Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve

There’s no place like home… but you’ll never know it if you don’t explore your neighborhood. My husband and I chose to hike along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve. The scenery is spectacular! There is no question that the Great Lake’s are inland seas. The sound of the surf is a loud roar on a windy day. Besides being a beautiful area, Lion’s Den is also a Nature Preserve, home to waterfowl, warblers, and other birds. Bring your binoculars.

We hear a lot about erosion caused by the action of the lake on the western shore, but we don’t often hear about the erosion caused by the spring thaw and rains. As we walked along the upper bluff, we held back from the edge about fifteen feet. Once we followed the trail to the shoreline and looked up at the bluff, am I glad we did. There were numerous small mud slides, water running from the wall of the bluff and debris cascading toward the shore. Look closely at the pictures and you may see the evidence of spring erosion.

As I walked along the water’s edge, I kept my eye open for water glass, which are bits of glass polished into stone by the surf. I didn’t find much, but I did find a large wooden washer. I wonder if it could have washed ashore from one of the many shipwrecks known to lie on the bottom of the lake?

Enjoy the pictures!