Warren Woods State Park

Park in Michigan, USA

41°49′55″N 86°37′30″W / 41.83194°N 86.62500°W / 41.83194; -86.62500Area311 acres (126 ha)Elevation597 feet (182 m) ^[2]DesignationMichigan State ParkEstablished1930^[3]AdministratorMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesWebsiteWarren Woods State Park

U.S. National Natural Landmark

Designated1967

Warren Woods State Park is a 311-acre (1.26 km²) nature preserve and public recreation area in Berrien County, Michigan, near the village of Three Oaks. The state park is leased by private owners to the state of Michigan.^[4]

History

The woods are named for Edward Kirk Warren (1847-1919), the inventor of the featherbone corset (which replaced the whalebone in corsets with turkey feathers and secured his fortune). Starting in 1879,^[5] Warren bought 150 acres (0.61 km²) of the woods and 250 acres (1.0 km²) of the dunes, setting them aside for preservation.^[6]

Natural features

The park is home to the last climax beech-maple forest in Michigan, which occupies 200 acres (0.81 km²). The virgin North American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) forest has specimens 125 feet (38 m) tall and with girths greater than 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter.^[7]^[8] The remaining area in the park consists of floodplain oak-hickory forest. Because of the size and age of the trees, and the rarity of the ecosystem, the area has been designated since 1967 as a National Natural Landmark.^[9] Many of the beeches, with their smooth, thin, silver-grey bark, are heavily scarred by hand-carved graffiti, some of it decades old; however, the practice seems to have fallen out of favor in recent years.^[5]

Activities and amenities

The park has few facilities and is administered by nearby Warren Dunes State Park. Most visitors come to walk the 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of hiking trails, which run from the northern boundary on Warren Woods Road to a parking area accessed from the southern boundary on Elm Valley Road. In the middle of the park the trail crosses the Galien River on a pedestrian bridge, where there is an interpretive station. The park contains the 42-acre (17 ha) Warren Woods Ecological Field Station owned and operated by the University of Chicago.^[10] Birders cite the park as a particularly good place to spot pileated woodpeckers. Other visitors come to picnic. The park is the subject of ecological studies because, in combination with the ecosystems preserved in nearby Warren Dunes State Park, it completes a progression of ecological seres.

References

^ "Warren Woods State Park". IUCN. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
^ "Warren Woods State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ "When were Michigan state parks and recreation areas established?" (PDF). Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
^ "Warren Woods State Park". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Warren Woods State Park - General Management Plan" (PDF). Michigan DNR. March 2010. pp. 27, 39. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
^ Joel Greenberg (2004). A Natural History of the Chicago Region. University of Chicago Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-226-30649-0. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
^ "Warren Woods Nature Study Area". Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
^ Joel Greenberg. A Naturalist's Tour of Southern Lake Michigan. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
^ "Warren Woods Natural Area". National Natural Landmarks Program. National Park Service. 1967. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
^ Kevin Jiang (August 1, 2014). "University of Chicago opens groundbreaking sustainable field station". uchicago news. University of Chicago Office of Communications. Retrieved July 8, 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warren Woods State Park.

Warren Woods State Park Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Warren Woods State Park Map Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Protected areas of Michigan

National

Parks	Isle Royale Keweenaw (Historical) River Raisin (Battlefield)
Lakeshores	Pictured Rocks Sleeping Bear Dunes
Landmarks	Au Sable State Forest Dukes Research Natural Area Grand Mere State Park Haven Hill State Natural Area Newton Woods Porcupine Mountains Roscommon Virgin Pine Stand Strangmoor Bog Tobico Marsh Toumey Woods Warren Woods State Park Waterloo State Recreation Area
Forests	Hiawatha Huron–Manistee Ottawa
Wildlife Refuges	Detroit River Harbor Island Huron Kirtlands Warbler Wildlife Management Area Michigan Islands Michigan Wetland Management District Seney Shiawassee
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Au Sable Bear Creek Black Carp Indian Manistee Ontonagon Paint Pere Marquette Pine Presque Isle Sturgeon (Delta County) Sturgeon (Houghton County) Tahquamenon Whitefish Yellow Dog
Other Protected Areas	Father Marquette National Memorial Grand Island National Recreation Area Saint Helena Island National Scenic Area Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

State

Parks	Albert E. Sleeper Algonac Aloha Baraga Bay City Belle Isle Bewabic Brimley Burt Lake Cambridge Junction Cheboygan Clear Lake Coldwater Lake Craig Lake Dodge No.4 Duck Lake Fayette Fisherman's Island Fort Michilimackinac Fort Wilkins Fred Meijer White Pine Trail Grand Haven Grand Mere Harrisville Hart–Montague Trail Hartwick Pines W.J. Hayes P.H. Hoeft P.J. Hoffmaster Holland Indian Lake Interlochen Kal-Haven Trail Lake Gogebic Lakelands Trail Lakeport Laughing Whitefish Falls Leelanau Ludington Mackinac Island Maybury F.J. McLain Charles Mears Meridian-Baseline Mill Creek Wm. Mitchell Muskallonge Lake Muskegon Negwegon Newaygo North Higgins Lake Onaway Orchard Beach Old Mission Otsego Lake Palms Book Petoskey Porcupine Mountains Port Crescent Sanilac Petroglyphs Saugatuck Dunes Seven Lakes Silver Lake Sleepy Hollow South Higgins Lake Wm. C. Sterling Straits Sturgeon Point Tahquamenon Falls Tawas Point Thompson's Harbor Traverse City Twin Lakes Van Buren Van Buren Trail Van Riper Warren Dunes Warren Woods Watkins Lake and County Preserve J.W. Wells Wilderness William G. Milliken Wilson Young
Recreation Areas	Bald Mountain Bass River Brighton Fort Custer Highland Holly Ionia Island Lake Lake Hudson Lime Island Menominee River Metamora-Hadley Ortonville Pinckney Pontiac Lake Proud Lake Rifle River Rockport Tippy Dam Waterloo W.C. Wetzel Yankee Springs
Forests	Au Sable Copper Country Escanaba River Lake Superior Mackinaw Pere Marquette
Underwater Preserves	Alger De Tour Passage Grand Traverse Bay Keweenaw Manitou Passage Marquette Sanilac Shores Southwest Michigan Straits of Mackinac Thumb Area Whitefish Point
Other	Agate Falls Scenic Site Bond Falls Scenic Site Michigan Islands Wilderness Area Ocqueoc Falls Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center Wagner Falls Scenic Site