Directions: From US-12 in New Buffalo head south on South Eagle Street, at the second stop sign turn right onto West Detroit Street which turns into Lubke Road at the curve. Watch for the school on the right. Hikers usually gather in the parking lot.
The NBAS Nature Study Trails has over 4 miles of trails and nearly 60 acres of prairie, forested uplands and a variety of wetland habitats. Depending on the trails you visit, you will discover a large assortment of native flora and fauna living in harmony with ancient beaches, large ravines, streams, planted prairie, marshes, hardwood forests and seasonally wet flatwoods filled with inundated shrub swamps, pits and mounds, vernal pools and rivulets. These trails complement Chikaming Open Lands “Turtle Creek Preserve” and the City of New Buffalo’s “Turtle Pond Nature Preserve.”
http://www.naturestudytrails.com/trails/NST-02_Nature%20Study%20Trails%20(east).pdf
February 15, 2025 Hike
Harbor Country Hikers (HCH) visited one of West Michigan’s rare Acidic Sandy Flatwoods during its frozen wintertime period. These rare forests typically contain Vernal Pools, which are keystone habitats. Depending on when you visit them, these pools may either be underwater or bone dry. Tragically, these pools are endangered because they fall outside the protection of Michigan’s Wetland Laws.
