Hidden Lake Environmental Center Launch & Wetland Trail Grand Opening
Advertisement
October 22, 2026: Hidden Lake Environmental Center Launch & Wetland Trail Grand Opening
Register at: https://campnewaygo.org/events/wetland-trail-opening/
Camp Newaygo is celebrating a major milestone this fall: the launch of the Hidden Lake Environmental Center, our new year-round environmental education and training initiative, and the Grand Opening of the rebuilt Wetland Trail.
This is a day with two connected parts. Join us for one or both!
Part One: Hidden Lake Environmental Center Launch (Professional Development Day)
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Free | Advance registration required
We’re kicking off the Hidden Lake Environmental Center with a full day of speakers, learning, and networking for educators, environmental professionals, conservation partners, and community leaders from across the region. Whether you’re coming for one session or the whole day, we’d love to have you.
Please register for the full day even if you can only attend part of it. You’re welcome to come and go as your schedule allows.
Free breakfast and lunch are included.
Capacity: 100 registrants
Registration deadline: October 18, 2026
Schedule
9:00–9:30 AM | Arrival, Coffee & Welcome
Registration, coffee, light refreshments, and networking.
9:30–10:30 AM | The Love of Birds, Versus a Love of Birding
Will Keller (Grand Rapids), co-host, The Real Birding Podcast
In a Love for Birds and Birding, Will expounds on what he has learned from his years of birding across the globe, working with birds, and hosting the Real Birding Podcast. It is an exploration of the ways birding differs from a casual or even scientific interest in the avian world and the fantastic but often bizarre places a love for birding can take you.
10:30–11:30 AM | The Secret Life of a Bog: Why Peatlands Matter
Dr. Dominic Uhelski, Michigan Technological University
Peatlands cover just a small fraction of the Earth’s land, yet they store an outsized share of the planet’s soil carbon, quietly shaping the climate far beyond their boundaries. Dr. Dominic Uhelski draws on years of fieldwork sampling bogs and fens across the Upper Midwest to reveal how these slow, waterlogged landscapes form, function, and respond to disturbances like fire and drainage, and why protecting and restoring them, including the bog right here on the Wetland Trail, matters more than their quiet appearance might suggest.
11:30–11:45 AM | Break
11:45 AM–12:30 PM | Tracking the Invisible: Using eDNA to Detect Invasive Species
Dr. Charlyn Partridge, Annis Water Resources Institute, GVSU
Dr. Charlyn Partridge shares how her lab developed simple, low-cost traps to catch airborne genetic traces (eDNA) left behind by invasive species like the hemlock woolly adelgid, allowing researchers and land managers to detect an infestation long before visible signs of damage appear. A look at how cutting-edge genetic science is giving conservationists an early warning system for protecting the forests and habitats we depend on.
12:30–1:30 PM | Lunch & Networking
1:30–2:30 PM | Waterfront Porch: From Cleanup to Community
Dr. John Hartig, University of Windsor
The story of how Detroit is turning to the Detroit River, building a new waterfront greenway called the Detroit RiverWalk in an effort to help reconnect people with nature, revitalize the city and region, and foster a more sustainable future. One of the largest waterfront redevelopment projects of its scale in the United States.
2:30–2:45 PM | Break
2:45–3:45 PM | The Psychology of Bird Identification
David Allen Sibley (Massachusetts), author/illustrator, Sibley Guides
Using photos, drawings, and a few interactive tests, David Allen Sibley explores how we perceive the world around us, and how our brains both help and hinder our efforts at bird identification. Book signing to follow the session.
3:45–4:00 PM | Break & Transition to Grand Opening
Part Two: Wetland Trail Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting
4:00 PM | Free and open to the public | No registration required
Camp Newaygo’s Wetland Trail, a boardwalk through a bog and wetland environment that has served generations of visitors, students, and birders, was originally built in 1987 through a major community volunteer effort. In September 2024, a fire destroyed a significant portion of the boardwalk, closing the trail and creating the need for a major rebuild.
Camp Newaygo chose not to simply replace what was lost. Over the past two years, staff, volunteers, donors, and an AmeriCorps NCCC team have worked to rebuild the trail while expanding accessibility, habitat restoration, and environmental education along the way.
Join us as we cut the ribbon and reopen this beloved trail to the public.
4:00 PM | Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
4:15–5:00 PM | Inaugural Wetland Trail Walks
Be among the first to walk the newly restored boardwalk.
Location
Camp Newaygo
5333 South Centerline Road, Newaygo, MI 49337
Questions?
Contact Jalisa Danhof, Director, at [email protected] or (231) 652-1184.
Register at: https://campnewaygo.org/events/wetland-trail-opening/
Camp Newaygo is celebrating a major milestone this fall: the launch of the Hidden Lake Environmental Center, our new year-round environmental education and training initiative, and the Grand Opening of the rebuilt Wetland Trail.
This is a day with two connected parts. Join us for one or both!
Part One: Hidden Lake Environmental Center Launch (Professional Development Day)
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Free | Advance registration required
We’re kicking off the Hidden Lake Environmental Center with a full day of speakers, learning, and networking for educators, environmental professionals, conservation partners, and community leaders from across the region. Whether you’re coming for one session or the whole day, we’d love to have you.
Please register for the full day even if you can only attend part of it. You’re welcome to come and go as your schedule allows.
Free breakfast and lunch are included.
Capacity: 100 registrants
Registration deadline: October 18, 2026
Schedule
9:00–9:30 AM | Arrival, Coffee & Welcome
Registration, coffee, light refreshments, and networking.
9:30–10:30 AM | The Love of Birds, Versus a Love of Birding
Will Keller (Grand Rapids), co-host, The Real Birding Podcast
In a Love for Birds and Birding, Will expounds on what he has learned from his years of birding across the globe, working with birds, and hosting the Real Birding Podcast. It is an exploration of the ways birding differs from a casual or even scientific interest in the avian world and the fantastic but often bizarre places a love for birding can take you.
10:30–11:30 AM | The Secret Life of a Bog: Why Peatlands Matter
Dr. Dominic Uhelski, Michigan Technological University
Peatlands cover just a small fraction of the Earth’s land, yet they store an outsized share of the planet’s soil carbon, quietly shaping the climate far beyond their boundaries. Dr. Dominic Uhelski draws on years of fieldwork sampling bogs and fens across the Upper Midwest to reveal how these slow, waterlogged landscapes form, function, and respond to disturbances like fire and drainage, and why protecting and restoring them, including the bog right here on the Wetland Trail, matters more than their quiet appearance might suggest.
11:30–11:45 AM | Break
11:45 AM–12:30 PM | Tracking the Invisible: Using eDNA to Detect Invasive Species
Dr. Charlyn Partridge, Annis Water Resources Institute, GVSU
Dr. Charlyn Partridge shares how her lab developed simple, low-cost traps to catch airborne genetic traces (eDNA) left behind by invasive species like the hemlock woolly adelgid, allowing researchers and land managers to detect an infestation long before visible signs of damage appear. A look at how cutting-edge genetic science is giving conservationists an early warning system for protecting the forests and habitats we depend on.
12:30–1:30 PM | Lunch & Networking
1:30–2:30 PM | Waterfront Porch: From Cleanup to Community
Dr. John Hartig, University of Windsor
The story of how Detroit is turning to the Detroit River, building a new waterfront greenway called the Detroit RiverWalk in an effort to help reconnect people with nature, revitalize the city and region, and foster a more sustainable future. One of the largest waterfront redevelopment projects of its scale in the United States.
2:30–2:45 PM | Break
2:45–3:45 PM | The Psychology of Bird Identification
David Allen Sibley (Massachusetts), author/illustrator, Sibley Guides
Using photos, drawings, and a few interactive tests, David Allen Sibley explores how we perceive the world around us, and how our brains both help and hinder our efforts at bird identification. Book signing to follow the session.
3:45–4:00 PM | Break & Transition to Grand Opening
Part Two: Wetland Trail Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting
4:00 PM | Free and open to the public | No registration required
Camp Newaygo’s Wetland Trail, a boardwalk through a bog and wetland environment that has served generations of visitors, students, and birders, was originally built in 1987 through a major community volunteer effort. In September 2024, a fire destroyed a significant portion of the boardwalk, closing the trail and creating the need for a major rebuild.
Camp Newaygo chose not to simply replace what was lost. Over the past two years, staff, volunteers, donors, and an AmeriCorps NCCC team have worked to rebuild the trail while expanding accessibility, habitat restoration, and environmental education along the way.
Join us as we cut the ribbon and reopen this beloved trail to the public.
4:00 PM | Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
4:15–5:00 PM | Inaugural Wetland Trail Walks
Be among the first to walk the newly restored boardwalk.
Location
Camp Newaygo
5333 South Centerline Road, Newaygo, MI 49337
Questions?
Contact Jalisa Danhof, Director, at [email protected] or (231) 652-1184.
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
5333 S. Centerline Rd, Newaygo, MI, United States, Michigan 49337
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherCamp Newaygo
