Gene's Pond

DNR

Over two miles of open water, with flooded woodlands on the west end provide a rich variety of habitats. Eagles, osprey, geese, herons and cormorants common summer residents on the impoundment

Outstanding bird-watching and a remote quality make this impoundment of Dickinson County's Sturgeon River East Branch a favorite spot for serious outdoors-lovers. It's part of the Copper Country State Forest.
A blue heron rookery (nesting colony) is in the treetops near the state forest campground on the pond's north side. It's always a spectacle to see just one of those magnificent birds in flight over a river, its six-foot wingspread moving with stately deliberation. Imagine seeing several at once! The Michigan Wildlife Viewing Guide, now online on the DNR web site, calls Gene's Pond "a jewel" for people who like to view large birds. Loons and cormorants can be seen on the surface, diving for fish, while trees by the shoreline provide vantage points for bald eagles and osprey on the lookout for their fishy prey. Boats are the best way to view wildlife here. Fishing isn't bad, either.

See also "camping." There's a boat launch (recently redone, with a new dock) but no beach; much of the shore is wetlands. In 2006, the hiking trail is temporarily closed for reconstruction. (It's a relatively easy 2.3-mile trail in two loops, leading from the campground to some nifty overlooks and around an old mine site.) Good roads make it easy to get into the isolated, thinly populated area around the onetime mining communities of Felch and nearby Ralph in central Dickinson County, 25 miles and more north of U.S. 2.

For more on Gene's Pond, find the Michigan Wildlife Viewing Guide, a most interesting and useful book to 130 statewide wildlife viewing sites. The free online version is buried within the DNR portion of the state's web site, www.michigan.gov/dnr . Read down on the left buttons to click on "Viewing Wildlife." On the next page, click on "Michigan Wildlife Viewing Guide," then click on "Upper Peninsula." You could buy the book to keep in your car, thus contributing a bit to the state's important Nongame Wildlife Fund.

From Felch go west 1/2 mile on M-69 to CR 581. In about 6 miles, turn west on Leeman Rd./CR 422, follow signs to Gene's Pond. (906) 875-6622. Free.
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