A Visit to Bow in the Clouds/Spring Valley Nature Preserve

It was a gorgeous early December day here in southwest Michigan!

So I put on my hiking shoes and headed for the closest nature preserve to where I live. Bow in the Clouds Preserve. Not even a five minute drive away! 

Bow in the Clouds sets in back of the Sisters of St. Joseph campus here in Kalamazoo. And it's an absolutely beautiful piece of land that the sisters donated to the Nature Conservancy in Michigan.

There's a fairly large wetlands in this area. With spring-fed creeks running throughout. 

Fortunately, a series of sturdy walkways make the path easy at the bottom of the land which has the consistency of marsh.

The path winds up with fairly steep hills that led to the backside of the Sisters of St. Joseph Campus that sets along Nazareth Road. From there you'll get a spectacular view of the entire wetlands before heading back down.

And, along the way back, you'll be rewarded with more views of the spring-fed creek. Like the one above!

Although the trail has several twists and turns, it is clearly marked. Even with the leaves that have settled along the floor of the woods.

Most of the Bow in the Clouds preserve trail is narrow. I moved aside at a few points to let other walkers go through. There isn't much wiggle room at these points. But, as the trail gets closer to the backside of Spring Valley Elementary School, it widens out quite a bit.

All in all an exceptionally pleasant walk, towards the end of a gorgeous early December day!