ACRES joins largest trails celebration
May 25, 2016
ACRES joins largest trails celebration
SEVEN SISTERS LAKES — ACRES Land Trust invites the public to launch summer with a hike celebrating the American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day.
On Saturday, June 4, 10 a.m. to noon, ACRES hosts a guided hike through Wing Haven Nature Preserve, 180 W. C.R. 400N, north of Angola, while hundreds of thousands of individuals converge at parks, forests, and trails all across the country.
Wing Haven, a 254.8-acre nature preserve, features glacially carved kettle-hole lakes, bordered by a wetland fen system. In secluded areas, sandhill cranes have established nests. Rolling meadows and surrounding uplands covered in an oak, hickory and red maple forest offer visitors a scenic hike through land that is protected forever by the local land trust’s members.
Hundred-year-old log buildings serve as the caretaker residence and occasional event space and as reminders of the preserve’s former owners who moved the buildings here Wing Haven was once home to Helen Swenson and her husband Ben, who ran Wing Haven Resort, a sanctuary for birds from 1948-72. Helen was an artist, naturalist and avid birder. The Swensons were innkeepers at Pokagon State Park’s Potawatomi Inn.
Parking for the hike is in the large parking area near Swenson’s former art studio, which is used for gatherings throughout the year.
Now in its 24th consecutive year, National Trails Day provides opportunities for the public to have summer adventures on nearby trails. Founded in 1976, American Hiking Society is the only national, recreation-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s hiking trails, their surrounding natural areas and the hiking experience.
