Alice W. Moore Woods Nature Sanctuary is one of the few Michigan Nature Association (MNA) sanctuaries located within a city. MNA acquired this mature oak-hickory woodland in November 1990, making it MNA’s 118th sanctuary.

Many of the red, white, and bur oak trees constituting the forest are massive, with trunks up to three feet in diameter. Other trees thriving within the forest include black ash, shagbark hickory, and silver maple.

A number of shrubs are found throughout this sanctuary. They include highbush cranberry, prickly ash, and purple-flowering raspberry. The purple-flowering raspberry is a shrub only found in select counties parallel to Lake Huron. The shrub belongs to the rose family, has maple-shaped leaves, and bears edible fruit. It is unique to its breed because it does not have thorns, and it has perennial stems rather than biennials. The lovely blossoms bloom from early spring to early fall. The fruit which these shrubs bear mature in late summer and early autumn.

This sanctuary is also home to an array of wildlife including the great horned owl, rose-breasted grosbeak, and multiple other bird species. In addition, gray and black squirrels frolic in the big timber. Eastern gray squirrels can occur in a gray or black color, with gray being the most common and black being a locally regular occurrence.

The Moore family did a remarkable job preserving the land after they bought it during the 1930s. Under MNA protection, the serenity and tranquility of the land have been conserved. The public is encouraged to visit this site for a nature walk or exploration of the forest..

Visitors to the sanctuary can see the blossoming purple-flowering raspberry from early spring to early fall.

Take either Rattle Run Road or Fred W. Moore Highway (32-Mile Rd) east from I-94. Turn onto 9th Street and then east onto Brown Street. From there, turn north onto Fourth Street and make a right onto Meldrum Circle when Fourth Street dead ends. Once on Meldrum Circle, take a right onto Hawthorne Road. Parking is available once you turn left onto Stratford Road from Hawthorne Road.