| Alcona County | ||
| The coastline of Alcona County is graced
with sandy beaches, bluffs, and low dunes. Some of the best examples of
older shorelines associated with glacial activity can be found along this
segment of the Huron Greenways. In fact, segments of the trail follows
along the ridges of old beaches and dunes. Deep glacial deposits
created many hills, valleys and bluffs from Greenbush north to the County
line. US-23 traverses the eastern edge of these glacial till and
ice-contact outwash deposits. Development is concentrated in Harrisville,
Black River, Greenbush and along shorelines of Lake Huron and inland lakes.
Several of the key ecological features are Negwegon State Park, Au Sable
State Forest and Mackinaw State Forest lands, Huron National Forest lands,
Cedar Lake swamp, Black River swamp, Black River and Pine River systems.
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| Water Features | ||
| North and south branch of Black River, Mill Creek, Pine River tributaries and Cedar Lake are the major water features in the Alcona section of the Huron Greenways. The North Branch of the Black River flows through large tracts of state and undeveloped private lands, draining the Black River swamp. | ||
| Ecological Features | ||
| Public lands and large tracts of private
land form wide ecological corridors within the coastal zone. The
predominate forest type in the southern portion of the Huron Greenways
is oak and pine. The old beach ridges in the coastal lake plain provide
good growing conditions for red oak, white oak, red pine, white pine, aspen
and birch. Poor Farm Road and Sand Hill Road follow along these sandy
ridges.
Cedar, tamarack, spruce, balsam poplar, aspen, red maple black ash and elm can be found growing on the poorly drained sites in the coastal lake plains. Large expanses of these lowland areas such as the Cedar Lake swamp and Black River swamp provide critical wildlife habitat. Species such as the red-shouldered hawk, northern parula, and wood thrush nest in tree canopies. The barred owl, red-headed woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, northern flying squirrel, and wood duck nest in cavities of trees in the lowland forests. Scattered along the greenways are old farm fields, which are no longer farmed and serve as natural openings. Many species of wildlife use these openings for nesting and food gathering. The red-tailed hawk, eastern kingbird, loggerhead shrike nest in the canopy of surrounding trees, but feed extensively in open areas. Other species such as the American kestrel, eastern bluebird, and eastern screech-owl nest in the trunks of trees and snags in and around openings. Negwegon State Park straddles the Alpena
and Alcona Counties’ shared border. South Point in the park is the
southern terminus of Thunder Bay. This difficult to access and under
used day park has miles of trails and rocky quiet coastline. There
are a series of old shorelines and wide swamps that align with the coastline
and represent post glacial high water periods of the Great Lakes.
Aspen-birch and pine-oak forests grow on the dry sandy ridges. In
the low areas red maple, balsam poplar, ash, cedar, and tamarack can be
found along with open marshes and lowland brush.
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| Geological Features | ||
| Some of the best examples of old glacial
lake shorelines can be found along this segment of the Huron Greenways.
The old shorelines are most prevalent near Cedar Lake and Black River.
Dune and swale complexes are a series of alternating old beach ridges and
linear depressions that parallel the Lake Huron shoreline. Near the
lake shore the ridges are covered with oak, pine and aspen while lowland
conifers and brush can be found growing in the wet depressions. The
width of the ridges and associated swales is dependent upon the underlying
geology and length of time which the lake levels receded. The distance
between old beach ridges can range from less than 100 feet to a mile or
more.
Like Devils Lake in Alpena County, Cedar Lake was once part of glacial Lake Huron. This deeper linear depression was cut-off from Lake Huron by a series of dunes and swales as the lake levels receded over the last 10,000 years. An extensive area of ice contact outwash sand and gravel can be found from south of Greenbush north to Hubbard Lake and the county line. US-23 traverses the eastern edge of these glacial deposits. Part of the Lakeshore Drive follows the eastern base slope of the landform area. A grouping of large knolls called kames interspersed with ice-block depressions or kettle holes are located in the Vicinity of Lost Lake Woods. A kame is a mound or knob composed of stratified sand and gravel deposited by a subglacial stream as a fan or delta at the margin of a melting glacier; by a subglacial stream in a low place or hole on the surface of the glacier; or as a ponded deposit on the surface or at the margin of stagnant ice. A kettle is a depression in glacial drift, especially in outwash and a kame field, formed by the melting of a detached block of stagnant ice that was buried in the drift. Kettles often contain a lake or swamp. Outwash consists of sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams in front of the end moraine or the margins of an active glacier. |
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| Natural Areas | ||
| Negwegon State Park, Black River, Black River Island, Harrisville State Park | ||
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Negwegon State Park |
