Saturday (June 9th) is the day for the ‘grand opening’ of Spirit Springs Sanctuary, a new nature preserve on Dutch Settlement Road, northwest of Three Rivers.
The Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC) welcomes the public to celebrate the grand opening of this 124-acre natural property of rolling forest and wetlands with scenic views, located north of the Corey Lake area in Cass County along the St. Joseph County line. The preserve is the first publicly accessible SWMLC property in Cass County.
This new sign is located at the entrance to Spirit Springs Sanctuary on Dutch Settlement Road. (Click on photo to enlarge)
The preserve has multiple unique features, including a large wetland area that is a component of the largest (640 acres) wetland complex in the Rocky River watershed, a network of trails that wind through the property around a 7-acre lake, and glacial depressions and scenic ridges overlooking forested and emergent wetlands. This natural area also provides quality habitat for wood ducks and mallards and migration habitat for ring-necked ducks, American black ducks and other migratory birds.
Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
Invites you to attend the
Grand Opening Celebration
of Spirit Springs Sanctuary
Saturday, June 9, 2012 – 10 a.m. to Noon
Dutch Settlement Road (east of Miller Road), Marcellus Twp., Cass County
A guided field trip of the preserve will be offered during the celebration.
Watch for this sign – whether eastbound or westbound on Dutch Settlement Road – for an alert about the entrance to Spirit Springs Sanctuary.
Directions:
- From 131: Turn west onto M-216/Marcellus Hwy. Follow M-216 about 4.5 miles to Bent Rd. Turn south onto Bent Rd. and follow it as it winds about 3 miles to Dutch Settlement Rd. Turn west onto Dutch Settlement Rd. and go about 2.5 miles west and look for the preserve entrance on the north side of the road.
- From M-60: Follow M-60 to M-40. Turn north onto M-40 and go about 5.5 miles to Dutch Settlement Rd. Turn east onto Dutch Settlement Rd. and go 2.5 miles and look for the preserve entrance on the north side of the road.
For additional information about Spirit Springs Sanctuary from an earlier River Country Journal story, click on the following link: Public is welcome to grand opening of Spirit Springs Sanctuary June 9.
Are there places to sit or have a picnic or is it only trails?
Sherryl,
There are lots of great trails and plenty of diversity along the way, but the preserve is not equipped with “places to sit” or picnic facilities. QUESTION: How important is it to you to have such amenities? Just curious.
Bruce Snook
River Country Journal
It is really important to me that some places be left as natural as possible; this is the function of preserves like the local ones to which we have access through the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. True, it is too bad that not everyone will be able to access every preserve, but the trails at Spirit Springs (and the other preserve by the Portage River, Hidden Marsh) have parking areas and trails that almost everyone can use.
For amenities like paved trails, toilets, picnic tables and such, may I recommend any of the wonderful parks of St. Joseph County and Cass County? The city parks, such as Scidmore in Three Rivers, also are very enjoyable and accessible to everyone.
Anyone who is physically able to take a short walk on a dirt path should visit Spirit Springs (and Hidden Marsh, too.)
From the article……”The preserve is the first publicly accessible SWMLC property in Cass County”.
OK, but different people enjoy nature in different ways. The only amenities the person asked about was a place to sit or enjoy a picnic. I didn’t see any mention or inquiry of bathrooms, paved trails. I’ve done alot of habitat creation adjacent to a several hundred acre marsh and wetlands myself to enhance the quality of wildlife to an area that has been worthy of an article in a national publication several years ago, so I can appreciate the more purist perspective of keeping an area as natural as possible. That being said, I don’t expect everyone to be that hard core, and I also appreciate parks that have a really good mix of nature/trails and some amenities such as even a primitive site for a picnic with the family. One’s gotta admit this is going to limit the appeal to only those with a specific more purist type of appreciation — there’s nothing wrong with that a bit— maybe that’s what this article’s target audience was intended to appeal to.
I agree with Christine that we need some “untouched” natural places, Conservancy sanctuaries are not parks in the normal vernacular. Too many times, areas set aside for nature/human interaction are turned into playgrounds, shelters, groomed walkways, asphalt and gravel that distance people from the very nature they were intended to encounter. Human needs rightly take last place in such conservancy settings, ‘though a port-a-john can be a welcome sight after several hours of hiking.
I have no problem with areas that are untouched…..but it’s not untouched. To me untouched is like some land areas that can be acquired thru DNR grants that are literally set aside for no human interaction–they are set aside literally as sanctuaries for wildlife for nesting, bedding areas, etc . I looked at this at one time for acquiring land adjacent piece of land to mine to create such a sanctuary, but there were many many intrusive strings attached and hidden costs.
This is not the case…it is not “untouched”. Hiking trails are one of a number of human interaction experiences…OK, shoe on the other foot, maybe its better if someone were to say walk thru your house or yard and take a gander at you and yours in your everyday surroundings rather than sit or set up a picnic in it…So only hiking is conveniently where some say it’s A-OK..everything else is too intrusive? …I like hiking, but it seems a bit presumptuous at times where one persons interaction with nature is another’s over zealous encroachment….we all have our limits where we draw the line.
I appreciate these types of places as much as anyone….but to say it’s untouched…my property is surrounded by thousands of acres of untouched wilderness and I have going on 17 years experience of building wildlife habitat–so I know the difference enough to respectfully disagree.
But I think we agree in the value of a strategically well placed porta potty….
Not to spoil an interesting argument but Spirit Springs Sanctuary has 124 acres over half of which is inaccessible by trail but also has 2.5 miles of trails in the upland. It also has places to sit down – there are 9 destination points on the preserve and currently the first stop has benches.