The Lamont family purchased Jeff Lamont Preserve in 2008 and donated the land to the Leelanau Conservancy in honor of their son, who died at the age of 21 after a six-year battle with cancer. The Lamont family cottage is on nearby Cathead Bay, and Jeff grew up exploring the woodlands and forested wetlands of this 40-acre tract.

Lamont is part of a string of preserves that create a wildlife corridor across the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula and include Kehl Lake, the Cathead Bay portion of Leelanau State Park and Lighthouse West, and Finton Natural Areas. Within the heavily forested preserve are stands of old maple, beech and hemlock that allow birders to spot such canopy species as scarlet tanager and black-throated blue warbler.

The preserve’s short trail skirts wetlands and even standing pools of water, something to consider during the buggy months of June and July. But in the spring and early summer, the same habitat can be a colorful bouquet of woodland and wetland wildflowers, including pink lady’s slippers, swamp rose, marsh marigolds, Jack-in-the-pulpit and wild columbine.