Summer 2024 Road Trip
Are you looking to get out of the house this summer and hit the road? We’ve got you covered! This day trip takes you along I-69 and has you hiking in both Indiana and Michigan.
Greenhurst Commons
1740 North Main Street, Auburn, IN 46706
Greenhurst Commons stands out as one of the few urban preserves we protect. The entire trail system is paved, making it suitable for wheelchair and other mobility devices, as well as bicycles! As you hike along its 1.4 mile trail, you’ll notice nature slowly reclaiming this former golf course. Make sure to keep an eye out for a variety of wildlife in the natural areas.
Wing Haven
180 W. 400 N. Angola, IN 46703
Wing Haven, once the site of the Wing Haven Resort and home to Helen and Ben Swenson, has a rich diversity of plants, birds, mammals and aquatic species. As you hike this preserve, you’ll visit a kettle-hole lake, upland forests and rolling meadows. You’ll also pass by Helen’s artist’s studio where she created paintings that captured the splendor of the nature around her.
Kauffman Nature Sanctuary
13127 Beecher Rd Hudson, MI 49247
Kauffman Nature Sanctuary is ACRES Land Trust’s first Michigan property. Sedges, willows and cattails provide habitat for nesting green heron and sandhill cranes. The loop trail winds through tall grass before entering a forest with several large pawpaw patches and a rich floodplain at the back of the property. A cold water stream — one of Michigan’s headwater streams of Lake Erie — flows through these woods.
POINTS OF INTEREST ALONG THE WAY
Pokagon State Park
450 Ln 100 Lake James, Angola, IN 46703
Located near Wing Haven nature preserve, this park became the fifth Indiana State Park in 1925. Natural lakes created by glaciers that melted 10,000 to 15,000 years ago highlight Steuben County, which has more lakes than any other Indiana county. The park is framed by Lake James and Snow Lake, which offer abundant opportunities for boating, swimming, fishing and scenic sunsets.
Homestead Ice Cream Shoppe
22360 County Rd F, Archbold, OH 43502
Looking to cool off with a cold treat? Swing by this family-owned ice cream manufacturer and shop!