This region sits across southern Michigan and northern Indiana. It is tucked between Lake Michigan to the west and the Huron and Erie Lake Plains to the east. The landscape is a beautiful result of ancient glaciers that once carved through the land. These glaciers left behind many unique shapes, such as rolling drumlins, morainal hills, and relict dunes. You can also find paleobeach ridges, kames, and meltwater channels. The elevation is mostly between 550ft (168 m) and 1,200ft (365 m). Deep below the surface, the bedrock is made of sandstone and shale.

The climate is defined by four distinct seasons. Summers are warm or even hot, while winters can be quite harsh and snowy. Unlike some other places, there is no long dry season. Instead, rain and snow are spread out through the year, usually totaling between 29.5" (750 mm) and 39" (990 mm). During the coldest parts of the year, temperatures can plunge far below 0F (-18C), while summer months provide plenty of warmth for plants to grow.

Water is everywhere in this region. Many small and medium sized lakes are scattered across the plains, and groundwater is very easy to find. Streams flow through the land with a steady, gentle pace. Because the ground drains better than the flat plains to the east, the soil is very diverse. You will find everything from rich, dark soils to thick, wet soils found in swamps. A fun fact about this area is that many of the lakes you see today were actually formed by massive chunks of ice that were buried in the dirt and slowly melted.

The forests and fields are home to many different living things. You will see large forests filled with white oak, red oak, black oak, bitternut hickory, shagbark hickory, sugar maple, and beech trees. In wetter spots, northern swamp forests grow. These woods provide a perfect home for white-tailed deer, coyotes, red foxes, and gray foxes. Near the water, you might see beavers, river otters, and mink. The lakes and streams are also great for fishing, with fish like northern pike, walleye, trout, salmon, and steelhead. You can also find birds like the Canada warbler and the upland sandpiper.

People live and work across this diverse landscape. While there are many beautiful forests and farms, there are also busy cities like Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, Kalamazoo, and South Bend. Much of the land is used for farming, where crops like corn, wheat, and beans are grown. Other areas are used for pastures or residential neighborhoods.

The Ilex Bluebird Garden

Planting Areas

2025 Raingarden

House- front deck bed, west

Mailbox bed

Wildlife Features

About the Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains ecoregion

About the Woodruff Creek watershed