Finally after a week of high temperatures and humidity it cooled down enough to go hiking. That means an adventure for Sunny and me. Today we ventured to MacCready Nature Reserve in Southern Michigan which has nearly seven miles of trails on 408 wooded acres with several ponds and marshes.
After parking the car we noticed the entrance to three different trails, one near the white building in the parking lot and one on each side of the parking lot. We took the trail on the left side of the parking lot (as you look at the white building). As we approached the entrance to the trail we noticed it was the red trail. According to the map this trail is an easy 1.6 mile trail. Although we did not hike the entire trail the nearly mile that we did was fairly easy. At the start it was a fairly wide flat dirt trail. After a short distance it became a bit overgrown, but there was still a path through it. This eventually became less overgrown and led to a pond.
We continued to follow the trail and noticed it became more difficult with a rocky surface and some inclines and descents. This was more our speed since we like more challenging trails. After hiking on this trail for a little bit, we found a blue sign indicating we now were on the blue trail. The signage for the red trail was not great, but we noticed more directional signs on the blue trail. As we continued on the blue trail we found a marsh and another pond. Eventually we came across a sign leading us back to the trailhead. We followed that and found the parking lot and our car.
Our Rating
Sunny and I give MacCready Nature Reserve 3 out of 4 paws up. It’s a nice place to hike in the woods and the trails are both easy and challenging. Unfortunately although there are several different ponds and marshes, they are green and murky so no opportunity for Sunny to get her feet wet. We also noticed quite a few bugs on our hike, but luckily we knew this was likely so we used bug spray before the hike. Overall this is a nice place to take a hike in the woods, especially if you are in the area.
How Do I Get There?
MacCready Nature Reserve is at 9241 – 9499 Skiff Lake Road in Clarklake, Michigan. It is about a quarter mile north of the intersection of Skiff Lake Road and Jefferson Road. The entrance is on the right across the road from a home and near the Michigan State University sign. As you enter the driveway you will see a white building and the parking lot on the left. Entrance to the trails are either on the right side of the white building or the right and left side of the parking lot.
For more information about MacCready Nature Reserve: