William Erby Smith Wau-Ke-Na Preserve South Hiking Trails - Fennville, Michigan - Hiking and walking trailheads on Waymarking.com

Taken from their website:"The preserve is divided into North and South Tracts. Despite a history of farming, the South Tract includes several interesting natural communities: oak-hickory forest, early successional forest, old field, prairie grassland, wet meadow, pond, cattail marsh, and lake-plain prairie. The grasslands provide habitat for significant numbers of grassland birds in decline. The forests are changing dramatically due to the emerald ash borer – the silver lining is that increased sunlight is resulting in greater numbers of wildflowers in the woodlands. Lake-plain prairies are an endangered habitat and extremely rare in west Michigan.
William Erby Smith’s bequest of Wau-Ke-Na (“forest-by-the-water”) is the largest of Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy’s preserves and includes forests, fields, streams, ponds, bluffs, and beaches. Wau-Ke-Na gets its name from the rich forest along the shores of Lake Michigan that makes up the northern tract of the preserve. These woods are home to magnificent specimens of red oak, tulip tree, yellow birch, American beech, sugar maple, hemlock, sassafras, and more. On the southern tract, Mr. Smith spent a great deal of time and resources improving wildlife habitat, creating wetlands, and sowing grasslands. Fields of prairie grasses and wildflowers provide foraging and nesting areas for rare birds like sedge wrens, bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks.

Wau-Ke-Na is a special place for wildlife. Building on Mr. Smith’s efforts, SWMLC continues to create wildlife habitat in the southern tract. On the northern tract, efforts are underway to enhance and expand the beech-maple forest by transitioning the pine plantations to hardwoods, providing better food and shelter for wildlife."
There are approximately 2+ miles of trails that wind thru the preserve. Lots of mowed grass trails and can be very wet in spots.

Trailhead/trail website: [Web Link] Trail allowances or restrictions: Hiking Cross Country Skiing Trail type: Dirt, grass Parking: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
To claim a log for this waymark, some proof of a visit is required. This proof could be a simple photo of their GPS at the trailhead, a photo of the person at the trailhead, or a photo of a signature item that a person uses for photographs, at the trailhead.

In order to help other waymarkers who are looking for a nice hike/walk outdoors, you are encouraged to provide good feedback about the quality of the hike/trail.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   03/13/2020 theHostas visited it