Your support makes that possible: please consider making a donation on our secure website at www.swmlc.org. Treat yourself to solitude and spend some time at Spirit Springs Sanctuary! Big, beautiful, and serenely calming in every season, this beautiful preserve is large enough to get away from it all. Spirit Springs Sanctuary offers over two miles of trails that wind around an inland lake, into th
e forest, and along a ridge overlooking untouched wetlands. Acres: 113
Parking: gravel lot
Recreational Features: cross-country skiing, fall color, hiking, wildlife watching, snowshoeing, spring wildflowers, trail running
TRAILS
The 2.25 miles of trails at Spirit Springs Sanctuary are moderate, with occasional hills, and pass through a variety of habitats. It offers an unusual number of especially nice places to look, listen, sketch, or just take in nature's essence. Bring along a folding camp chair or old blanket and enjoy some time just being still. Approximate street address:
Dutch Settlement St, Marcellus, MI 49067
GETTING THERE
From Kalamazoo area: Travel south on US-131 to Marcellus Road (M-216). Turn right (west) onto Marcellus Road, drive 4.3 miles to the intersection of Bent Road (large green sign). Turn left (south) onto Bent Road and drive 3.1 miles to the intersection with Dutch Settlement Road. Turn right (west) onto Dutch Settlement Road; the preserve parking lot is approximately 2.3 miles ahead on the north (right) side, just after the road surface changes color at the county line. STORY
Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy purchased Spirit Springs Sanctuary in 2010, with help from a North American Wetland Conservation Act grant, from 20-year owners Vernon and Alice Miller, who generously made their land available for purchase. Even before Spirit Springs was a public preserve, the Millers treasured the quiet solitude that its woods and wetlands engender. The land’s former caretaker was Clarence Godshalk, a landscape architect and long-time director of the Morton Arboretum in Chicago. To imprint his vision of a peaceful human-wilderness experience, Godshalk created openings and viewing spots, lovingly maintained by the Millers. Many of these "resting spots" remain throughout the preserve. Read more on our website: https://swmlc.org/project/spirit-springs-sanctuary/
