Palms Book State Park

About Palms Book State Park

Palms Book is a popular destination for vacationers traveling to the Upper Peninsula, where you can visit some of the state's most enticing natural attractions. Michigan's largest freshwater spring is located in Palms Book State Park, just a few miles north of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Every year the river flows at a constant 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and the bubbling water that keeps clouds and sand in constant motion creates ever new shapes and challenges the imagination of young and old. A self-powered observation deck leads visitors to a viewpoint that offers fascinating underwater features and fantasies. The lime-encrusted branches seem to float on the nothingness while they float above the water surface.

Kitch - who is said to be the girlfriend who makes the most of it - explained: 'I'm sailing with you. You should catch a canoe when you jump off an overhanging branch, but I love to tell the other dark-haired girl dancing next to the birch bark wig.

The spring is called "Kitch's itikipi," after a young chief who went to his death to quench his thirst for water. Other legends tell of Chippewa parents who came to the pool to search for the names of their newborns. The water was attributed to healing powers and a Shi, a small fish, was allegedly found, which was inscribed with the name Kitch and her father, the tribal leader, as well as his wife and children.

Another legend concerns the tamarack growing on the banks of the Kitch's iti or kipi; a piece of birch bark dipped in the kipsi and given to a loved one should be true forever. The golden dots would replace the old practice of placing a person's empty bag in the middle of the tree, where it dries out in a pool of water, as a symbol of peace.

As it is, this legend is loved by spring visitors, but others call it the sound of thunder and the drum of water, because the calm is eerie. The name of Palms Book State Park is quaint, and it attracts curious visitors because it is so close to the sea, with its deep blue waters and beautiful views.

John I Bellaire fell in love with the Great Spring because it was almost hidden in a tangle of fallen trees. He came from Seney and left the city, a sleeping town, after a white pine tree that had opened a five-store store in Manistique disappeared.

Bellaire, however, looked over the rubble and imagined the beauty of the emerald-green pool floor. The Great Spring is so deep that it flows like a deep, fast-flowing spring in the middle of a river. Lush vegetation grows on the shore, lies beneath a mountain of garbage from the nearby timber company. He watched the sand blow and roll as hydrostatic pressure pushed the water through a narrow opening into the ground and onto the other side.

Bellaire could have bought the property for himself, but the terms of the deed stipulated that it should be used as a public park, called Palms Book State Park, for good. Bellaire arranged the purchase of nearly 90 acres, including Big Spring, from the Palm Book Land Company, represented by the Los Angeles County Land Trust and the California Department of Parks, Recreation and Parks. The California State Parks Board of Directors, led by then-Gov. John D. Brown, prevailed in its effort to keep the properties in public ownership.

The sale of additional land through tax evasion and land swap brought the total area of the park to 308, according to the California Department of Parks, Recreation and Parks. Civil defence and other groups built a new park, and Bellaire did not hesitate to show tourists the bubbling pool.

Later that year, Bellaire confessed to the court that he had invented his own version of the Palms Book State Park and closed his shop, although he personally accompanied interested visitors to the sacred site. It was about attracting visitors, "says the California Department of Parks, Recreation and Parks (DPRP).

When Haas came to Palms Book in 1948, Bellaire was still with him, and Haas says he still visits the outdoor pool almost daily.