Black Creek Nature Sanctuary, commonly referred to as Black Creek, is a nature sanctuary located in

Keweenaw County, Michigan Keweenaw County (, ; , ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, the state's northernmost county. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the ...

. It is maintained and preserved by the

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Michigan Nature Association Michigan Nature Association is a nonprofit conservation organization established in 1952. It has 176 nature sanctuaries in 58 counties throughout Michigan under its jurisdiction. History In 1951, a bird study group in the Macomb County Mac ...

, and is only one of many parks and sanctuaries maintained by the association in Keweenaw County. The Black Creek Nature Sanctuary provides varied landscapes, several beaver ponds, sand dunes fringed by giant white

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

, mixed

conifers Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...

, lowland

hardwoods Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

, and of Lake Superior shoreline. Starting in 1991, local citizens began purchasing land for preservation, and by 1992, a total of were acquired. In 2006, the land along the lake's shoreline was added for the present size of . Access to the sanctuary is by a hiking trail of more than two miles (3 km) in length, and traverses a variety of environments. Vegetation includes

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

, trailing arbutus, and wildflowers such as

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s. The trail ends at a lagoon formed by the convergence of Hill and Black Creeks where they empty into

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. Hill Creek flows through several feet of old stamp sand left over from the

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mining era in the 1860s. The rock bearing the copper was crushed, or "stamped", to remove the ore, hence the term "stamp sand". A small footpath marks the entrance to Black Creek near the end of Sedar Road between Calumet and Allouez. The trail will take you to the Lake Superior shoreline as well as the beaver marshes, dune habitat, and conifers that surround the creeks. {{Dead link, date=October 2019

References

External links

The Michigan Nature Association
Nature reserves in Michigan Protected areas of Keweenaw County, Michigan Swamps of Michigan Protected areas established in 1991 1991 establishments in Michigan