Family-Friendly Hiking Trails in Michigan

June 5th is National Trails Day. Why not celebrate this year with a hike with your family through one of the amazing family-friendly trails in Michigan. Maybe you are working toward you goal of 1000 Hours Outside this year, or just want to spend some quality time with your family. No matter the reason, hiking is a great way to explore our world, exercise, and create some amazing memories while taking in the beautiful views.

Hiking Trails in Southeast Michigan 

Grand River Fen Preserve – Horton

Here, you can visit the headwaters of Michigan’s longest river, the Grand, at TNC’s Grand River Fen Preserve. Native butterflies occur in very high abundance at Grand River Fen. This site has long been known by lepidopterists for its diversity of these beautiful insects. Species like the Baltimore Checkerspot may follow you around, seeking the salt in your sweat. 

Nan Weston Nature Preserve at Sharon Hollow – Sharon Township

Love spring flowers? Then the Nan Weston Nature Preserve at Sharon Hollow is your choice in April and May. Sharon Hollow is a dynamic preserve, featuring more than 260 species of wildflowers and other native plants. From the symphony of toads and frogs during spring, to the rain of yellow beech leaves in the fall, visitors will find year-round spectacles to enjoy. In the wet spring months, visitors can see vernal pools, which are temporary pools of water that provide habitat for insects, snakes and amphibians. 

Erie Marsh Preserve – Monroe

Head to the Monroe area to visit the Erie Marsh Preserve. No matter the time of year, Erie Marsh Preserve is a birding hotspot. As you walk along the pathways dividing the different wetland areas, you are likely to see a number of ducks, shorebirds, songbirds, or a great egret, great blue heron or black-crowned night heron. Every spring and fall, Erie Marsh serves as important nesting and stopover habitat for thousands of migratory birds to rest and feed. In the fall, bald eagles commonly breed here. At more than 2,200 acres, the preserve also harbors some of Michigan’s few remaining colonies of American lotus and swamp rose-mallow, both listed as state-threatened, as well as the threatened eastern fox snake. 

Metro Detroit Nature Trails

Check out some of these amazing trails that are closer to home:
Boardwalk Trails and Gardens at Innovation Park in Rochester Hills
Lake St. Clair Metropark in Harrison Township
Red Oaks Nature Center in Madison Heights
Farmington Hills Nature Center
Maybury State Park in Northville
Stage Nature Center in Troy
Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve in Rochester
Sterling Heights Nature Center
Nankin Mills Nature Center in Westland

Southwest Michigan Hiking Trails

On the opposite side of the state lies the Ross Coastal Plain Marsh Preserve, a hiker’s joy at about 1,500 acres. As you explore more than five miles of trails, you are likely to encounter reptiles and amphibians around the coastal plain marshes and small ponds on the preserve. Keep an eye out for mammals such as red fox and coyote. While hiking through this preserve, you may see one of the 100 bird species known to nest in the shrubs and trees here throughout the year, with spring and fall migrations bringing songbirds, warblers and waterfowl to the preserve. 

Northwest Lower Peninsula 

Near Onekema, visit the Portage Point Woods Preserve. The shelter of back-dune forests provides habitat for spring wildflowers such as trillium, hepatica, jack-in-the-pulpit, spring beauty, dwarf ginseng and bloodroot. As you hike the looped trail, watch and listen for a variety of animal species, from songbirds and raptors to reptiles and amphibians. Be on the lookout for pileated woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, rose-breasted grosbeaks, barred owls, red-shouldered hawks, eastern box turtles, American toads and eastern newts. Predators like coyotes and red foxes also hunt here for small mammals seeking shelter from the often-harsh coastal environment nearby. There are also several nature preserves owned by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy in this region; totally worth visiting! 

Northeast Lower Peninsula 

In this neck of the woods, the Conservancy partners with strong local organizations to preserve natural spaces. For example, visit the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge and walk the paths of the old Germania Golf Course, that TNC helped protect several years ago.  

Eastern Upper Peninsula 

Enjoy unique and rare geology at the John Arthur Woolam Preserve, near Cedarville. The 185-acre John Arthur Woollam Preserve consists of 4,300 feet of stunning rocky shoreline with huge boulders and coastal wetlands, and a coniferous forest grading into northern hardwoods. The preserve offers significant shoreline for migratory and breeding birds and habitat for plant species such as Houghton’s goldenrod. Warm waters near the shore yield masses of flying insects, providing a tasty feast for migrating birds stopping through the preserve.  

Make it a day trip and also explore the Carl A. Gerstacker Preserve at Dudley Bay! Enjoy five miles of beautiful shoreline across four bays on Lake Huron, two small islands, Big and Little Trout Lakes, and parts of two creeks. Visitors might also see a variety of animals including the loon, pileated woodpecker, osprey, wolf and several species of neotropical migratory songbirds such as the American redstart and magnolia warbler. 

Western Upper Peninsula 

The Echo Lake Nature Preserve near Marquette is home to dramatic cliff-top views and a beautiful trail around Echo Lake itself. Echo Lake offers activities year round, from snow-shoeing in the winter to hiking and canoeing in the summer. Early May and late July through October are the best times to visit this preserve to take advantage of Upper Michigan’s beauty while avoiding biting insects.