Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Spaulding Township

Finding a familiar trail to take me further from it all. Never a problem as everyone out there is looking for peace in an outdoorsy state of mind. Watch deer running ahead and turkey buzzards flying with the clouds. Seeing hawks perched in a tree overlooking from the corner of woods over a field. Capture bear tracks with bobcat impressions near the river. Feeling a breeze with smells of wild flowers and fresh crushed leaves. Stop to rest and drink a bottle of water on Trailside benches. Listen in silence as your heartbeat flutters with every stick breaking from behind. Make a confidence trail through the swampy shallows near Bull Head Creek. Follow the musk from a snake or a well used deer trail, either way will find a new place. There's a big shale pile to push your bicycle up & fly down. Don't pedal or hit the edge & tumble hard. Upon entering the parking lot there's an information post to read before entering. Three trails are marked after crossing the bridge without a toll troll. From above the Bull Head Creek Bridge, drop some bread balls into, and see lotsa' Japanese Coy come to eat. Some stranded pike keep their numbers low. Find a fallen tree leaning up against another. This is where I climb to rest my back against a tree and eat my Subway ™ submarine sandwich. Make friends with a chipmunk and toss a piece of the heel with cheese pressed together. Listening to tweeties tweeting with geese & ducks, including the frog quartet. This is my first most favorite place to walk about or ride a bicycle. Pack a picnic in the backpack & pick up trash along the way. Clear trees from the trail with a hatchet. Has been a few years & found myself at peace in a forest nearby at the end of my road, at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. A great place to bring your kids to go on...

Today, I will be talking about the woodland trail up by strobel rd. I was biking up there with my friend Robert as well as his father Tad, his little brother Nick, and his little sister Leah. Tad had said it would be a good trail for biking, but he hadn't been up there for years. It was a little skinner that years ago. He said you USED to be able to ride bikes/run straight through with ease. Today there were fallen trees, and a lot of brush. We all got thorned and scratched up pretty good. Tad was actually bleeding on his ankle. Trees had fallen over on the trail. LOADS OF THEM! Go 30 yards, go over a fallen tree, go another 30 yards, go over another tree, go 100 yards, go over yet another tree. There was even this one tree that was so branchy he had to life all the bikes over the fallen tree. Also if you're not from Michigan, in this state mosquitoes are a big problem. The plan was to have another group of people to come with us. We got there early so we thought we would do the small 1 MI loop (they did have a few loops) witch wouldn't take that long. Because of the trees and brush and stuff, it took forever. So they got tired of waiting and left. So we had to go to there house to apologize. Then we all went home. So overall the woodland trails should not be biked in (I don't recommend it). Its funner and...

Shiawassee National Wildlife Preserve is just that, it only has primitive facilities and nominal changes to the natural surroundings in the area.

It has good views of wetland areas, extensive woodlands and some dirt trails and roads to follow.

The Nature drive is still closed for the season and construction that isn't completed.

The main wooded areas are completely covered in a foot or two of standing water due to enormous amounts of rainfall this year. One of the trail shortcuts is flooded and cannot be crossed without wading in water covered in algae.

We did see a lot of Great Egrets, a mature Bald Eagle, and several Great Blue Herons.

We also surprised a groundhog who was sleeping 5 feet up in a tree because the forest is flooded. We didn't even know groundhogs can climb trees!

Because of the standing water, there are hundreds of mosquitos and biting black flies all over the trails. Be sure to bring bug spray if you plan on walking in the Preserve.

The scenery is beautiful, and I'm sure it's even better when the woods aren't flooded and animals don't have to either flee the area or climb into...