Saugatuck Nature Preserve

Back in January, I wrote about a tract of lakeshore -- 171 acres of it -- which had been purchased and protected as a nature preserve.

Today, I finally got out to hike this land. It was almost 60 degrees, clear and mild, a wonderful day to explore these rolling dunes just north of Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan. The tract of land stretches up to the mouth of the Kalamazoo River where it empties into Lake Michigan. There were patches of snow still nestled in the dune grass, but the lake was completely clear of the shelf ice that stretched out into the fog the last time I was out to this side of the lake.

The Land Conservancy, the City of Saugatuck, and The Nature Conservancy joined with private donors to protect this land just before 2009 ended.