If hope were a season, it would be spring. Every sign of its return feels like optimism embodied: Birdsong and bicycle bells, budding trees, the soul-stirring scent of rain.
This spring, that sense of promise feels especially potent — and necessary. Just as a crocus pushes up from underground after a hard, long winter, many of us are stepping into this new season after an isolated and challenging year. We have mixed emotions, no doubt, but Mother Nature continues to offer her good medicine: beauty, wonder, proof that life goes on. Fresh air and sunshine, too — as essential to our own thriving as they are to the ever-greening world.
To help you soak up this season’s inherent good vibes, we compiled a list of outdoor activities that really sparkle during a Michigan spring. From birdwatching to beach walking, these are great ways to connect with nature and with each other while still being safe and socially distanced as needed.
As life slowly opens back up, we invite you to joyfully rediscover this place we call home. Spring assures us there are brighter days ahead; tuck that in your pocket and join us outside.
Many rock hounds consider spring to be the best time for Petoskey stone hunting.
Go rock hunting: Spring is peak season for finding Petoskey stones and other beach treasures, when receding lake ice exposes a fresh crop of cobble along the shore. Try strolling beaches on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and along inland lakes in Northern Michigan, after a rainstorm, as the stones’ distinctive patterns are easier to identify when wet. (Note that state law prohibits taking more than 25 pounds of rocks, fossils or minerals per year from state parks, rec areas and Great Lakes bottomlands, and that at National Park Service sites, including Sleeping Bear Dunes and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores, it is illegal under federal law to remove any rocks at all.)
RELATED: Meet the Charlevoix stone, a Petoskey lookalike that’s become a Michigan rock-hunting treasure
Tannery Falls on the Tannery Creek flows down a 40-foot drop over a sandstone canyon near Munising. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)
Chase waterfalls: Snowmelt and spring rains combine to make this time of year peak waterfall season — as good an excuse as any for a road trip through the Upper Peninsula, estimated to have anywhere from 150 to 300 waterfalls. A few spots worth a stop: Tahquamenon Falls State Park, whose falls’ rust-colored waters get their hue from cedar swamp tannins farther upstream; Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where some falls require a hike or boat ride while others, like Munising Falls, are very easily accessed; Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, home to nearly 100 waterfalls; and the Keweenaw Peninsula, where falls range from roadside to wildly remote.
A great egret (foreground) and double-crested cormorant share a log along the Ferguson Bayou Trail at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge near Saginaw. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | Mlive.com
Be spellbound by birds: As a critical stop along the Mississippi Flyway migratory bird route, Michigan is an exceptional spot for witnessing the spectacular phenomenon of spring migration, which runs roughly from March to its peak in mid-May. Find birding hotspots near you by using the app and website eBird.org, or hit the road to visit one of Michigan’s nine Audubon-designated birding trails. Many of our state parks also offer excellent birding opportunities: Check out Tawas Point State Park, a renowned spot for spring warblers and waterfowl, and Hartwick Pines State Park to find the rare Kirtland’s warbler and evening grosbeak.
Ride a bike: Consider this your reminder to get that spring bike tune-up, because Michigan’s two-wheel season is here (though if you ask a winter fat-tire rider, it never stopped). Two of our favorite easy-breezy rides are the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, a nearly 22-mile path through the scenic Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and the TART Trail, which winds through Traverse City to connect shopping, dining and sugar-sand beaches. If mountain biking is more your speed, the Keweenaw Peninsula’s Copper Harbor Trails, can’t be beat; downstate, Glacial Hills Pathway in Bellaire and the DTE Energy Foundation Trail in Chelsea are both a great time.
Stargazing at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in 2015. The Saginaw News | MLive.comThe Saginaw News | MLive.com
Gaze at the night sky: Truly dark night skies are an important yet dwindling resource, essential to many species of wildlife as well as our own species’ sense of wonder. Fortunately, Michigan has some great places to be awed by the night sky, including two internationally designated dark sky parks — Headlands International Dark Sky Park in Emmet County and T.K. Lawless International Dark Sky Park in Cass County — plus dark sky preserves in six state parks and rec areas (Lake Hudson, Negwegon, Port Crescent, Rockport, Thompson’s Harbor, and Wilderness). Spring astro tip: Time your trip to the Lyrids meteor shower (peak estimated April 21-22) or the Eta Aquarids (peak estimated around May 5).
Marsh marigold, a species native to Michigan, is one of the first wildflowers to pop up in the spring. It is found in low-lying, wet areas like marshes, swamps and even roadside ditches. This one was seen along the Keystone Rapids trail in Traverse City, Mich. Photo by Emily Bingham | MLive.com
Take a wildflower walk: The first seasonal wildflowers, collectively known as the spring ephemerals, will soon emerge in woodlands and wetlands around the state — trying to find them makes for a fun treasure hunt (just don’t pick them, as many species are protected). Pack a field guide, head to a nearby nature preserve, and keep your eyes peeled for shy stunners like spring beauty, marsh marigold, wild geranium, and common trillium. Or, visit the Huron-Manistee National Forest’s Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary, which offers a self-guided walking tour trail through a variety of wildflower habitat.
RELATED: 13 of Michigan’s prettiest spring wildflowers
A ferry passing Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. (Garret Ellison | MLive.com)
Escape to an island: Spring is the sweet spot for many Michigan islands, when seasonal services resume but before the summer crowds come calling. A few destinations to consider: remote Isle Royale National Park, which reopens April 16 after its year-long pandemic hiatus; Beaver Island, home to fascinating history and unspoiled wild; Drummond Island, where off-roading, kayaking, fishing, and even fossil hunting are just a few of the adventures to be had; and, of course, Mackinac Island, where the ferries return to their summer schedules in late April — about the same time the fudge shops open, too (just sayin’).
RELATED: Drummond Island is a Michigan escape for outdoor adventurers
April 04, 2021 at 07:01PM
https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/04/7-fresh-ways-to-explore-michigans-great-outdoors-this-spring.html
7 fresh ways to explore Michigan’s great outdoors this spring - MLive.com
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