Muskegon State Park and Riverside Park in Muskegon County

June 15 We had a fun day at Muskegon State Park! 

 

We saw Bur Reed.

We went off trail and were drawn to a bright place in the woods.  Here we found Sphagnum Moss and muddy areas.  Interesting!

We even saw a pink flamingo...

Back on the trail we found lots of Cow Wheat blooming.

           Lost Lake

   Some wild Cranberry was blooming, and in the water were cranberries.

 Blue Flag (Iris)

 

In places the shore was red with sundew...

 Since it was cloudy, most of the Blue Eyed Grass had their petals closed.  Here is one open that I found.

 There were so many Fragrant White Water Lily.

 Also a few Yellow Pond Lily.

 We checked on the Rose Pogonia Orchid, but as I thought, we were just a little early for bloom time.  Still fun to find.  Below is a photo of this plant blooming from a previous year.

Some other things we saw...

 

Frostweed, always nice to see this sunny flower.

So we left this cool Lake, the weather was getting more threatening, darker clouds, maybe a rumble of thunder.  I was ready to go to another place to explore, and we came up with Riverside Park in North Muskegon along the north branch of the Muskegon River.

Here there are ball fields, play grounds, picnic tables, but keep walking and you find some curious steps leading to a jungle. 
 

 

 

 



 

 

 

It did storm while we were out but we made it back up through the "jungle" just fine.  And we saw more Blue Eyed Grass.

    Another great day!  Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed our walks!

 

Newaygo

July 25 2011 First stop Brooks Township Hall for info.  We were given helpful information and some maps, we are going to check out Newaygo Coastal Plain Marsh.


Along the way we find High Rollaway Roadside Park, it is situated high above the Muskegon River. 

             234 steps down to the river.

      Muskegon River at High Rollaway Roadside Park

                  A lovely Crown Vetch

There was this six-legged spider on a log near the river.  Is it a Wolf spider?

There was also a Liverwort, it was bigger than the Liverwort we saw at Gale's Pond.

Next we drove to Oak Avenue, a dirt two-track, then west onto E 88th Street.  At this intersection is an Indian cemetery with a sign "Surrerar" also known as Little Prairie Cemetery.

We continued west on E 88th until we came to a more open area we thought would be the Newaygo Coastal Plain Marsh.  Well compared to what we saw on Bing maps this place was grown-in with tall, thick shrubs and trees.  No access here.  We back tracked  to another two-track going north, we pulled onto the grassy verge and parked.  In a booklet this place is called the Coastal Plain Marsh - 88th Street Wetland Restoration Area.

We bushwhacked our way to the edge of the "marsh".  No visible sign of water but the ground was damp, with many rushes and sedges growing there.  After an hour here, it was 80 degrees, we had a cool drink and sandwich in the van.

 East on 88th Street the way we came,  stopping at the

    "Prairie in the Manistee National Forest"

On to the "DNR Forest Area along the Muskegon River" at the end of 72nd Avenue off Thornapple Avenue.  This trail leads you through the woods to the river.

              Indian Pipe
After walking here we drove back to Thornapple Avenue to a boat launch, we just pulled through, we didn't get out of the car.  Then off we went east past the Croton Dam then west again to 72nd Street and now we are north of the Muskegon River.  Here we visit the south end of Karner Blue Nature Sanctuary owned by the Michigan Nature Association.

The prairie was quite dry, not much blooming.

We did find Horsemint still blooming and

Katydids jumping.

In the woods, along the edge of the field, was Harebell blooming.