Crosswinds Marsh is one of the most unique natural areas in SE Michigan. When Metro Airport expanded a few years back, the wetlands at the airport needed to be replaced. This is where they replaced them. The result is a beautiful Wayne County park that touches the northern border of Monroe County.
What can you expect? Well, this still is SE Michigan and the terrain is flat. There are woods, marsh and prairie habitats. Some of the trail is boardwalk. Some is made from compact gravel. It is possible to create a 5+ mile hike by connecting some of the smaller loops or the long-distance horse trail. Most trails, however, are fairly short.
There are several interesting landmarks in the park. The first is a bald eagle nest in the southern section of the park. Another is a neat water control structure in the SE quadrant of the park. There is a nice screened picnic area near the main trailhead and the horse trail requires a water crossing in the NW section of the park.
One of the more disturbing aspects of this park is its close proximity to a landfill that lies just beyond the park boundaries to the east. This is the landfill that Toronto trucks most of its garbage to. At times, you can see the trucks moving refuse from the trail system.
That said, I have always enjoyed my visits to this wonderful place.
Thanks to the local birding community for the following links:
Here are some hike reports that I originally posted about Crosswinds on the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo Group:
Note: The photo above was taken from the official Wayne County Parks web site covering Crosswinds Marsh.
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