Nature has our backs. Let’s return the favor.
Our public preserves remain free and open from dawn to dusk – and your support helps keep them that way!
Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve
Within Allegan city limits & Allegan Township • Allegan County • 142 acres
With walking trails that wind through towering pine and hardwood forests, this preserve’s high overlooks and riverside paths offer a beautiful connection to the Kalamazoo River in a natural setting, creating a refuge for both people and wildlife.
142 acres
City of Allegan & Allegan Township
Allegan County
With walking trails that wind through towering pine and hardwood forests, this preserve’s high overlooks and riverside paths offer a beautiful connection to the Kalamazoo River in a natural setting, creating a refuge for both people and wildlife.
Quick facts
Click to quickly jump to . . .
• Maps
• Getting there
• Natural features & conservation
• Preserve history
• Photo gallery
Parking
Gravel lot
30 car capacity
2 paved accessible spaces
additional bus parking
Trails
Length: 2.2 miles
Two loop trails wind through forest and offer lovely views of the Kalamazoo River. Both are sufaced with crushed, compacted gravel. The trails are color-coded, marked with blazes, and there are locator maps posted at trail junctions.
White Trail: 0.8 miles
• Average grade: 5%, with a few sections exceeding 8%. These are marked on the trail map.
• Cross slope averages 3%; 5% maximum
• Trail width: 8-feet.
• The White Trails forks from the Yellow Trail a short distance from the parking lot. See trail map and look for trail blazes.
• The White Trail meanders through oak forest and pinewoods, and includes a bench with a view of the Kalamazoo River. It has fewer changes in grade and is wider than the Yellow Trail, which help to make it more accessible to a wider range of people.
Yellow Trail: 1.4 miles
• Average grade: 5%, with a few sections exceeding 8%. These are marked on the trail map.
• Cross slope averages 3%; 5% maximum
• Trail width: 4-feet.
• The Yellow Trail provides both high overlooks and riverside views of the Kalamazoo River, with several lengthy sections that are steep and exceed 8%.
Dogs
Dogs are welcome but must be kept on a 6-foot leash at all times and dog waste must be packed out. Click to learn more.
Restrooms
None
Recreation
Trails designed for increased accessibility, cross-country skiing, fall color, hiking, scenic views, snowshoeing, trail running, wildlife viewing.
Maps
Click on the map image for a downloadable PDF map of the trails.
Sorry, a map that works interactively with trail apps is not available at this time.
Getting there
Natural features
The mighty Kalamazoo River is a central feature of Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve and defines its shape and its ecology. It winds for three full miles along the shores of the preserve, creating invaluable wildlife and fish habitat in a corridor that connects (via the river) to the richly biodiverse 50,000 acre Allegan State Game Area. The river’s outside bends flow quickly and naturally scour the sandy banks, creating impressive river bluffs 60 feet above the water. The inside river bends are slower and allow soft sediment to settle, which filters the water and nourishes low lying wetland communities.
Historically the river was an economic and cultural treasure, providing food and transportation. Later, it suffered from pollution. Today, the river’s health is improving, and increasing numbers of people are paddling kayaks and canoes on it every year, especially as its dams are removed.
A recent botanical survey of the future Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve, conducted by Orbis Environmental Consulting, emphasized that the property’s beauty goes way beyond “good bones.” Like most West Michigan parcels, it’s been farmed and timbered in the past and suffers from the expected invasions of obnoxious plants like garlic mustard and autumn olive. But some impressively large trees some how escaped the axe (perhaps by growing on steep slopes), including a red oak whose trunk measures 5 feet in diameter. It’s also botanically rich, with an incredible 560 plant species calling it home – including 10 that are either endangered or threatened in Michigan!
Nature has our backs.
Let’s return the favor.
Our public preserves remain free and open from dawn to dusk – and your support helps keep them that way!
History
Wanting to know more about the full human history of the land where Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve sits – and out of respect for the living descendants of the people who once lived and traveled through the area – we invited Kaila Akina (Cultural Resources Specialist with the Gun Lake Tribe, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians) and Dr. Jessica Yann (Archaeological Collections Manager at Michigan State University Museum) to take a look for archaeological artifacts at the preserve in the summer of 2022.
Though the team didn’t find any obvious signs of extensive human occupation at Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve, we’re honored to learn from the living descendants of the Pottawatomi people who loved, raised families, and lived in this area before colonization. Read Learning the Land’s Whole Story in our News section to learn more about this archaeological collaboration.
The property was owned by the Armintrout and Milbocker families for decades. Though it could’ve easily been sold for luxury homesites, the two families recognized the property’s greater value in its connection to the river, as prime wildlife habitat, and as an outstanding outdoor space for people. They decided that conserving it was more important, so they contacted SWMLC.
Photo gallery
History
continued
Acquiring the property and building an infrastructure and stewardship fund was a huge project that took more than two years to complete.
SWMLC is deeply grateful to our incredible project partners who provided the funding needed to purchase the Armintrout-Milbocker property.
♥ Natural Resources Damage Assessment Kalamazoo River Trustees
♥ USDA Forest Service – Community Forest Program
♥ US Fish & Wildlife Service North American Wetlands Conservation Act
♥ The Armintrout and Milbocker Families
We’re also profoundly grateful to:
♥ Consumers Energy Foundation, who generously awarded us a $100,000 Planet Award to create public access. We are extremely honored to have received this recognition and support!
♥ The Carls Foundation for offering a $50,000 challenge grant to encourage year-end donors to give toward building infrastructure and longterm support of Armintrout-Milbocker.
♥ And a HUGE THANK YOU to the more than 200 people who donated in support!
Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve opened to the public in October 2023.