Grand River from the temporary bridge in Ada Michigan
Now it is 9 a.m. where to go? Well, Chief Hazy Cloud Park is just up the road so we pass by the entrance but it is quite socked in with snow. We drive on. There are some Michigan Natural Beauty Roads in this area.
If you are wondering how a road becomes designated as a Natural Beauty Road follow the link below.
If you don't really care, the name says it all, then you don't need to follow the link, although you will find a list of NBRs, and lists can be fun. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-30301_31154_32322---,00.html
If this link does not work just type in Michigan Natural Beauty Roads into a search engine.
We ended up at Seidman Park, a Kent County Park. We parked at the south entrance off Conservation St NE, that's Ada, MI.
Nice, the parking lot is clear of snow. And it is free to visit this park.
Seidman Park is mostly a rectangle shape ~ 1.5 miles north to south and 0.5 mile east to west. Some how I got the idea in my head that Seidman was dry woods and not many wet areas but I soon found that to be wrong.
We didn't have a map of the trails and there was no map at the trailhead. We started off on the snow covered path and soon we came to a footbridge over Honey Creek.
Honey Creek originates south of Ratigan Lake in a primarily forested area then flows west towards Grand Rapids where it joins the Grand River.
It is forested and hilly on the Seidman Park trails, alongside the trail are wet woodlands. We even came to some ponds on the property and finally found a sign with a map of the trails. We found Skunk Cabbage in the wet areas. We walked about 3 miles looping around on the trails.
Field at Seidman Park
Honey Creek
A beautiful day with sunshine and blue sky.
I definitely want to come back to this park.
Yes! Let's go back! Your photos are such a informative record.
ReplyDeleteM :)