Michigan Botanical Society 2026 Mini Foray
Michigan Botanical Society 2026 Mini Foray, Chelsea, MI; August 29, 2026
Hosted by the Huron Valley Chapter
General Information
The Huron Valley Chapter is pleased to hold the MBS Board Meeting and Mini-Foray this year at the Eddy Discovery Center in the Waterloo Recreation Area. It is located at 17030 Bush Road, Chelsea, MI 48188 (https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79133_79207_81176---,00.html). There is no registration fee for this event, but we will be accepting donations to support students at future forays. An MDNR Recreation Passport is required for entry.
Waterloo State Recreation Area is the third-largest park in Michigan, encompassing over 21,000 acres (85 km2) of forest, lakes and wetlands. Located in northeast Jackson County and parts of Washtenaw County, the area is characterized by moraines, kettle lakes, swamps and bogs left by retreating glaciers after the last ice age. It offers miles of trails and opportunities to explore. The exhibit hall at the Discovery Center explores Michigan’s geology and habitats from the Ice Age through European settlement to today. Mountain bikers may want to include some additional time to enjoy the DTE Energy Foundation Trail, a 4-loop, purpose-built, mountain bike trail system that provides for all levels of experience…highly recommended! DTE Energy Foundation Trail
In addition to the Board meeting, we will be providing field trips in the morning and afternoon along with a presentation following lunch. Field trips will leave from the Discovery Center upper parking lot. The morning field trip leaves at 9:30 and the afternoon field trip leaves at 2:00.
If you have questions, contact:
Neal Billetdeaux
President, Huron Valley Chapter
(734) 604-6682
nbilletdeaux4@gmail.com
Emergency Information
In case of any emergency, the closest hospital/urgent care to the Mini-Foray main location is:
Chelsea Hospital
775 S Main St
Chelsea, MI 48118
(734) 593-6000
Trinity Health Urgent Care
14288 E Old US Hwy 12
Ste 400
Chelsea, MI 48118
(734) 327-6115
Please call 911 for medical, fire, or police emergencies.
Agenda
Friday, 8/28
6:00 – 8:00pm Meet & Greet
The Meet & Greet will be Friday evening and will run from 6-8 pm at The Kitchen at Jolly Pumpkin in Dexter located at 2319 Bishop Cir, Dexter, MI 48130. Stop by and say hi to old friends and make new ones! Food and beverages will be available for purchase from their kitchen.
Saturday, 8/29
9:00 – 9:30 Arrival/check in.
A Michigan Recreation Pass is required to enter the Discovery Center property. A one-day pass can be obtained on-site. Parking is free.
9:30 – 11:30 Fall Board Meeting
The Fall Michigan Botanical Society Board Meeting will take place inside the Eddy Discovery Center. Coffee, water and donuts will be available.
Field Trips
All trips start at the Discovery Center and will leave on-time. Trips are limited to 15 participants. If you are unable to register for a trip, send me an email with trip info and I will coordinate a wait list. If you registered for a trip and cannot attend, please let me know.
9:30 – 11:30. Morning Field Trips
Pickerel Lake (this trip will car-pool ~ 10 miles from the Discovery Center to the site)
Trip Leader: Avery Allert
During this walk we will learn to identify various woody and herbaceous plant species, exploring dry-mesic southern forest, wet prairie and marsh edges (with boardwalks), and a managed oak opening/restored oak savanna. We’ll likely see plants such as New-jersey tea (Ceonothus americanus), bird’s-foot violet (Viola pedata), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) and the exciting New York scalewort (Frullania eboracensis), a species of liverwort in the family Frullaniaceae. We’ll walk roughly three miles over moderately challenging terrain during this outing.
Register at: https://forms.gle/jUSvZAkWtU9rNjEb6
Lycopods of the Waterloo Recreation Area
Trip leader: Dr. Tony Reznicek
Lycopods tend to be somewhat uncommon locally, as all prefer acidic soils. But at this site, near the Discovery center, we can possibly see as many as 9 species. For Michigan lycopods, see: The Michigan Press published Michigan Ferns and Lycophytes: A Guide to Species of the Great Lakes Region by Daniel D. Palmer.
Register at: https://forms.gle/wfY3vaZRYPwhcj4L6
Waterloo Bog Trail
Trip leader: Christian Tibaudo, Huron Valley Chapter Field Trip Leader
On this field trip we will explore Pleistocene derived landforms and soils, and their associated woody plant communities. We’ll start in an Oak-Hickory Forest on a scenic esker, and ramble down to a poor fen on the margin of an old lake. Several sedge species will be observed along the trail with bog-buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea) and round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) in the fen. The walk will be on trails and boardwalk, approximately 2.5 miles total.
Register at: https://forms.gle/HHCsYDAF9jLyFfFb9
11:30 – 12:30 Brown Bag Lunch
There will be a bring-your-own Brown Bag lunch at the pavilions outside of the Eddy Discovery Center. Water and cider will be provided.
12:30 – 1:30 Presentation
How Waterloo Came to Be
Presenter: Doug Jackson
Learn of the natural and human history that led to the evolution of the Waterloo Recreation Area as we witness it today. Let's explore together what makes the WRA unique and an important park in Michigan. How have things changed? How may it look in the future?
Doug Jackson is a Michigan Master Naturalist and Park Interpreter.
2:00 – 4:30 Afternoon Field Trips
Kettle-Hole Lake/Bog Ecology
Trip leader: Bill Brodovich
Bill will lead a trip to a tiny kettle-hole lake with a bog margin just one-third mile (as the crow flies) from the Eddy Center. Unlike other lakes and ponds in this area, there are no trails leading to this one, so it is nearly pristine. To get to it, we’ll follow the Bog Trail much of the way. The going won’t be rough, but some of it will have to be cross-country. Waterproof footwear or canvas tennis shoes are recommended. Register at: https://forms.gle/XmPF3yStY1XfKH8A9
Hickory Hills Trail
Trip Leader: Doug Jackson
Witnessing Waterloo History: Has the Waterloo Rec Area always looked like this? Why here? What evidence can we find of the evolutionary forces of nature and humans that helped form what we see today? How might it change? We'll hike about 5 miles from the Discovery Center to the Hickory Hills loop and back along Laurentine glacial formations, a variety of natural habitats, and signs of human impacts over the past centuries. Doug will lead the group through many of these features and more along this moderately strenuous hike. Sturdy shoes and tick/biting insect protection are advised. Register at: https://forms.gle/DcBpCvRC54Wm2UUC9
Waterloo Bog Trail
Trip leader: Christian Tibaudo (this is a repeat of the AM trip)
On this field trip we will explore Pleistocene derived landforms and soils, and their associated woody plant communities. We’ll start in an Oak-Hickory Forest on a scenic esker, and ramble down to a poor fen on the margin of an old lake. Several sedge species will be observed along the trail with bog-buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea) and round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) in the fen. The walk will be on trails and boardwalk, approximately 2.5 miles total. Register at: https://forms.gle/o1sVmyTCDz8soNyJ6
Note: The Discovery Center closes at 5:00. There are additional bathroom facilities at the lower parking lot.
Lodging for this event can be found at the following locations:
Hotels
Chelsea Baymont by Wyndham, 10 miles from Waterloo
Dexter Holiday Inn Express, 20 miles from Waterloo
Jackson hotels, 18-20 miles from Waterloo
Ann Arbor hotels, about 25 miles from Waterloo
Campgrounds
See link Waterloo Recreation Area
Modern: Portage and Sugarloaf lakes
Rustic: Green Lake
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.