A major new county park in Porter County will give residents the chance to hike, go birdwatching and immerse themselves in nature.
Porter County Parks and Recreation Department is developing Hawk Ridge at 544 E 1600 N, which has a Michigan City address but is located in Pine Township near Beverly Shores. A farmer donated the former farm property to Porter County years ago but the site has not been publicly accessible.
Superintendent Jake McEvoy said Porter County Parks planned to put in parking and trails this year so people could visit Hawk Ridge Park.
"We're going to put some infrastructure in to open up Hawk Ridge," he said. "It will be a purely passive park where people can see different ecosystems like prairies and woods."
As the name implies, Hawk Ridge is a bird sanctuary. It's home to birds of prey like hawks and peregrine falcons, migratory birds and other avian sights.
"It's been in our master plan for quite some time to get this park a trail system," he said. "We'll get trails on an old farm property that's been cleaned up and purchased. It was standard for a farm for this area with some woods. We restored the prairie and wildflowers. It's a good-sized park. We want to put in trails to make it a park people can use. It's been on the list."
At least two miles of walking trails will wind through the property in loops.
"It will be low impact, mostly natural trails of flat dirt," McEvoy said. "People will be able to walk, hike and do bird observations. There's little streams and the topography had good sets of elevation. There's lots of works and prairie. The combination makes for a good walk."
Porter County Parks will eventually offer nature-based programming there, such as horticulture education workshops.
"It should be popular with birders, especially during the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival and that time of year," he said. "There's a lot of birds and birding opportunities. It's important because of the size. It will be good for walking, hiking and birding."
The hope is to have it open by the spring or summer.
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