On Saturday, August 24th, 2013 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. the Shirley Heinze Land Trust (SHLT) will be taking participants on a guided tour of its nature preserves from the luxury of a 56 passenger charter bus. SHLT owns and manages over 1,200 acres of nature preserves in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties, most of which are open to the public.
We will begin our day at the Indiana Dunes Tourism and Visitor’s Center located at 1215 N. State Road 49 Chesterton, IN. The bus will begin loading at 7:45 a.m. and will depart promptly at 8:00 a.m. The first stop will be John Merle Coulter Preserve in Portage, IN. where participants will take a brief tour of this unique sand savanna habitat. The tour will then travel west passing by many of SHLT’s holdings in Lake County and eventually reaching our western most property, Seidner Dune and Swale in Hammond. We will depart the bus for a brief peek at this globally rare habitat.
From there, we will begin working our way back east, eventually making our way to SHLT’s newest acquisition, Meadowbrook Conservation Center and Nature preserve for lunch, which will be provided. The afternoon portion of the tour will focus on preserves in Porter and LaPorte Counties, including Little Calumet wetlands, Great Marsh in Beverly Shores and SHLT’s largest preserve, Ambler Flatwoods. Along the way hear insights from SHLT staff, board members and guest speakers on the dynamics of land preservation, ecology, geology and history of Northwest Indiana.
The tour will conclude back at the Indiana Dunes Tourism and Visitor’s Center at 3:30 p.m.
Cost to attend the tour is $35 per person, or $60 per couple. Reservations can be made by calling (219) 242-8558 or through the website www.heinzetrust.org Reservations must be no later than August 21, 2013.