Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve
Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve offers a stunning 1-mile accessible boardwalk trail through a rich marshland teeming with diverse wildlife such as birds, turtles, and beavers. This wheelchair-accessible preserve is perfect for nature lovers and families with children, providing educational opportunities with informational signs along the trail. The well-maintained and level boardwalk includes benches for resting and offers a peaceful experience in a beautiful natural setting. Part of the trail is seasonally gated to protect nesting wildlife, making it a thoughtfully preserved environment.
Reviews
Beautiful boardwalk through the marsh. Well maintained. The trail is marked with info on wildlife. There is a section of the boardwalk that closes part of the year to support endangered wildlife.
If you’re a lover of nature and especially waterfowl, this is a must see place for you! The long boardwalk places you out in the middle of a huge marshland that’s fill with many types of birds, turtles, frogs, muskrat, beaver, and I’m sure more things we didn’t see. There are information stations throughout the boardwalk to help identify some of the various wildlife you could see. Bring some binoculars and your camera for stunning pictures in the beautiful place.
Nicely maintained, level, accessible, walking deck. While there are not railings on the whole deck, there are boards that would prevent a stroller or wheelchair to roll off the sides. It has ample places to pull over and view without waking and some benches too. We noted that the deck is wide enough to accommodate two way traffic and to allow a person to walk it while keeping your eyes on the nature, without fear of walking off the deck. *Note: a portion of the deck is closed with gates during nesting season. Highly recommend.
Beautiful marsh and an excellent educational opportunity for little kids. There’s plenty of flora and fauna to view, and our kids were super excited seeing so many birds, trying to identify them, asking so many questions, and learning some new bird names in the process. Our little one claimed he saw an alligator in there too… well… not really sure about that though 🙂 The marsh definitely piqued our kids curiosity. We entered the marsh around 6 PM, the weather was so pleasant, so we took our own sweet time strolling through the preserve, and exited the marsh at around 8 PM. A great experience overall.
This place leaves me speechless every single time I visit. How could a 1 mile boardwalk do that? Because it is amazing. The trail parking lot is easily accessible from M22 in Arcadia with handicap parking/accessibility along the entire trail. It is an incredible preserve, that offers even the non nature lovers a chance to connect with and learn to care for the natural environment. If you have not been and are thinking of going, go! (And then consider donating to the Grand Traverse Land Conservancy to help preserve properties like this and others for generations to come🤍)