake from its banks, but watercraft and swimming are prohibited.

The trail continues north and begins to twist and turn along narrow single-track.  At times the trail darts quickly around trees.  The land is surprisingly rocky in this park and this makes for some pleasing hiking terrain.  There are no real hills here, but the plantlife is very interesting.  One section of the trail is grass prairie.  Another section is forested.  Still another contains a fast-growing mixture of cottonwood trees and pines.

At about the halfway point of my hike here, I entered an area covered with wild onions.  I spent the next 15 minutes harvesting a nice bag for soups and salads.  Who needs the grocery store?

I also saw…

…a snake

…and some neat reddish moss.

Check out these links:

Official Trail Site:

http://www.mmba.org/trails.php?trail=79

Click here to read the grass roots story of how this trail came to be:

http://www.mmba.org/viewtopic.php?t=21177

http://www.mmba.org/viewtopic.php?p=177449#177449

http://www.mmba.org/viewtopic.php?p=211749#211749

Note that the trail is being built in stages.  The first map below shows the “legacy trails” that existed before new trail construction.  The next map shows the existing built trails at this time.  Use both maps concurrently to see all current trails and expect that new trails will be constructed in the coming years.

http://mpg.cc/hewenscreek/hewens-creek-trail-map-phase-0-apr-3-05.jpg 

http://tinyurl.com/2nawgh

 

The hiking conditions today were almost perfect.  The sky was overcast.  The temperature hovered at about 50 degrees.  That is perfect hiking weather.  And because rain was forecast, most people probably made plans that didn’t include the out-of-doors.  So, I had two area parks almost all to myself.

My first visit today was to the Petersburg State Game Area in Summerfield Township.  Petersburg is state-owned land to the southeast of Petersburg.  US-23 is the best access to the park.  Exit at Summerfield Rd. and head right/north.  Then, turn left onto Teal Road.  Teal bisects the park.

The 1984 book Hunt Michigan pegs the size of the park at 441 acres.  That should be enough to support a decent couple of miles of hiking, but that is not the case here.  Trails move in a haphazard manner from the four small parking areas off Lulu and Teal Roads.  There is no system to these paths.  I have tried on two or three occasions to put together a cohesive hike, but with no luck.

That said, Petersburg is worth a visit, especially during the late summer.  It is one of the few remaining examples of oak openings prairie in Monroe County.  This is a globally rare ecosystem that relies on frequent fire to stunt the formation of forest.  In the place of adult trees, you will see tall prairie grasses, thistle, wildflowers and young tree sprouts.  It is actually quite amazing to see an intact native ecosystem in Monroe.  Those who would like to see this type of habitat on a larger scale should visit Oak Openings Metropark in Toledo.

I do have to note the presence of some dumping at several of the Petersburg parking areas.  In one, I saw two abandoned car batteries.  Monroe County seems to have more of this dumping than other areas in which I hike.  I would encourage everyone to help keep Monroe’s parks clean.

Here is the official state map of this game area:

http://tinyurl.com/yonxb9

Click on this link for a photo and description of the habitat:

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-30301_31154_31260-54022–,00.html

 

It was just beautiful outside today, so I decided to head to one of my favorite area dayhikes at Somerset State Game Area.

Just in case you don’t know, Michigan has an extensive system of state game areas in the southern half of the lower peninsula.  These areas were purchased with monies derived from hunting and fishing license fees.  The state manages the land for the benefit of wildlife, particularly game species.  The facilities in these game areas are bare-bones.  You won’t find toilets and the parking areas will be dirt.  Still, these areas offer some great hikes and they are open to non-hunters.

Somerset State Game Area is located near the meeting point of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties.  The nearest towns are Somerset Center and Addison.  The main game area parking area is found by driving on US-12 past US-127.  About three miles past this intersection, you’ll want to turn south onto Stearns Road.  The parking area is about 1.5 miles down on the west side of the road.  There is another, smaller parking area on Waldron Rd.  The hike I describe below will start from the Waldron Rd. parking area.

The longest and neatest possible hike in this game area starts by following the northern edge of Blood Lake.  You will begin to see Moon Lake straight ahead.  When you see this, you will need to start looking to your right for a non-marshy upland area.  You need to follow this without a trail to the Southeast.  As you walk in this direction, be sure to use the south shore of Moon Lake as a navigational aid.

You will eventually come out of the woods onto a two-track path that circles Lombard Lake.  To your left, you will also begin to hear the gurgling of a little waterfall.  This is a manmade fall that serves as a part of the water-control mechanism that created Lombard Lake.  Even though it is manmade, the lake is undeveloped and beautiful.  It is surrounded by a mixed forest with large swathes of pine.  It feels very much like a northern Michigan lake and it is just about as remote.

If you follow the lake in a clockwise direction, you will move up and down some hills that surround the lake.  On my hike today, I saw swans, a muskrat, some turtles, geese, ducks and deer.  I also met a friendly fly-fisherman.  The place seems loaded with fish.  I always hear them jumping here.

You will soon encounter a narrowing of the trail as you move along the game area property line fence.  You will pop out in an area of farm fields that rise above the eastern reaches of the lake.  Use the property line signs for navigation until you once again reach the two-track.

Follow the two-track over several dikes with great lake views.  You will view two marshy lakes to the south of Lombard Lake with a hilly upland area in between.  I have always thought that this would be a nifty area to camp.  It is legal to camp in game areas with a free permit during the fall, winter and early spring.

As you circle the lake, be sure to notice the island in the middle of the lake.  It might be fun to take a canoe out to the island at some point.  You would have the lake and island to yourself.  Just be careful for the swans that nest in the lake.  They are very territorial.

Once you reach the small waterfall, you will need to retrace your bushwack between Blood and Moon Lakes.  Somerset State Game Area is certainly remote, but it is worth taking the time to visit.  Note that it is possible to hike this without the bushwack by parking in the Stearns Rd. lot.  The hike is shorter and easier to navigate.

Here’s my suggested hiking route:

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=628A87FDBE3AF2A!118

Here’s the official DNR map:

http://tinyurl.com/3xfvf4

Click below to read a few hike reports that I originally posted at the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo Group:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/06/somerset-state-game-area-hike-reports.html

 

I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I have to give some praise to the Coffee Exchange in Downtown Adrian.  It’s located at 107 N. Main Street and has wonderfully comfy booth chairs.

I can’t really tell you about the coffee, because I ordered a milkshake when my wife and I met some friends there this past Saturday night.  The milkshake was great and my wife’s orange juice was splendid.

The Coffee Exchange has live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.  It’s mostly of the starving-singer-and-a-guitar variety, but it makes for a nice background if you want a pleasant place to gather with friends.

But I think that it is important for residents in Monroe and Adrian to support places like this.  That way we don’t have to drive to Ann Arbor so much.

Here’s the website:

http://www.coffeeexchangellc.com/

 

I’m not sure if everyone in the Monroe area realizes it, but the county lies within two hours of two very nice national parks.  The first is Cleveland’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The second is in Ontario - Point Pelee National Park.

There aren’t any mountains at Point Pelee, but there is something wondrous about the place.  Point Pelee is a long sandspit that arches down from the Canadian mainland into Lake Erie.  On each side of the sandspit, a visitor will find glorious beaches.  They are great places to picnic or watch a sunset.

The center portions of the sandspit contain forests and a variety of marshes.  Visitors can explore a historical buildings area and a very extensive nature center.

The location of the park makes it a central location for the observation of birds and butterflies.  Both tend to concentrate in great numbers at the point while waiting for good weather to cross the lake.

Trails in the park are not terribly extensive, but they can make a good hike.  I usually like to spot a car at the tip of the park and shuttle back to the Marsh Boardwalk trailhead.  Then, I like to hike to the tip by joining a variety of park trail systems.  This results in a six to seven mile hike that passes through a variety of habitats.  There is even a spot where you’ll see prickly-pear cactus.

The trail systems tend to follow the western portions of the tip.  It is possible to add additional hiking length by walking north along the east side shoreline.  The problem with this is that the marshes block any possibility of creating a loop.  So, you will have to retrace your route back.  I have hiked this beach before.  It is nice, but a bit monotonous.

Point Pelee is an ever-changing place.  In the summer, the tip will grow or decrease depending on wave action.  In the winter, the ice will sometimes build into great mounds or ice caves.  Several visits over time help to capture the whims of this dynamic park.

As with any visit to Canada, it is necessary to bring a birth certificate.  In the near future, a visit to this park will require a passport.  This will be a disastrous requirement for the economies of Michigan and Ontario, but a passport is a small price to pay for regular visits to Point Pelee and other SW Ontario natural areas.

Park Maps:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/pelee/visit/visit2_e.asp

Park Website:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/pelee/index_E.asp

I posted these older hike reports on the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo Group:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/06/point-pelee-national-park.html

When January hits and the snow is piling high, there is no place I like to visit more than Hidden Lake Gardens.  The indoor Desert and Arid environments help to cleanse the soul on a bitterly cold winter’s day.

But Spring is also a good time to visit Hidden Lake Gardens.  The Gardens are a 775 acre celebration of flowers, plant and trees.  There is a plant conservatory, nature center, gift shop and special collections of conifers, hostas and evergreens.  All are administered by Michigan State University.

The Gardens have a very nice scenic driving loop, but what I love the most are the trails.  The Gardens have about five miles of hiking trails within four trails.  I usually link all of the trails together to make one grand five-mile loop.

A visitor needs only keep to the right after turning into the park from M-50.  Follow the signs to the “Entrance to Trails” parking area and begin hiking North.  You’ll see an oak upland forest and wonderfully constructed trails.  The trails follow the edges of glacial hills and skirt the “Hidden Lake.”  You’ll see deer, squirrels and other small mammals and birds.  At several places, you’ll dart close between trees and over pleasant rocks.  And there are several nice hills.

Of course, it is possible to shorten the hiking mileage.  And it is also possible to lengthen a hike by using the pleasant park roads.  I’d highly recommend a visit to the Hidden Lake Gardens.  Admission is $3 per person, except on the first Monday of each month.

For more information, including trail maps:

http://hiddenlakegardens.msu.edu/

Here are some hike notes that I originally posted on several internet forums:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/07/hidden-lake-gardens-hike-notes.html

This is an article I wrote about the gardens for Lenawee Magazine.  I have links to a good map and pictures:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/expatriate/?p=831

This is a blog post about Hidden Lake Gardens “secret” trails:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/expatriate/?p=244

I suppose there is a time in everyone’s life when we stop taking what our parents say as the gospel truth.  It’s hard for me to recall the exact moment when this happened for me, but I do remember a Christmas in the early 80s when my sister and I crossed this threshold.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we had been fed the usual stories about Santa.  “He’s coming down the chimney!” my dad would say.  “We’ve got to get the cookies ready!” my mom would chirp.

My sister and I shook our heads.  We wanted to believe that the world might still harbor someone as good as Santa.  But our practical sides told us something completely different.

And, really, there was only one way to know.  We needed to conduct a stake-out.

So, much to our parent’s consternation, on Christmas Eve we moved the living room couches around the tree, gathered some blankets and pillows and settled in.

Despite our parents’ pleas, we remained on the couches as darkness fell.  We were going to find out, once and for all, if Santa was real or not.

We made a valiant effort to stay awake.  But deep into the night, somewhere around 8:30PM, we were fast asleep in our underoos.

God only knows what kind of parenting skill it took to make sure that all the gifts were scattered safely under the tree without waking me and my sister, but my parents passed the test.  I suppose if Dante ever wrote a parenting version of his Inferno, this scenario would be in about the seventh circle of Hell.

Soon the sun rose.  And soon my sister and I broke our slumber.  The cookies were gone, save a few crumbs.  The gifts surrounded us.  And Santa had made it safely through our house.  “Did you see him?” my sister asked.  With all of the bravado of a seven-year-old I responded, “Yes, of course.  You didn’t think that I’d miss him sitting in this couch.”

So, with only a bit of cognitive dissonance, we proceeded to tear into our gifts and celebrate the reality of the jolly, red-clothed man.

The next year, the gifts mysteriously appeared near our basement fireplace.  This was quite unorthodox on Santa’s part.  And soon we had a good laugh thinking about how our parents pulled one final Christmas over on us.

And I’m happy that I didn’t see Santa that year.  The world can be a tough place sometimes.  And the world really does need a Santa Claus.  I sure hope that he enjoyed the cookies.

The Ellis Library local collection is filled with “What Might Have Been” scenarios for Monroe County.  While it was raining on Saturday morning, I stopped in to find some maps.  One of the more interesting areas of the collection is the one that contains the improvement plans for Monroe (Bolles) Harbor.

During the 1970s and 1980s, there were several plans to improve the state boach launch and harbor.  Several of these tried to factor in a deepening of the shipping channel into the River Raisin.  The River Raisin has always provided two challenges to ships.  The first is that the channel is on the shallow side.  The second is that there is no place to turn around once a ship enters.  This makes shipping into the River Raisin more cumbersome.  This has, at times, hindered Monroe’s industrial development.

The economy, of course, has changed recently.  And there is no desire at this point to spend money on a project like this.

But those of you who like to dream of a different Monroe should click on the link below.  It shows a map of one of the plans.  The result of this particular plan would have been the creation of a barrier island between Plum Creek and Bolles Harbor.  This island would have been filled with the dredge material from a deepening of the River Raisin.  The island would have helped to create about 700 acres of wetland behind several dikes.

The results of the plan would have been a more accessible shipping channel, more habitat for wildlife, greater tourism potential for Monroe and probably 5 to 7 miles of additional hiking in the direct vicinity of Monroe.

The plan that was actually implemented was much more affordable.  Improvements were made.  But the wetlands and hiking didn’t really happen.

There is no point in crying about this now.  The plan was created in the late 80s and its time has, for the moment, passed.  But I think that we’ve seen with Pointe Mouillee that Monroe can, in fact, recreate its natural environment.  And with some far-sighted planning, it can be a great and natural place for future generations.

Here’s the map:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/03/monroe-harbor-plans-circa-1988.html

 

One of the lesser known natural areas in Monroe County is the bird sanctuary on the south side of Monroe County Community College’s ever-changing campus.

As the La-Z-Boy Theater and Welch Phys. Ed. building have risen, this birding area has stayed pretty much the same.  It is located on the south side of a small stream/drain just past the south entry to the college.  There is a gate immediately adjacent to the stream with parking for one or two cars.  Be sure not to park in the access road to the south that is marked “No Trespassing.”  This is a private access to a large home built deep in the woods to the south of the Carrington Farms subdivision.  Parking is also possible in the community college lots.  This requires a short walk along Raisinville Road.

It might also be possible to access this area by crossing the stream at the east end of the property and then bearing south.  However, conditions were too muddy to attempt this during my visit.  The college also appears to be clearing that area, perhaps for additional construction.

This area has several loops of wide paths.  It is not a bad little nature area.  There is a pond and, if the bird calls are any indication, this place is meeting its purpose as a haven for our feathered friends.  Kids might like this place.  And birders probably would love it.

The main interest that a hiker might have in this area is as an additional hiking feature when working a training hike in at the college.  The sprawling campus makes for a nice little local walk.  The old exercise trail can be used as something of a template.  A walker can hike along a stand of trees on the north side of the property.  The hike can proceed over the potter’s cemetary and along the decorative pond on the campus.  Then, one can link into the bird sanctuary and along back of the college campus.

This is not the world’s greatest hike, but it can result in two or three miles and create an interesting desperation hike.

Possible Route:

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=628A87FDBE3AF2A!112

I wrote a more detailed hike description of this location in 1999.  Here is a link to that description:

http://tinyurl.com/3d3asj 

Campus Map:

http://www.monroeccc.edu/generalinformation/campus_map.htm

The Monroe Evening News has an update on plans to create a “Central Park” with land behind the IHM complex.

Check out the article:

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/NEWS01/103250030