| Dowagiac Woods Nature Sanctuary | |
| Photo Width: | 288 |
| Map: | USA Michigan |
| Map Width: | 250 |
| Location: | Lower Peninsula, Cass County, Michigan USA |
| Nearest City: | Dowagiac, Michigan |
| Coordinates: | 41.976°N -86.1823°W |
| Area: | 384acres |
| Established: | 1981 |
| Governing Body: | Michigan Nature Assoc. (non-profit) |
Dowagiac Woods Nature Sanctuary, commonly referred to as Dowagiac Woods, is a 384acres woods located in Cass County, Michigan. It is maintained and preserved by the Michigan Nature Association, known as "MNA".
These woods were virtually unknown even to those living nearby until 1975, when an MNA member reported that Blue-eyed Mary grew there. MNA made an appeal in 1981 for $110,000 to purchase the woods, and the campaign was completed in one year. More than 550 individual contributions were given, capped with a $20,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation.[1]
In February 2009, MNA purchased adjacent acreage to expand Dowagiac Woods to 384acres. It is now MNA’s largest sanctuary in the Lower Peninsula.[2]
Plants flourish at Dowagiac Woods in countless numbers. A top attraction in Dowagiac Woods is the abundance of blue-eyed Mary, Collinsia verna. More than 150 beds can be seen from the trail, each averaging ten by twenty feet square. More than fifty species of other wildflowers bloom in the spring, and nearly fifty kinds of trees have been found at Dowagiac Woods.
Dowagiac Woods is also home to many animals, including at least 49 different kinds of birds like the yellow warbler and ruffed grouse.