Nature Archives - Lost In Michigan

Michigan’s Buried Treasure at Lake Benton

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Landscapes, Nature .

Northeast of Hesperia, deep within the Manistee National Forest, is Benton Lake. It is a small lake completely surrounded by wilderness other than a little rustic campground. As legend has it, back in 1874, a stagecoach was transporting gold coins to a nearby logging camp. The coins were to be used for payroll for the lumberjacks, but along the way, the stage was robbed.

The story that has been told for generations is the bandits feared they might be caught and be beaten or killed by the lumberjacks. They hid the gold in an old cast iron stove and then buried it between two stumps along the shoreline of Benton Lake. They supposedly never came back to retrieve the stolen loot. It is claimed that the gold coins would be worth about a half-million dollars. I am not sure if the legend is true, but if you want to look for the buried treasure, you can check out Benton Lake which is part of the National Forrest. I am not sure what the regulations are for digging on national land but in my opinion, the real treasure is the peace and solitude you will find there.

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Iargo Springs

Posted on November 25, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature, Waterfalls .

Down the road from Lumberman’s Monument is a parking area for Iargo Springs. I say parking area and not the springs because they are way down by the Au Sable River. It is about 300 steps down to the springs but it is worth the effort. It is a beautiful secluded area covered in tall trees with the water flowing over rocks and logs down to the river. If you are ever in the area and you can make the trip down the stairway and back up again ( I had to rest a few times ) be sure to see the Iargo Springs.

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The Grand Ledge in Autumn

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in autumn, Nature, Parks, Uncategorized .

Along the Grand River in Fitzgerald Park are these magnificent rock outcroppings and cliffs. They truly are grand ledges and give the town they are located in its name. I find it strange that I have lived in Michigan for a half-century and have explored many places and I just now visited this wonderful place. I felt like I was hiking in the northwestern Upper Peninsula instead of the Central Lower Peninsula. If you are looking for someplace to explore, you need to check out the Grand Ledges for yourself, because you can’t capture its breathtaking beauty in a photograph.

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Irontone Spring

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature, Parks .

North of Gaylord is a roadside park. I small creek runs through it with a couple of bridges that cross the flowing water. The water comes from a natural spring known as the Irontone Spring. The park is Frank Wilkinson Park named in honor of Frank Wilkinson who was the first Otsego County road commissioner. He owned the property and deeded it to the county after his death.

Next time you are heading up north take a break from I-75 and travel along old 27. Be sure to stop at the little roadside park at Irontone Springs.

P.S. I found on the internets that there is a fountain with spring water that you can drink but it was not flowing while I was there. Maybe someone forgot to pay the water bill to Mother Nature.

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Seven Bridges Recreation Area

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature .

I made a whirlwind trip around the northern Lower Peninsula over the past few days. I stopped at the Seven Bridges Recreation Area north of Kalkaska and took this pic of the water flowing through the green trees and grass. The trees are still green other than a few random trees that started changing their leaves early. I went through Roscommon, Mio to Onaway over to Indian River, and then down to Gaylord to Kalkaska and over to Grayling. I am thinking the end of September is gonna be peak for Nothern Lower but that is dependant on the weather.

If you are looking forward to Autumn’s color show like I am you still have a few weeks unless you head up into the Upper Peninsula.

P.S. I took a lot of pics and I am looking forward to sharing them with you over the next few weeks.

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Watching Over The Asylum

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature .

Behind the old state hospital ( which is now the Village at Grand Traverse Commons) in Traverse City is an old round building with a face painted on it. It sits up on a hill and I think it was a water tank for the old hospital. I enjoy shopping at the commons but if you get a chance be sure to hike the trails behind the buildings. It is a beautiful wooded area with trails winding through the trees. There are also a few unique and interesting places like the old water tank and the Hippie Trees. You can see my post about them HERE.

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The Secret Manistee Waterfall in the Lower Peninsula

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature, Waterfalls .

Hidden deep within the Manistee National Forest is a small un-named waterfall. It is not a large waterfall, only about two feet tall, but it is a peaceful and serene little waterfall. It is on a little creek that flows into the Manistee River a couple of miles south of the Hodenpyl Dam. The creek and waterfall do not have a name and even the sign next to them just reads “waterfall”. I have decided to call it the Manistee Falls for the forest it is in, and the Manistee river is only a few yards away.

I am guessing the creek dries up by mid-summer and the waterfalls are not flowing, so if you want to see it, spring would be the best time to do it. I don’t normally post exact locations and directions to places in my posts. I prefer to leave that for my books, but I figure since this place has limited information on the internet, I would share that info here.

Here are the coordinates for the parking area 44°20’51.4″N 85°49’42.9″W ( which someone has marked Sara’s Falls Parking)

The best way to reach the parking area is to take W 26 Rd. from M-37. Head west into the woods and it will curve to the right, but you will want to take W 26 Rd. that continues heading west. It will end at No. 1 Rd. Turn right (north) travel about a half-mile, until you see a two-track heading west. turn left and then about a half-mile at the end of the two-track is a gate and parking ara. Take the trail behind the gate about a quarter-mile to the falls. It is not too bad of a hike but it does go downhill for the last 100 yards.

if you enjoy exploring the Upper Peninsula for waterfalls, I am sure you will enjoy visiting these little waterfalls. They may not be large and impressive, but it is a fun journey and somewhere you can check off your list of places you have visited.

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Old Facefull

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature .

The crystal clear spring water of Old Facefull flows all year long. The artesian spring is in Pierport about a hundred yards from the Lake Michigan shoreline. It is on the corner of 13 Mile and Lakeview Road in a public parking lot with access to the lake. It is nothing fancy, it is basically a pipe sticking out of the ground with water coming out and into a nearby drain. I did not have a jug or water bottle with me but I did take a drink of the water like a kid taking a dring from a garden hose. It was really good water and it tasted like, you guessed it, water. I was there in late winter just before the pandemic lockdown so my pic is not the greatest. If you are ever near Manistee, the spring is not too far off M-22 for you to stop and check it out.

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The Park In Michigan’s Hart

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Nature .

The Small town of Hart is a few miles southeast of Pentwater on the west coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Just north of town is the archway for John Gurney Park welcoming visitors. The park was one of the first auto tourist camps developed along the West Michigan Pike during the 1920s. As the affordability and popularity of the automobile grew Michiganders began to take day trips and the tourist parks gave the motorists a place to stop and rest and even camp overnight. Former state senator Theron Gurney and his wife, Helen, donated land to the village of Hart in 1912 for a park to honor their son. Lieutenant John Gurney died at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish American War.

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The Last Post …. Of The Decade

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in autumn, Nature .

Here it is, December 31st, 2019. It is my last post for the decade and I was not sure what to post. I went through some of my photos. I think this one on a back road in Autumn somewhere near Hell Michigan is one of my favorites. Thank you so much for going on this journey around the Mitten State with me. I have created almost one thousand posts since I started this website back in 2013 and hope to surpass the 1k mark soon. I do my best to keep my posts random and from all parts of the peninsulas.

I am not sure where the road will lead next but I have a lot of places I want to visit in the next decade. I hope you will follow me as I explore new places and as always thank you for taking the time to read my posts.

Have a happy New Year and a prosperous decade. See ya on the flip side

Mike Sonnenberg.

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