The New Creekside Trail at
Trevlac Bluffs Nature Preserve

The new creekside trail at Trevlac Bluffs Nature Preserve, which we began last year before the pandemic hit, is nearly complete after some hard work by our Land Stewardship team (and a break to climb a sycamore tree to get to a better view!)

Ellen Bergan, our Land Stewardship Assistant, finding a happy place.

The new trail will follow Beanblossom Creek at the bottom of Trevlac Bluffs past several very large walnut trees and nice sand bars, where visitors can rest and picnic with a view of the bluff’s rare stand of native eastern hemlock trees that are found naturally in only about two dozen places in Indiana. Hemlocks are now a more northerly species and the stands in Indiana are remnants from the cooler, early post-glacial climate of thousands of years ago.

The Creekside Trail connects the two short existing spur trails that take hikers to the creek.  It follows the banks of Beanblossom creek closely, one of the most beautiful parts of the preserve in the bottoms, and compliments the upper bluff trail.

Here’s a sneak peek of the map showing the new trail addition! The new .4 mile trail follows the creek.

Last week staff and volunteers successfully connected the two spurs with the new Creekside Trail.  They have a few final touches on that trail, a few minor reroutes to work on along the old trails, and new signage to post and then it will be finished and ready to be featured in our next edition of the Nature Preserve Guide.

“The views of the bluff with the hemlocks and snow and rising sun were amazing.”
– Chris Fox, Land Stewardship Manager 

“Here is a fish that Rob, our Land Acquisitions Director, spotted under the ice.  It was still alive as we could see slight movements and it later swam off.  I believe it was a shorthead redhorse, a type of native sucker.”
– Chris Fox, Land Stewardship Manager

Ellen displaying her youthful energy!  Manual labor in below freezing temperatures can be fun.