The Highlands - Grand Rapids

Work began today to build a boardwalk along a berm that separates two connected wetlands on the south end of The Highlands. The new boardwalk will enable visitors to access this part of the trail in all seasons (and will help keep your feet dry!). Please note: this portion of the trail will be temporarily closed while we work. Signage is posted where the trail is affected. Thank you for your patience! 🛠

Pardon our dust! Two major projects are underway at The Highlands this fall. Blandford Nature Center and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan are working to improve an existing maintenance building and create a new wetland in the southwest corner of The Highlands.

The building is in disrepair. Blandford Nature Center is renovating it so that it may be used to store equipment and other resources necessary to maintain the land. Construction on the building will begin in late October.

Near the building is a depression in the earth that was used as a dump site during The Highlands’s former life as a golf course. Before that, it was a wetland. With support from the Land Trust Alliance, we are restoring this eleventh and final wetland at The Highlands to create more habitat for frogs, turtles, and birds. By removing the debris, re-creating a natural wetland basin, and planting the site with native wetland plants, we have the rare chance to reverse 100 years of environmental abuse. Once completed, this project will allow stormwater to naturally infiltrate, filtering out pollutants, sediment, and low-quality surface runoff that would otherwise enter Great Lakes waterways. Construction on the wetland will begin in early October and is expected to last 1-2 weeks.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to execute the master plan for this special natural area in the city! 🌼

We are thrilled to be receiving a $1.5 Million Community Enhancement Grant from the State of Michigan for The Highlands - Grand Rapids! This combined with the $6.16 Million raised from our local donors surpassed the $7.5 Million goal for The Highlands capital campaign!

We are deeply appreciative to Rep. Glanville and the West Michigan legislative delegation for their support, as well as the 200 individuals, foundations, and corporations who helped our small nonprofit achieve such a big dream. This allows us to now improve the infrastructure that will enhance our programs and bring this 121 acre natural space to use, connecting our community with nature in the unique ways that Blandford has come to be known for over the past 50 years.

Learn more at: https://thehighlandsgr.org/

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The restoration of The Highlands has come a long way in the past few years, and the work will be continuing this summer! The next project will be removing the fencing along Oakleigh Street and The Highlands. A team from the Land Conservancy of West Michigan will begin removing the fence over the next week as part of the ongoing efforts to restore this land to a natural landscape and ensure wildlife can safely access the property. Stay tuned for more summer projects coming soon!

The stream we are daylighting at The Highlands - Grand Rapids is starting to look and function like a stream! This past weekend's rainfall was captured in the stream bed and we got a glimpse of how the stream will do its job. This stream is likely to be quite "flashy," meaning its flow will peak during rainfall events and slow significantly when they cease.
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Blandford Nature Center City of Grand Rapids Environmental Services Department

Work to daylight the stream has officially begun!💧🌼

Crews to daylight buried stream at GR nature preserve As recently as five years ago the Highlands, a nature preserve in Grand Rapids, was a golf course. Several entities came together to bring it back to nature.

You can help document the stream daylighting project at The Highlands! We've placed a photo monitoring station along the trail. Next time you take a walk there, snap a photo and send it to [email protected]. Together, we'll be able to watch the landscape change before our eyes.