September’s tour sponsor spotlight is The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Michigan. For decades, this nonprofit organization has worked with the people of the Great Lakes State to protect the rivers, lakes and lands that are its natural heritage, and continue to pursue strategies that will help ensure the vitality of Michigan’s people, places and wildlife for generations to come. The Nature Conservancy in Michigan has built seven TravelStorys™ tours. Here’s what they had to say about the experience:

Q: Can you describe some of your favorite stories on the tours? 

A: The McMahon Lake Preserve tour offers a variety of information on this remote and beautiful area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, from the history of the local rivers as a favorite fishing spot of Ernest Hemingway, to the uniqueness of the patterned fen ecosystem, all the way to the fact that the very trail you walk on at the preserve has served as a firebreak to stop wildfires. All in all, it’s just a really special and interesting place!

Q: Is there anything that surprises visitors about the tours?

A: The entire McMahon Lake Preserve tour is available in both Spanish and English, to help make the location and the tour accessible to more people. Spanish audio is also available at two other northern Michigan tour locations in the rugged Keweenaw Peninsula: the Mary Macdonald Preserve at Horseshoe Harbor and the Helmut and Candis Stern Preserve at Mount Baldy!

Q: Where do the majority of your visitors come from?

A: Mostly from within the state, but we have seen usage from as far away as California and New York! Given that The Nature Conservancy protects and manages over 860 preserves across the United States, with a total annual visitation of nearly three million, we see these tours as a way for someone who may only know their local TNC preserves to have an opportunity to visit something new and different.

Q: Please briefly describe your target audience for these tours.

A: We hope everyone is able to visit our preserves and enjoy them in person, but we know that the preserves are often remote and, in some cases, quite intensive to hike and explore. We love that TravelStorys audio tours offer a way for people to also visit our preserves virtually. Whether you visit them in person or virtually, we welcome all visitors to engage with the lands we’re so proud to protect and conserve!



Q: Why did you want to tell the stories on your tours?

A: While visiting our preserves provides a way to enjoy nature at your own pace, there is a natural and cultural history embedded in all our preserves that can go unknown to visitors. Facts like the exposed bedrock at the Macdonald Preserve being over a billion years old or the way rare plant species from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts ended up at the Ross Coastal Plain Marsh Preserve in southwest Michigan are too interesting not to share! We hope that learning some of these nuggets of information makes a preserve visit more fun and helps people feel a stronger connection to that place.

Q: How does telling your stories through the TravelStorys audio tour platform compare to other ways you've communicated with your audience in the past?

A: The big advantage is that it allows us to be a virtual tour guide on anyone’s schedule! While we regularly offer guided tours of our amazing preserves, we can only do so many of them in a given year. With TravelStorys, visitors can take a TNC expert along with them anytime they want to visit!

Q: What part of the tour-building process do you enjoy most or find most interesting — and why?

A: Because of how varied and interesting our Michigan preserves are, even TNC staff members who know the preserves well find out something new every time we create a tour. So even if you’ve visited a property many times, and maybe even taken a guided tour, it’s an opportunity to continue your learning journey.

Nan Weston Preserve

Enjoy a walk through this beautiful preserve and explore the stories behind the rare wildlife and the magic of nature, and learn how to conserve this vital ecosystem!

Carl A. Gerstacker Preserve

Discover this unique alvar ecosystem along Lake Huron’s shoreline, which is home to 13 species federally listed as threatened or endangered, including the bald eagle and the grey wolf.

Echo Lake Preserve

Visit this preserve near the shore of Lake Superior, where you can enjoy everything from summertime canoeing to wintertime snowshoeing.

Explore all our tours (252 and counting!) at travelstorys.com.