Palms Book State Park is a publicly owned nature preserve encompassing in
Thompson Township,
Schoolcraft County
Schoolcraft County ( ) is a county located in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 8,047, making it Michigan's fourth-least populous county. The county seat is Manistique, which lies alo ...
, in the eastern
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. The
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
is noted for ''
Kitch-iti-kipi
''Kitch-iti-kipi'' (''"KITCH-i-tee-KI-pee"'' with short "i"s), located within Palms Book State Park, is Michigan's largest natural freshwater spring. The name means "big cold spring" in the Ojibwe language. It is also sometimes referred to as the ...
'', the "Big Spring" of the Upper Peninsula.
[
]
History
The Palms and Book Land Company sold the property to the state in 1926, insisting on the name and a ban on camping.[ John I. Bellaire arranged for the sale of a parcel to the state for $10. The arrangement called for the establishment of a park that would be named after the land company. During the 1930s, workers with the ]Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
assisted in making park improvements that included construction of an observation raft, dock, and ranger's quarters.[
]
The spring
Kitch-iti-kipi
''Kitch-iti-kipi'' (''"KITCH-i-tee-KI-pee"'' with short "i"s), located within Palms Book State Park, is Michigan's largest natural freshwater spring. The name means "big cold spring" in the Ojibwe language. It is also sometimes referred to as the ...
, the spring, is a pool of clear water 400 feet (120 m) across in its largest dimension, and up to 40 feet (12 m) deep. The spring water can be seen from above as it wells upward through the pond's bottom of bedrock limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
and sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
, creating a continual pattern of random eddies and cross-currents in the depths of the pond. To the Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
people that were the original inhabitants of much of the Upper Peninsula, this site was a place of mystery and wonder. The water is 45 °F (7 °C) in both winter and summer.
Since the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
in the 1930s, the state has operated a manually propelled observation raft. The raft, which is fixed by cables, carries visitors onto the spring pond, allowing the depths of the pond to be seen from above. The pond is stocked with trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
.
Indian Lake
More than 10,000 gallons (40,000 liters) of water per minute pass from the pond into nearby Indian Lake. Palms Book State Park protects approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) of lake frontage.
References
External links
Palms Book State Park
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Palms Book State Park Map
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
{{authority control
State parks of Michigan
Protected areas of Schoolcraft County, Michigan
Civilian Conservation Corps in Michigan
Protected areas established in 1929
1929 establishments in Michigan
IUCN Category III