Exploring Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt

The culmination of my Master Conservationist class was an eight hour day at Chichaqua park, outside of Elkhart. Unlike other county parks, this park is less about playing and camping (although those things are available, too), but preserving as much of the surrounding land with natural, restored public prairie for future generations to enjoy. More than 8,000 acres have been taken and restored into prairie, and it's quite a site. We toured it with the man who is mostly responsible for all of this conservation, and it was a fun day for learning about planned burns, prairie wildlife, restored wetlands, and plantlife. I won't remember most of the details, but it left an impression on me that was positive enough for me to plan a trip back on our 12th wedding anniversary to hike out and find some wildflowers that only bloom once a year, straight out of the sand.

 These are puccoons, a wildflower that grows on prairies. This particular flower is pretty rare, and difficult to grow outside of the natural conditions it thrives on within a prairie. This particularly puccoon grows straight out of the sand, on this rare remaining sand prairie at Chichaqua. 

The flower below is a wild marigold, which grows in the wetlands at Chichaqua

The boys found my prairie hike to be a good deal for them when they discovered some animal bones, most likely left behind by the mother coyote that lives in this area (according to park officials). We also found some atlatl points in the sand! The anthropologist in me did a little dance. 

One of the things my parents and I share is a love for the outdoors. I can credit them for fostering that in me from an early age. They decided to accompany us on our hike through the prairie to find the blooming puccoons.