#TrailTuesday: West Bloomfield Woods Nature Preserve Trail
- Dan Cooke
- Feb 7, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 13
Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the highland loops of the West Bloomfield Woods Nature Preserve, a forested oasis amidst the abundant lakes of West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.
"Hey Dan, have you ever explored the West Bloomfield Nature Preserve?"
This question from my uncle at first seemed to spring out of left field, but I've come to accept that wearing any Expedition Detroit merch now constitutes a public invitation for any and all questions related to Detroit's outdoors.
"No, can't say that I have," I replied over the hum of the ascending airplane that we were sitting within.
"Well, you should. It's pretty cool."
Our brief discussion ended there - most likely due to the number of relatives that we were speaking over - but the suggestion stuck with me. Not only is my uncle an accomplished outdoorsman in his own right, but at this point in Expedition Detroit's storied four month operating history, any suggestions for new outdoor destinations to explore are worth their weight in gold. Especially the destinations that I have never heard of.
Fast forward 48 hours and my return flight to Detroit has already touched down. With an open Sunday afternoon and an activity-starved golden retriever on my hands, I fired up AllTrails to see which "Top 50" #TrailTuesday trails were in my general vicinity - particularly one with just enough mileage and terrain variation to fill up the remaining hours of daylight.
Lo and behold, the closest, "yet-to-be-explored" trail just so happened to be located within a string of lakes in western West Bloomfield Township. A satellite image forming a green patch of forested oasis amidst the foreboding shades of blue of Orchard Lake, Upper Straits Lake, Morris Lake, and Mirror Lake. A local gem hiding in plain sight just south of Pontiac Trail.
"Alright Lucy," I said to my pup as I powered down my laptop. "We've got ourselves a new trail to hike!"
MEET THE WEST BLOOMFIELD WOODS NATURE PRESERVE
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