"WALK" Urban Nature Route: 
Asylum Lake Preserve​ (stop #7)

Did You Know?

• Asylum Lake Preserve (ALP) is a 274-acre parcel of land owned by Western Michigan University. The lake and adjoining property lie in the West Fork of the Portage Creek Watershed.
• The property serves as a research area for both professors and students at WMU and other educational institutions.
• ALP is home to 455 plant species, 117 bird species, 6 varieties of frogs, and much more! 
  • Look for informational shadow boxes detailing what you will see in the Preserve.
  • See the beaver den near the trail and spot the efforts of their work.
  • Listen for the Sand Hill Cranes nesting on the north side.
  • A major migration resting area for birds is in the northwest corner.
  • Due to stormwater runoff Asylum Lake is prematurely dying due to human actions.  Read about mitigation efforts to slow or stop this from happening.
• ALP is managed by the Asylum Lake Policy and Management Council (ALPMC) which is made up from local neighborhood organizations, environmental groups, and WMU departments. 
• The Asylum Lake Preservation Association (ALPA) is a volunteer association founded in 1990 and is dedicated to the preservation of the Asylum Lake Preserve.
• A Story Map serves as a self-guided introduction (history, land management, highlights) to the ALP.
  
  

Fast Fact

• The ALP was once occupied by the Kalamazoo State Hospital, so habitats which exist today have been highly influenced by humans. Because of the level of disturbance and the relatively small size of the preserve, management is necessary to preserve and restore health to the natural habitats.

Look for the daffodils that are remnants of the gardens of the numerous Victorian homes that housed hospital staff in the late 1800’s.

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OF SPECIAL NOTE:
The WALK Urban Nature Route mirrors some of the grounds of the Potawatomi Tribe Reservation.

• When European settlers arrived in the area that was to become Kalamazoo County, the land was occupied by the Potawatomi Tribe, a branch of the greater Algonquin Peoples.

 

• The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) is part of the historic Three Fires Confederacy, an alliance of the Pottawatomi (Bodewadmi), Ottawa (Odawa) and Chippewa (Ojibwe). Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region are also known as the Neshnibek, or original people. Learn more about the history of the Gun Lake Tribe HERE. 

 

• The original boundaries of the 19th century Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi reservation covers nine square miles.  Below is a map of the reservation along with a rough guide as to where present-day roads follow its borders