Holliday Nature Preserve, Central City Prky, Westland, MI [HD] 20 min

Holliday Nature Preserve
(William P. Holliday Forest and Wildlife Preserve)
Central City Parkway between Warren Road and Wayne Road
Westland, MI

August 7, 2014

From: http://mymichigantrails.com/

The Holliday Nature Preserve is part of the Wayne County Park system and consists of 500-plus acres of forests and wetlands that run along tributaries of the Rouge River in Westland, Michigan.

There are five main entrances into the Holliday Nature Preserve: 1) Ellsworth entrance on south side of Hines Drive across from Nankin Mills, 2) Joy entrance just west of Wayne Road, 3) Cowan entrance located on off Central City Parkway between Wayne Road Warren Avenue, 4) Newburgh entrance located off Newburgh Road just north of Warren Avenue (only location without parking), and 5) Koppernick entrance located off Koppernick Road west of Hix Road between Joy Road and Warren Avenue.

This preserve and land has its roots in the trust and estate of Arthur Richardson, a Detroit Banker and philanthropist, who died in 1938. Mr. Richardson offered a gift to Wayne County amounting to $1.45 million at the time, and a time when the area of Westland was far more rural and not yet developed, provided the county establish a park in his uncle’s name - William Holliday.

Mr. Richardson’s wishes were eventually approved, but it took another twenty years to acquire hundreds of parcels that eventually became the Holliday Wildlife Preserve. The land runs along the valley of what is known as Tonquish Creek, areas of which remain in its natural state, containing thickets, upland woods, wetlands and meadows. Foot trails that follow the streambed date back to the days of the Potowanami Indians who fished and trapped the land. Chief Tonquish was killed and buried on the lands within the preserve. In total there is over 10 miles of hiking trails throughout the Holliday Nature Preserve.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hollid...
http://www.hnpa.org/
http://www.hnpa.org/Preserve%20Maps/P...
http://www.waynecounty.com/dps/1860.htm
http://www.examiner.com/article/city-...
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowma...
http://bluelemon.me/tag/holliday-natu...