Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve

Im a member here. we love this place. Its come along way in recent year with more active management. It is a nature preserve in addition to the gardens, theres plenty of hiking available, in fact you could spend most of the day on the trails alone. Some areas are quite steep. The section of the gardens devoted to ferns is beautiful, as is the waterwheel and surrounding english style gardens. Theres a really great childrens garden, complete with outdoor trains. Indoors theres a nature center, conservatory with tropical plants and an art gallery. You can get backpacks for the kids that have magnifying glasses or binoculars and field guides. Towards the entrance of the property theres an arboretum and prairie.
They have wonderful concerts on the lawn in the summer time and offer things like yoga and gardening instruction.
A family membership is affordable, and allows discounts at other conservatories and botanical gardens.

I buy a membership every year and I try to get out to Fernwood every weekend for a hike… all year round. I love it!

Very nice. Well laid out. Good combination of gardens and natural trails. Friendly staff.

This is a great place to visit when you go to Michigan. Don’t expect a fancy botanical garden like the ones you find in a big city. It’s located in a rural area, in the middle of the fields. The gardens are nice, you will find a lot of unusual things like the twig huts, which are right at the entrance. I think the best part are the trails, which are really cool and not too long. There are wooden rustic benches all over. We also found a lot of beautiful wildlife like colorful birds, butterflies, chipmunks, and even giant turtles and colorful fish. A lot of great photo ops, fun for both children and adults. Even older adults because since there are a lot of benches, they can rest often. Beautiful place, plus it’s not too far from the wine tour, so you can do that afterwards.

I was introduced to Fernwood by my aunt when she was living in nearby Buchanan, MI. The garden is located in a beautiful rural setting along the banks of the St. Joe River. It is a little off the beaten track, but it’s not that hard to find if you take Highway 31 and follow the signs. In addition to several formal and cottage gardens, there are beautiful nature trails through various kinds of terrain. The views along the river are quite lovely. During the summer, there is a model railroad garden that is fun for kids of all ages.
This is a small scale operation that is staffed mainly by a dedicated group of volunteers. Don’t expect things to be on a grand scale like you would find in a large city garden. However, it’s a lovely place, and well worth a visit. They have a small café that serves delicious food if you are lucky enough to be there when it is open (hours are somewhat limited). As I mentioned in another review for WAUS 90.7 FM, during the summer there are outdoor classical concerts at the garden on Sunday afternoons. Admission is free during these special events.

The trails are nice here and they have done alright with presentation.
It is off the beaten path, but that is the gist. This isn’t a one star place.

Great customer service!
The grounds are well kept and the café has great food, so come hungry and enjoy a good meal and friendly people!

Compliment the beautiful walk in the garden with a lunch in the Fernwood café. A selection of lunch options such as the smoked turkey panini and cranberry chicken salad make for a great meal. Don’t forget to try the famous carrot cake!

fantastic — i never get tired of going here. it is just a great place to walk around and enjoy an afternoon.

Don’t go there for the special occasion buffet (Easter, et. al.) — it’s inedible. Can’t comment on the garden as we had to leave after we moved the plastic dining chairs and the ragweed pollen kicked up in the air and gave us allergy attacks.

Well, I wish I could tell you how pretty the trails are, how good the food in the café is, and how wonderful a day at Fernwood can be. I wish I could. I tried to get there. I mean, we had only the Harbor Country guide that described Fernwood, and provided a phone number. No map, no directions, nothing helpful like that.
So I, 21^st-​century woman that I am, said to my friend, who was driving, «I know! I’ll call and get some directions. After all, I know it’s at one of the first couple exits in Michigan, and it’s not that far from the exit. All we need to know is which exit.»
Wonderful plan, right, Gentle Reader? So I called Fernwood around 4pm on Thursday, and the call was answered by a real person named Jo or Jill (a female). I said, which I-​94 exit do we use to get to Fernwood? And Jo said, «I don’t know.» She did not have any sort of directions at hand. She did not offer to ask someone else. She did not offer anything more than «I don’t know.»
Gentle Reader, I must tell you — I have been working for many a long year. Every place I worked, every office, every restaurant and bar, we had a set of directions at the reception desk, so that potential visitors/​customers could find us. Apparently that is too much trouble for the folks at Fernwood. Maybe they have more visitors than they can handle already?
OK, fine. I said to my friend, it’s been 6 years since I visited, but I know it is at maybe the first or second exit in Michigan. We should at least see some signage. Uh-​uh. Lots of signage about where to find a Holiday Inn or McDonald’s, lots of directions for lodging and entertainment and gentlemen’s clubs. Nothing for attractions.
We really wanted to go. We really did. We actually got off at various exits and drove around for an hour, trying to find this place. No luck. We got all the way back up to Exit 6, where we had exited 2 days earlier to go to our lodging in Union Pier, and I said, let’s forget it. This is crazy. Let’s just get over to Chesterton, have some dinner, and go home. And that’s what we did.
I don’t like automated attendants as a rule, but I bet that, had there been an automated attendant answering the phone at Fernwood, we would have gotten more help. Unbelievable.

Beautiful. Lots of trails and unique planned gardens to explore, plus paths through real Michigan prairie. Take a walk down to the St. Joe river, test your knowledge of trees, ferns and flowers. For the kids, there’s something called a train garden — a cool set up of toy trains rolling thru little towns. They’ve even got a café, with some really good lunch options and desserts.