Estivant Pines Nature Sanctuary

One of Michigan Nature Association’s most popular sanctuaries, Estivant Pines Nature Sanctuary was originally part of a 2,400-acre tract of land owned by Edward Estivant of Paris, who sold it to Calumet and Hecla Mining Company in 1947. The tract was sold to Universal Oil in 1968, and the area was threatened when Universal Oil cut down 300 acres of forest nearby and began plans for future logging. MNA led a three-year statewide fundraising campaign to purchase 200 acres of Estivant Pines from Universal Oil in 1973. Concerned citizens from the “Save The Pines” committee helped in the fundraising that led to this initial acquisition. Three additional acquisitions occurring between 1989 and 2019 have expanded the sanctuary to 570.5 acres, which protects one of the last old-growth white pine stands in Michigan.


Today Estivant Pines is one of the last and largest preserved tracts of old-growth white pine in Michigan, located south of Copper Harbor near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula within a landscape scale forest complex.  Many white pines in this sanctuary measure 3-5 feet in diameter and are 250-400 years old.  Numerous other co-existing species are also present in an old growth size class include white cedar, yellow birch, balsam fir, red oak and sugar maple. The Montreal River bisects the southernmost eighty acres of the sanctuary.

More than 85 bird species inhabit the old-growth forest, including woodpeckers, hawks, and red crossbills. Despite thin soil and boreal climate, several wildflowers grow, such as asters, clintonia, baneberry, and violets. A wide variety of ferns, like maidenhair, spleenwort, and holly fern, blanket the forest floor.