Showing posts with label Muskegon State Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muskegon State Park. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

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!
 

Sunday, October 2, 2016

A peek at a few places - Ottawa County and Muskegon County

Muskegon State Park is where we found Cross-Leaved Milkwort in 2010 so we thought we might find this plant blooming again.  And we did.  It is a very small plant, as you can see compared to the cranberry in the background.

Cross-Leaved Milkwort (Polygala cruciata aquilonia) Milkwort family

Lost Lake at Muskegon State Park - September 27, 2016

  We hiked through the dunes near Lake Michigan, it was windy, cloudy, and sunny.

Lake Michigan

We have been to Bass Recreation Area in Ottawa County to check on the Bottle Gentian and Nodding Ladies' Tresses.

 This is the white variety of Bottle Gentian we find at Bass, the photo above was taken on August 23, 2016. 
And the photo below was taken on September 13, 2016.

The more common color of the Bottle Gentian is a beautiful purplish blue like in the photos below.  These plants were also found at Bass, only in a different area.




Can you see all of the Bottled Gentian blooming in the photo?  We find this cluster of Bottled Gentian near a place at Bass that we call Cardinal Flower lane. 
Below is Cardinal Flower Lane in bloom August 23, 2016.
At Bass we also find many Nodding Ladies' Tresses which are in the orchid family.

The orchid book is 8 inches tall, so this plant was about a foot tall.

One of the many ponds to explore at Bass Recreation Area in Ottawa County, Michigan.