Pinconning Nature Preserve

Photos taken in October 2017

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In October 2017, we drove up the shore of Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron) on Michigan highway M-13 to Pinconning Nature Preserve. It was quick & easy to access the preserve from the highway at the small City of Pinconning along E Pinconning Road. We walked on a pleasant trail through a small forest to a wetland on the bank of the Pinconning River. We were unable to go far into the wetland, let alone to the river, because the trail became too wet & mucky. But it was pretty there on that small preserve, which had once been a farm.  My advice is to wear big rubber boots.

The preserve has a variety of plant communities including lowland deciduous forest, scrub/shrub, & marsh. In addition to wetlands, there is 2,165 feet of frontage on the Pinconning River.  The complete loop trail is a little over 1 mile.  The preserve is owned & maintained by the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy. Headquartered in Bay City, the SBLC owns and maintains 10 nature preserves that are open to the public, dawn until dusk, every day of the year, forever. They are natural areas in need of protection & management for the ecological benefits they provide to people & the environment. Some land was purchased through partnerships, while other properties were donated outright, or donated while reserving the right to live on & use the property. When the landowner dies, the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy takes title & control over the property.