Black River Preserve — Attraction in Geneva Township

The Black River preserve in Southhaven Michigan is a southwest Michigan land Conservancy property. It is a combination of marsh, river views, forest and Prairie. The trails are mostly packed dirt with some nice boardwalks and bridges places. The trails here are clearly marked all together you can probably get between four and 5 miles here although today I just did three I spent very little time on the white trail, Yellow trail and only did part of the blue trail. This is a dog on leash friendly Preserve, and kid friendly. There is a nice sized parking area here, there are no facilities so plan accordingly. The trails are well maintained and there’s a decent amount of hills to make it a little bit more of a challenge. Right now it is dry but when it rains their peers to be a lot of clay here and it can be very slick. Map is at the end of the pictures. Don’t be discouraged by the Southhaven address and think that it will be really busy all the time due to tourists, this is out in the country. One word of warning there is a local gun club across the river and so at times especially on weekends there’s a lot of gunfire going on. Today I...

Scenery/Condition Nice Michigan forest with a verity of trees (no rows of red pine) and some changing scenery with little glades. It was the fall when I hiked it and even after some rain there were no significant mud spots. Someone had recently gone through some spots with a brush hog to clear out the vegetation that smacks your shins. (I don't like it when trails feel like sidewalks so I appreciate the narrower nature of this trail).

Difficult I liked the slightly curving and singl-file size trail. It was pretty flat and had good maps and a fair number of trail markings (colord diamonds). That being said I did find myself getting turned around a few times.

Length: There are a few loops so you could probably hike any length from 0.5 miles to 3.0 miles. Good for a more relaxed nature walk or stroll with friends.

Bathrooms: There were no bathrooms.

Random: There was also a giant teepee made out of old little trees.

Overview ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: 5 Stars for a scenic and pretty well maintained trail with solid maps and good distances for an...

Great place to go if you love nature and need a place to wait for a friend to come pick you up because the police are chasing you like the fugitive and you still haven't found the one-armed man. Some beautiful trails to walk, or run, while you look for a quiet place to hide and see some wildlife while you wait. Good cell reception so you can listen to the police scanner and hear dispatch & law enforcement give updates about the search in real time. Black River Preserve is a great place to enjoy the outdoors. Leashed dogs are welcome to join owners on a hike but don't count on them being able to pick...