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Have you ever considered working for Ottawa County Parks? We are currently searching for candidates interested in working outside next summer. The opportunities would be perfect for students (18+) who are home on break, retirees who want to spend more time outside, or anyone interested in parks who would like to earn extra money during the summer months.
Parks t-shirts
Ottawa County Parks t-shirts are now for sale at the Nature Education Center! All shirts are $15 each, plus tax.
Comfy tee
Unisex cotton-twill in charcoal; women’s cut cotton-twill in indigo. Designed by William Overbeeke
Tech tee
Unisex tech in Kelly green; women’s tech in Carolina blue. Designed by Devani Antumi
At the beginning of the year, a t-shirt design competition was held, and a judging committee chose two submissions to be printed on shirts. Owen Loughrin & Sally Salkowski were also chosen as finalists. Congratulations again to our competition winners!
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 Mug Club Membership
Show your support for the Nature Education Center and the Coffee with the Birds program by purchasing your 2018 MUG CLUB mug! The mug features our bird-of-the-year, the golden-crowned kinglet, photographed by Charles DeWitt in Ferrysburg. Membership also includes special bird-related perks through the year.
Membership: $25/person
Learn more & become a member by clicking here.
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 Ottawa County Parks Foundation
The Ottawa County Parks Foundation’s goal is connect supporters with opportunities to make our parks even better. Gifts large and small can create a legacy to benefit our community forever. Our parks have come a long way, but with your help, we can tackle a long wish-list.
The Ottawa County Parks Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization, so donations qualify as tax-deductible.
Learn more about the Parks Foundation.
Sign up for Parks Foundation emails.
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 2018 Friends of Ottawa County Parks Membership
Friends of Ottawa County Parks is a 501(c)3 organization, with annual memberships on a calendar-year basis. Join now for the 2018 calendar year! You can access the membership form online.
Membership Annual Dues
- Student: $15
- Individual: $25
- Family: $35
- Lifetime: $125 (ages 55+)
The Friends of Ottawa County Parks assist with many different stewardship and nature education activities.
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Pigeon Creek
Pigeon Creek Park offers groomed, lit cross-country ski trails, ski and snowshoe rentals, ski lessons (schedule on page 7), and sledding. The lodge opens for the season once a good base of snow has fallen. Visitors can rent skis and snowshoes as well as warm up with hot chocolate, hot dogs, or chili by the fire. Hours rely on the weather, so keep the hotline number handy or visit miOttawa.org/trails.
Please remember that once winter operations begin, hiking, biking, and dog walking are not allowed in the park. Equestrian trails are closed for the season.
Hemlock Crossing
Hemlock Crossing Park offers snowshoe rentals for adults and children (4+) at the Nature Education Center. Guided walks are available throughout the winter; take a look at our program calendar for dates. Visitors are invited to warm up in front of a fire in the Great Room after a snowy outing!
Trail Conditions URL includes:
- Pigeon Creek ski, snowshoe, equestrian trails & sledding hills
- Upper Macatawa mountain bike trails
- Eastmanville Farm ski & equestrian conditions
- Hemlock Crossing snowshoe conditions
*For detailed Pigeon Creek ski information, call the hotline: 616-738-9531
Keep it Active Winter Walks
Don't hibernate... activate! At this season's Keep It Active Winter Walks, Parks naturalists will lead a one-hour "sauntering" walk at a variety of parks in the county. If snow conditions allow, we will use snowshoes. Check out our schedule below! Refundable fee* is $5 (snowshoe rental is an additional $5), registration is required.
Walk dates:
Ski Class at Pigeon Creek
Registration required; fee $8. Ski rentals are available at the lodge for an additional $8.
>>Beginner: Learn about equipment and basic techniques. For adults & children 10+; one adult must accompany every two children.
>>Intermediate: For experienced adult skiers wishing to refine their technique and ski more efficiently.
>> Skate Ski: For experienced adult skiers who want to learn the basics of several skate techniques. Skate skis required; limited rental available.
Class dates:
- Holiday Break Schedule TBD
- Thursday, January 4, 6-7:30 pm • Beginner
- Saturday, January 6, 10-11:30 am • Beginner
- Tuesday, January 9, 6-7:30 pm • Skate
- Saturday, January 13, 10-11:30 am • Intermediate
- Thursday, January 18, 6-7:30 pm • Skate
- Saturday, January 20, 10-11:30 am • Beginner
- Tuesday, January 23, 6-7:30 pm • Skate
- Saturday, January 27, 10-11:30 am • Intermediate
- Thursday, February 1, 6-7:30 pm • Beginner
- Saturday, February 3, 10-11:30 am • Skate
- Tuesday, February 6, 6-7:30 pm • Beginner
- Saturday, February 10, 10-11:30 am • Intermediate
- Thursday, February 15, 6-7:30 pm • Beginner
- Saturday, February 17, 10-11:30 am • Skate
- Tuesday, February 20, 6-7:30 pm • Intermediate
- Saturday, February 24, 10-11:30 am • Beginner
Cross-Country Ski Trek at North Ottawa Dunes
February 3, 2018, 10:00 am-12:30 pm
Enjoy the beauty of winter while skiing the trails of North Ottawa Dunes. Participants will need to provide their own ski equipment. Some cross-country skiing experience required. Meet at the Coast Guard parking lot. $5 refundable fee*, online registration required.
*Registration fee refundable upon participation.
Family Ice Fishing
Hosted by Friends of Ottawa County Parks
Enjoy a time of angling on the ice at Hawthorn Pond (near Holland) Saturday Jan. 27, from 9-12. This is a free event geared for children, accompanied by an adult. Poles and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of Ottawa County Parks.
Registration is NOT required, but it is encouraged in case of a weather-related cancellation. To register, click here.
Alternate date: February 17
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Parks News
Plans for Historic Ottawa Beach
At its meeting on November 1, the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission unveiled preliminary plans for an upgraded marina facility and enhanced park land on Lake Macatawa at its Historic Ottawa Beach Parks site. The plans calls for replacement of the existing marina with 46 new boat slips (15 seasonal slips, 5 seasonal moorings, and 26 transient slips), extension of the public waterfront walkway, public restrooms, a universally-accessible kayak launch, and landscaped greenspace with seating along the waterfront for public use. The marina and waterfront plan represents the final step in renovating the Historic Ottawa Beach properties, the first phase of which was completed in 2006.
 Restoring public access
The Parks Commission received push back on its marina plans when they were initially introduced in 2006. Since then, the plan has downsized the marina signifcantly. “We have been working on this plan for many, many years—debating on facility size, weighing operation costs, and searching for grant funding. It is still somewhat a work in progress, but we believe we have developed a plan that continues the boating tradition in the area, provides the most benefit to the public, and complements private marinas in the area,” said President of the Ottawa County Parks Commission, David VanGinhoven. In addition to the larger marina considered in 2006, the Parks Commission also considered only offering 15 slips as required by a 2005 court agreement, but the Parks Commission and staff agreed it would be missing an opportunity to truly optimize use of highly desirable park land.
The improved public access along the waterfront is the final piece of the puzzle for the Historic Ottawa Beach parks, and Parks staff is confident that this transformation will be a positive one.
 Park Development at Historic Ottawa Beach (Park 12)
- 2006: Black Lake Boardwalk
- 2007: Ottawa Beach Road separated path
- 2008: Mt. Pisgah dune stairs
- 2009: Black Lake shoreline improvements
- 2010: Holland Harbor fishing access
- 2014: Completion of Black Lake Waterfront Walkway
- 2015: Pump House renovation
- 2017: Pump House addition
Grant Funding
The Parks Commission is working diligently to secure as much grant funding as possible for this project. A grant for $642,917 via the Boating Infrastructure Grant program has been secured to support the cost of constructing transient slips. In addition to BIG, we have also submitted the following grant requests:
• $291,000 from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to support improved park land and government collaboration (partnership with Park Township) *This grant was tentatively secured on December 8
• $64,000 from Coastal Zone Management Grant program to support the universal kayak launch
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Next Steps
The preliminary plan will be reviewed by the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners on November 28. On December 6 the Ottawa County Parks Commission approved the plan for the marina services pending approval of grants as requested and agreed to proceed in securing necessary approvals from permitting authorities. This includes the Board of Commissioners on December 12 and Park Township (meeting date TBA).
Park improvements are scheduled to be completed in 2019. Questions about the project can be directed to: ocparks@miOttawa.org. More information, including the history of Park 12, can be found online.
Other Park Updates
• The Weaver House deck is now complete!
• Construction of the 3.9-mile segment of the Grand River Explorers Trail between Connor Bayou and Riverside Park is underway and will be completed in the spring. Park Steward volunteers worked at Connor Bayou to prep the park for the trail construction; wildflowers and other plants were removed and re-planted elsewhere in the parks system.
• Construction on the Hiawatha Drain project at Hiawatha Forest will begin this winter. Hunters and hikers, take notice of the construction. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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The house was built in 1913 by Cornelius John “CJ” Moss, the father of Joyce Carle, whose estate will potentially sell the property to the Parks Commission. CJ Moss was a dairy farmer who also spent time as the “town sheriff” of Jenison before he and his wife were tragically killed in a car-train crash in Jenison. He was 45 years old.
The purchase of this home was a special opportunity and was a non-budgeted item for the Parks Commission. Helping to fund these types of opportunities is one of the many ways the Parks Foundation is supporting Ottawa County Parks.
Subscribe to receive news about the Parks Foundation.
Environmental Stewardship
Parks Volunteer Program
December 2017 marks the end of Ottawa County Parks’ first, five-year volunteer plan. We are proud of how far we have come! Here are some of our goals and highlights...
 Volunteer Recognition
One of our goals is to ensure that volunteers are recognized and thanked for their hard work. Each fall, we host a volunteer event to celebrate the accomplishments of the season.
The following volunteers deserve special recognition as they have contributed at least 1,000 hours of their time! Thank you to Alice Hoban, Jeff Cobb, Liz Notman, Ray Statema, Don Williams, and Marjie Viveen (not pictured).
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Service-Based Learning
The goal of our service-based learning program is to begin building a community that stewards its natural resources by working with students of all ages. In 2012, 362 hours of service-based learning was offered to three schools. This year, over 3,500 hours were offered to classes at 10 schools!
 Providing Rewarding Experiences
We strive to offer rewarding volunteer opportunities that provide for personal growth and development of the volunteer.
“The bog search was my favorite adventure to date. It provided me with a wealth of information and it was a joy to be able to venture out on such a challenging trek. Although I appreciate the plantings and managing invasive plants, adventures like the search for Marne Bog renew my desire to help our environment. Thank you for giving us volunteers such interesting tasks. I continue to be amazed at the number of parks and land available for the public to explore. I’m so privileged to be a part of this group.”
— Mark Schroder, Holland (Park Steward)
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Volunteers, your feedback is needed!
If you’re a volunteer, you will receive an electronic survey from Melanie Manion & Gray Gogolin. Please take it and share your thoughts to help improve the volunteer program!
Focused on the future
We hope to be more proactive in recruiting volunteers throughout the county. There will also be a focus on placing volunteers in maintenance positions, such as mowing, trail trimming, etc.
Effectively invasive-free parks
Despite the best efforts of our Stewardship Crew and volunteers, nearly all of our park properties have invasive plants, but we are proud to announce that two of our properties are effectively invasive-free:
Kirk Park & Van Buren Open Space
What is effectively invasive-free?
This means we have surveyed and removed invasive plants from the entire property, and there are no reproducing invasives on the property that are detectable. That doesn’t mean the work is done. These parks will be surveyed annually to catch new introductions, and any plants that take multi-year management (e.g. Japanese knotweed) will have a specific management plan.
Many hands make light work
We attribute our success at these two sites to both our Stew Crew and hard working volunteers. We’re particularly proud to recognize the Greater Ottawa County United Way for their work at Kirk Park from 2011-2016.
“Even though many years of management went into these properties, they both were considered relatively easy to get to this status,” said Melanie Manion, Natural Resources Management Supervisor. “On the horizon, we’re looking at Rosy Mound Natural Area and Port Sheldon Natural to be our next effectively invasive-free sites. It will take a lot of hours to get to this status and without volunteers, it would not be possible.”
In October, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC) a $600,000 grant through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
WMSRDC will partner with its West Michigan Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) partners, which includes Ottawa County Parks, to launch efforts to control and eradicate Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an invasive species now established in Michigan that has devastated forests along the east coast over the past decade. Funding will cover additional surveys, public education and outreach, and treatment. Funds have been earmarked to help private landowners with the cost of treatment as well.
 Citizen scientists make a difference...
help us find HWA!
Out for a walk in the park? Take a look at the hemlock
trees; if you notice anything unusual, drop a pin on your phone and share the
GPS location with us. Another option is to mark the tree branch with a ribbon.
- You can identify HWA by looking for a white woolly substance
found on the base of the needles. This woolly substance is actually a mass of
eggs.
- Check the underside of the branches.
- The adelgids are mobile this time of year. Make sure you
give your hiking clothes and the bottom of your boots a good scrub before
heading out again.
- Eggs and young adelgids can be spread during spring bird
migration, so often infestations are at the very top of the tree. If you’re
checking your trees, be safe.
Need other identification tips? Visit: saveMIhemlocks.org
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