The mud lake bog property was formerly used as the township dump. After the Southeast Berrien County Landfill was opened, a group of residents petitioned the township to purchase the property and preserve the bog. In 1980 the property was purchased and a committee formed to supervise the clean up. Fernwood personnel agreed to oversee the cleanup and development of the Bog preserve.

The original committee, along with personnel from Fernwood, and many other volunteers were responsible for cleaning the bog and installing the board walks and other ammenities. In later years, boy scouts have done repair work to the bog to help them with advancement.

In 1987 an award was presented to the Bog Committee by the Greater Michigan Foundation for their work on the Mud Lake Bog Nature Preserve. A rare complete bog, located on Elm Valley Road, the preserve is used and visited by classes from Michigan and Illinois schools and colleges for study.

The bog is open to the public at no charge. There is a boardwalk winding through the bog along with an observation tower and picnic tables with a shelter. There are many rare and endangered plants, birds and other wildlife.

Fernwood is a nature preserve located in Buchanan township. It is a private, non profit organization which is open to the public for a fee. The preserve borders the St Joseph River and has many acres of woods, trails, flower gardens, gift shop, and other nature related areas of interest.

The St Joseph river runs through the township. The river is used by many sportspeople for fishing, boating and canoeing. There are three public boat/canoe launches in the township, all on East River Road. One above the AEP dam and two below. Also, there are two fishing piers, one above and one below the dam. These are both handicap accessible.