The Carl A. Gerstacker Preserve, on the northern shore of Lake Huron in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, was established in 1993 thanks to the generosity of Marilyn Twining and her family. They sold multiple parcels of land over the years to The Nature Conservancy to form the Little Trout Lake Preserve. The preserve was renamed in 1996 after Carl A. Gerstacker, a founding member of The Nature Conservancy’s Michigan Chapter Board of Trustees.
Today, the Gerstacker Preserve totals over 1600 acres in size, and features several miles of spectacular Lake Huron shoreline. Join me on this tour to learn some of the unique history that has shaped this preserve, as well as what The Nature Conservancy is doing to protect it and places like it.
Sample Stories
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1_Introduction
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Welcome to the audio tour of the Carl A. Gerstacker Nature Preserve! This tour is hosted by The Nature Conservancy, which owns and manages the preserve. The Nature Conservancy works worldwide to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.
The Gerstacker Preserve, on the northern shore of Lake Huron in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, was established in 1993 thanks to the generosity of Marilyn Twining and her family. They sold multiple parcels of land over the years to The Nature Conservancy to form the Little Trout Lake Preserve. The preserve was renamed in 1996 after Carl A. Gerstacker, a founding member of The Nature Conservancy’s Michigan Chapter Board of Trustees.
Today, the Gerstacker Preserve totals over 1600 acres in size, and features several miles of spectacular Lake Huron shoreline. Join me on this tour to learn some of the unique history that has shaped this preserve, as well as what The Nature Conservancy is doing to protect it and places like it.
During your visit, please help us protect this preserve by enjoying only low-impact, non-motorized recreational activities such as hiking and snowshoeing. No pets or bikes, please; this helps protect vulnerable plant and animal species. Note that deer hunting is allowed with a TNC permit and a Michigan hunting license on the preserve from September to January, to control an overpopulation of deer and protect fragile habitat. Please wear bright colors and exercise additional caution during this time. See the full list of preserve rules posted at the kiosk in the parking lot.
If you are on location, you can begin your tour at the trailhead here in the parking lot, heading east. The trail will take you on an out-and-back journey that is two miles in total with a few small hills and rises, turning around at Big Trout Lake. Walking the entire route to the lake and back takes about forty-five minutes to an hour.
Let’s get started!
7_Wetland Overlook
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We have reached the edge of a wetland bordering Big Trout Lake. Here, you might spot signs of muskrat. The muskrat is the hero of an Ojibwe legend about the creation of the earth. In this legend, the world was covered in deep water, and no land could be seen. A muskrat dove down into the water, and was gone a very, very long time, but managed to return with a ball of mud in his paws that became the land we live on. In some versions of this story, other animals try first, but only the muskrat could dive deeply enough.
So you see, the muskrat has a reputation for being quite tenacious! Muskrats dig open water channels to give themselves better swimming routes. Another well-known wetland “engineer,” which you may also see signs of here, is the beaver. Beavers bring trees crashing down with their powerful jaws and build massive dams that turn forests and fields into the ponds they love. Look for their domelike homes of mud and branches, which are called lodges.
These are just two of a stunning range of wildlife species, from reptiles to waterfowl, that make their home in this type of wetland. It is called emergent marsh for the plants that can be seen “emerging” from the water’s surface. Emergent marsh is a common feature along Michigan’s many streams and inland lakes, the result of thousands of years of glaciers slowly carving away at the landscape.
Plant life is also abundant on emergent marsh, both in and out of the water. From floating plants like duckweed, with its tiny bright green leaves, to dense bulrushes and reeds along the water’s edge, growing things always crowd close to the water. Nearby, you might see the white trunks of a stand of paper birch, crowned with bright yellow leaves in the fall. Continue on to learn more about the significance of the paper birch!
