| Cheboygan and Emmet Counties |
| Development is concentrated
in and around Mackinaw City and the City of Cheboygan. Seasonal residential
development has occurred along the lakeshore. Ferry service connects
the mainland to Mackinac Island and Bois Blanc Island in the Mackinac Straits.
The greenways trail follows relatively
level sandy, clay and silt glacial lake plains adjacent to Lake Huron.
Headlands Preserve, Cheboygan State Park, Lindsey Marsh, and Grass Bay
Natural Area are key ecological features as is the Cheboygan River.
Click on this image for an
enlargement.
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| Water Features |
| Much of the coastal area is drained by
small coastal streams like the Little Black River, Mill Creek, Elliot Creek,
and Greene Creek. Lakes within the coastal zone are small and tend
to be associated with extensive wetlands such as Dingmans Marsh, Grass
Bay, and Linsey Marsh. The small streams and associated wetlands
form the backbone of the coastal ecological corridor system that reaches
inland many miles.
The most prominent river system in Cheboygan County is the Cheboygan River. The Cheboygan River empties into Lake Huron at the City of Cheboygan. The River offers water access into the interior of northern lower Michigan as far south as the community of Conway near the City of Petoskey. Three of the ten largest lakes in Michigan, Mullet, Burt and Black Lakes, are a part of this watershed. Numerous other small lakes and creeks can also be found in this watershed. The Cheboygan River System is an important regional ecological corridor. While the natural terrestrial ecosystems have been fragmented within the City of Cheboygan and adjacent Townships, the overall ecological integrity is still very good. |
| Ecological Features |
| Public lands and large tracts of private
land form wide ecological corridors within the coastal zone. Upland
hardwood and conifer forests are the dominant plant communities found along
the Huron Greenways. The long-eared owl, solitary vireo, red crossbill,
black-throated green warbler and evening grosbeak nest in the tree canopies
within the conifer forests. Inland from the coast, complexes of wetlands
consisting of lowland conifers and hardwoods, lowland brush and open
marshes provide critical wildlife habitat. The inland trail that follows
Alpena State Road skirts the edges of open bogs and marshes.
Grass Bay and Duncan Bay contain excellent examples of coastal marshes. The open wetlands support plants such as rushes, bulrushes, sedges, cattails, and willow shrubs. The beaches and narrow low dunes along this segment of the Greenways Trail provide habitat for several plants listed as rare and endangered on both Federal and State lists. Click on this image for an
enlargement.
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| Geological Features |
| The greenways trails traverse sand lake
plains and dune sand deposits created by glacial and post glacial activity.
Old shorelines, both rocky and sandy can be found in the coastal area.
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, ridges are covered with oak, pine and aspen; and lowland conifers
and lowland brush can be found growing in the wet depressions. Lowland
brush provides prime cover and nesting opportunities for woodcock, alder
flycatcher, rose-breasted grosbeak, black-capped chickadee, and northern
waterthrush.
The dune and swale complexes can be found along Duncan and Grass Bays. A trail system in the Cheboygan State Park, provides access to excellent examples of coastal dunes. Large peat deposits can be found in northeastern Cheboygan County. Mackinac Island, Round Island and Bois Blanc Island, in the Straits of Mackinac, have limestone and dolomite bedrock foundations that resisted the erosive power of four continental glaciers. Wave action during high water periods of post glacial lakes further cut into bedrock creating well known formations such as Arch Rock, Skull Cave and Sugarloaf. Lowering of lake levels combined with the uplifting of bedrock, exposed the cliffs on Mackinac Island. Two distinct plateaus or notches on the Island represent the shorelines of Glacial Lake Nipissing and Glacial Algonquin. These can be seen from Mackinaw City and when crossing to the Island on a passenger ferry.
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| Natural Areas |
| Protected natural areas include Cheboygan
State Park/Duncan Bay, Grass Bay Preserve, Headlands Preserve.
Click on this image for an
enlargement.
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