Dropped this off at a great location. The river eventually runs all the way to Lake Michigan. This is kind of the other end of the waterway from where I retrieved this travel bug. You could paddle all the way from here to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Upper Macatawa Conservation Area, located in Zeeland Township, now includes 612 acres with the potential for up to 700 acres in the future. With input from county residents, guidance from the Macatawa Greenway Partnership and funding from the Holland-Zeeland Community Foundation, a master plan was approved in 2006 to guide the development of this project.
In addition to recreation, the plan recognizes the value of the site for water quality improvement, flood water storage and wildlife habitat enhancement. The majority of master plan improvements for the UMCA have been completed including construction of key parking areas on 84th and 76th Avenues as well as the development of footbridges, picnic areas and overlooks. Trails for hiking and cross-country skiing, including a section of paved trail that will be part of the future greenway trail system are also being completed. Additional wetland restoration and a remeander of a section of the river channel, funded with a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Michigan Initiative, $100,000 in private dollars donated through the Macatawa Greenway Partnership plus park millage funds, has also been completed. Another restoration project, funded through the Michigan Department of Transportation, created over 18 acres of wooded and shrub-scrub wetlands for mitigation purposes.
The river in the background of this picture travels to Lake Macatwa which empties into Lake Michigan and then you can take one of 2 routes to get back to the Gulf. You can travel around the great lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, into the ocean and around Florida to get back to the Gulf. Or you could just head to the southern end of Lake Michigan and make your way eventually to the mighty Mississippi and take a nice paddle all the way south by the inland waterway to the Gulf. Either way would be a fun trip. This little boat has now seen 2 ends of an inland waterway that travels all the way from Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico.
This entry was edited by coyoteconnection on Tuesday, 19 April 2011 at 02:37:07 UTC.