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Conrad Station Savanna Trail Is a 1.5 Mile Sided Towhee, Wild Turkey

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Conrad Station Savanna Trail Is a 1.5 Mile Sided Towhee, Wild Turkey Welcome to Conrad Station Savanna, The northern most part of the trail takes you TRAIL GUIDE owned and managed by the Indiana briefly out of the savanna, and into a tallgrass What to look for at Conrad Station Savanna Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. The prairie restoration. The depression along the The plant and animal species in Conrad Station north side of the trail is a small ephemeral 380 acres of Conrad Station contribute to Savanna are abundant and diverse. They are wetland, which holds water seasonally. A second uniquely adapted to the dry sandy soils and the conservation of Kankakee Sands, sign located further along the trail in the shade of occasional fires that keep savannas open and a large prairie-savanna complex in the savanna trees describes how The Nature sunny. Some of the commonly seen or heard northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois Conservancy manages the savanna at Conrad species are listed below. Let us know if you find Conrad Station Savanna that encompasses more than 30,000 acres Station Savanna as well as the unique plants and something of interest! at Kankakee Sands of land protected by the Conservancy and animals that live here. Birds: Orchard oriole, barred owl, blue grosbeak, its conservation partners. The southeastern part of the trail skirts the edge brown thrasher, vesper sparrow, field sparrow, lark sparrow, bobwhite quail, red-headed woodpecker, Hiking Conrad Station Savanna of a 75 acre prairie restoration completed in 1997. It was one of the first restorations planted rose-breasted grosbeak, scarlet tanager, rufous The Conrad Station Savanna Trail is a 1.5 mile sided towhee, wild turkey. loop trail over moderate terrain that gently winds at Kankakee Sands. This restoration has dry through black oak savanna, a native prairie sand blows to low wetlands and every gradient Reptiles and Amphibians: Blue racer, bull snake, restoration, and the former town of Conrad. The in between. There is no mowed or maintained Fowler’s toad, grey tree frog, hognose snake, glass trail is mowed and marked with orange circular path through the prairie restoration, but you are lizard, chorus frog, milk snake. welcome to wander and explore. trail markers mounted on posts and trees. Plants: Lead plant (Amorpha canescens), Conrad Station Savanna consists of rolling Across US 41, the Indiana DNR’s Division of smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve), sand dunes sculpted by the wind after the last Nature Preserves owns and manages another 450 Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), New glaciation. Today the dry dunes and low openings acres of oak habitat called Conrad Savanna, which Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus), woodland are vegetated with oak communities, consisting of is also open to the public, but without maintained sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus), rough a native assemblage of trees, grasses, and sedges. walking trails. blazing star (Liatris aspera), wild blue lupine The preserve name of Conrad Station Savanna (Lupinus perennis), downy phlox (Phlox pilosa), purple milkwort (Polygama polygama v. obtusata), refers to the town’s train station, once present Trail Rules and Safety Tips bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum latiusculum), along the railroad tracks along the west side of the Pack out your litter and leave the plants and Carolina rose (Rosa carolina), sassafras (Sassafras preserve. wildflowers for others to enjoy. albidum), lanceleaf figwort (Scrophularia The Conrad Station Savanna Trail begins at No ATVs, dirt bikes, camping or horseback rid- lanceolata), goat’s rue (Tephrosia virginiana), white the parking area on the corner of CR 250 W and ing. Pets must be leashed and under control at oak (Quercus alba), black oak (Quercus velutina), lance leaved violet (Viola lanceolata). CR 725 N, just past the boot brush station and all times. Please remove all pet wastes. preserve sign. Please be sure to wipe the soles of Insects: Common green darter and ruby meadow your shoes at the boot brush stations before hiking Be mindful of hunting seasons and notices of hawk dragonflies, tiger swallowtail butterflies, to prevent the accidental spread of non-native prescribed burning when visiting the Kankakee great spangled fritillary butterflies, and the plant seeds that could germinate at Conrad. Sands area. solitary wasps called cicada killers! As you take the trail clock-wise (west) through the trees, the trail wanders through the savanna and foundations of buildings of the former town of Conrad, which was platted in 1905. An infor- mational sign about the town of Conrad and its founder, Jennie Conrad, is next to the foundation of the old hotel. Many years of stewardship work The Nature Conservancy is an international, non-profit here at this opening have allowed the sunlight organization working around the world. Our mission to penetrate to the ground and restore the plant is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life diversity of black oak savanna. Glass lizard depends. For more information visit nature.org. Welcome to Conrad Station Savanna Kankakee Sands in Indiana ¼ÉCR 800 N ¤£41 W 0 0 CR 750 N 5 ¼É R C É ¼ CONRAD SAVANNA CONRAD STATION SAVANNA ¼ÉCR 725 N IA A NATURE PRESERVE W n a 0 i 5 d CR 700 N i 2 CR 700 N r ¼É ¼É e R M C É ¼ É ¼ ¼ÉCR 675 N IA B ¼ÉCR 600 N IA IA 8 ¼ÉCR 600 N N Seed Barn D BEAVER LAKE C NATURE PRESERVE B e W a 0 v 0 e 4 r L R a C k É ¼ e D i W O t c 0 IA h 0 6 CR 500 N ¼É R C É ¼ EFROYMSON RESTORATION E F IA G H BISON VIEWING BIRDING OVERLOOK AREA IA IA IA IA IA ¼ÉCR 400 N ¼ÉCR 400 N ¤£41 I J W W 0 0 0 0 8 1 8 2 R R Office C C É ¼ É L ¼ K ¼ÉCR 300 N IA M IA Nursery WILLOW SLOUGH 8 ¼ÉCR 250 N FISH & WILDLIFE AREA n a i IA IA d i CR 225 N r ¼É e M É ¼ W 0 5 2 R C É ¼ 0 0.07 0.14 0.21 Prepared by F.Becker Conrad TNC-INFO 8/2013 Station Savanna is at the northern endMile sof the EfroymsonCopyright: © 2013 ³ Red-headed woodpecker IA RestorationParking at KankakeeTrails T hSands.e Nature Conservancy Department of Natural Resources Beaver Lake Ditch Railroad Efroymson Restoration Beaver Lake Nature Preserve Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve Conrad Station Savanna 8 Buildings Ponds Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area Enjoy your visit to Conrad Station Savanna! Be a part of the future of Conrad Station and Kankakee Sands by volunteering and/or making a donation. Learn more at nature.org/kankakeesands. The Nature Conservancy depends on the support of people like you who enjoy Indiana’s natural places..
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