US-MI-Tobico+Marsh


 * =Birding in Michigan=

Bay County
=Tobico Marsh= 3582 State Park Drive Bay City, MI 48706 [|Tobico Marsh web site] [|Tobico Marsh map]

media type="custom" key="27269386"

Tobico Marsh
Coordinates: 43.6789219, -83.9201832 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Tobico Marsh
Tobico Marsh is a 1,848-acre a wildlife refuge that lies within Bay City State Recreation Area and almost within sight of the city itself. The area is steeped in history with Native Americans remaining until 1837 and the Tobico Hunt Club calling it home as early as 1907.

Tobico Marsh State Game Area itself is undeveloped and contains a variety of habitat, from small pockets of cattail marshes and oak/maple climax forest to Tobico Lagoon, a 900-acre body of water and the largest remaining wetland along Saginaw Bay. The entire area is home to deer, beaver, muskrat, and mink, but it's the wide variety of birds, especially waterfowl, that makes this refuge so spectacular.

The lagoon’s large size, it’s the largest inland lake in Bay County, and the variety of aquatic plants found there combine to make Tobico one of the finest places to witness the fall migration in the Great Lakes region. Biologists estimate that in October there are usually 3,000 to 5,000 birds in the marsh and during peak migration from the third week of October to early November more than 25,000 have been known to gather at one time.

Winding through the refuge is an easy 2.7-mile loop that is linked to the park's Saginaw Bay Visitor Center by the Frank N. Andersen Nature Trail, a paved rail-trail. All three make for a pleasant hike or easy mountain biking outing of 4.8 miles. There is a trailhead to Tobico Marsh but by beginning with a visit to the park’s fine interpretive center you’ll gain an appreciation for the history of the marsh and once you’re in the marsh will be able to identify what’s winging overhead. From [|Michigan Trail Maps: Tobico Marsh web site]

|| media type="custom" key="27269392"

media type="custom" key="27269398"|| L367067 US US-MI US-MI-017 43.6789219 -83.9201832 Tobico Marsh