This 240-acre nature preserve in located on the former Ada Beef Company property and is a lovely place to go to for a walk. The paved walking trail covers just over 3 miles if you take every path option, and the park has been certified as a Wildlife Habitat.
The path leads down to the Grand River and follows it along for about a mile.
A few viewing platforms are found here and there and here are some very green views from the first one we encountered.
This little platform offered some beautiful views of the river and also a lost bobber caught in a tree :-)
This tree will soon make its acquaintance with the river.
We saw a little bit of fauna (sandhill cranes in the distance) but mostly flora.
Muddy creeks, a boardwalk, and a tranquil creek cut through the acreage.
The original grain silos from the beef company were left on the property and one was converted into an observation tower. On previous visits the door had been locked but today we were lucky.
We climbed the 95 steps up to the top and found the door to the deck locked - ouch!
But we did get a few nice views from this vantage point.
So we climbed the 95 stops back down and found this explanation for the locked door in paragraph two.
The bottom of the other silo has been converted into a climbing wall.
This is a great use of flood-plain property, and the park does occasionally close in the spring when the Grand River floods. So cheers for converting a toxic, beef raising/slaughterhouse property into a beautiful, recreational place for people to come and enjoy nature.
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