Information on Traverse City, Michigan and the surrounding Northwest Michigan area

Wilcox-Palmer-Shah Nature Preserve

One of the beautiful views seen from the Wilcox-Palmer-Shah Nature Preserve, located on East Bay off North Bay Shore Drive, about 2 miles north of the traffic light in Elk Rapids. Have you been on this day trip? Do you have photos to share? and we may publish your shots on this page.

With 3,100 feet on East Grand Traverse Bay, this nature preserve is one of only a handful of properties along this shoreline not in private ownership. A great place to watch a spectacular sunset, the beach and 35 plus acres of coastal forest are truly outstanding examples of the best our area has to offer. But there's more to the preserve than just stunning scenery; WPS is also ecologically exceptional.

The preserve's fragile dune ecosystem is home to two threatened plant species: the state-threatened Lake Huron Tansy and the federally-threatened Pitcher's thistle. They grow only along the shorelines and dunes of the Great Lakes, therefore visitors are asked to refrain from walking on the fragile dunes. WPS Nature Preserve is owned and stewarded by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.

Call 929-7911 for more information. At the stop light in Elk Rapids, turn left, then taken an immediate right on North Bay Shore Drive. The preserve is approximately two miles up on the left-hand side.