Michigan Botanical Society 2026 Foray
Michigan Botanical Society 2026 Grand Foray, Interlochen, MI
Hosted by the Great Lakes Chapter
The 2026 MBS Grand Foray will be held at the Interlochen Center for the Arts (ICA), Interlochen, Michigan from June 1st through June 4th, 2026. We have organized a variety of full-day and half-day field trips to visit some of the area’s most iconic features, and some hidden gems: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Arcadia Dunes, Leelanau Conservancy and Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy preserves, the Pere Marquette State Forest, and the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. The program will kick off with a Monday “Meet and Greet” social hour at the nearby Lake Ann Brewing Co. Two excellent evening presentations have been scheduled at the Mallory-Towley Center for Arts Leadership (MTCAL) at ICA: A review of Great Lakes endemics by Dr. Anton Reznicek on Tuesday, and the geology and morphology of the sand dunes by Dr. Alan Arbogast on Wednesday.
Leelanau and Benzie Counties' landscapes are dramatically sculpted by the last glaciation, featuring moraines, kettle and embayment lakes, outwash plains, and sand dunes. Prominent features such as the Sleeping Bear Dunes showcase massive dune formations from glacial melt and deposition, and
teardrop-shaped hills in the Leelanau-Charlevoix drumlin field reveal the direction of past ice flow. These and other landforms create a diverse terrain of hills, valleys, and sandy deposits left from retreating ice sheets offering a variety of natural communities. We will visit dry to mesic northern forest, rich conifer and mixed swamps, fen, bog, emergent and submergent marshes, open dunes and wooded dune-swale complexes.
The Great Lakes Chapter appreciates the contributions of our Foray Committee and Chapter Board who helped us create exciting opportunities to enjoy the natural beauty of this region. Thank you to our field trip leaders, evening presenters and the MBS State Board officers and directors.
Registration opens April 15th and runs until May 1st. The Great Lakes Chapter will host the 2026 Grand Foray on Monday, June 1- Thursday, June 4 at the Interlochen Center for the Arts (ICA) in northern Benzie County. This region of Michigan is known for its rich and complex Wisconsin-age glacial landforms and Nippising- and Algonquin-associated shorelines. Field trips will explore the dunes and shorelines at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, spring ephemerals around Arcadia Dunes, rich conifer swamp and fen on the Cedar River, Algonquin lakeplain and old growth forest at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, kettle bogs, aquatic systems, and more! The Great Lakes Chapter is excited to welcome MBS to, for some of us, our backyard!
For detailed information about the Grand Foray, including schedule, speakers, and field trips, please click on View Foray Booklet below.
We would like to thank the Hanes Fund for sponsoring the 2026 Grand Foray, which allows us to provide an excellent program, while keeping the registration costs affordable.
The 2026 Mini Foray
The 2026 Mini Foray will be organized by the Huron Valley Chapter. Time and Place TBA.