We are your local land trust

Burnett Woods Nature Preserve offers a tranquil hike through mature woodlands in the midst of a largely developed area near Avon. Fall colors and spring wildflowers make this a seasonal destination spot, but its canopy is cooling even on the hottest days of summer.

Part of the Long Ridge conservation area, Meyer Nature Preserve’s steep slopes, ridges and valleys offer a dramatic hike through a large forest block unbroken by roads. Its forest interior habitat shelters rare native species like hooded and worm-eating warblers, Eastern box turtle, and the state-endangered cerulean warbler.

Jacob Schramm Nature Preserve is a mature woods that seems to arise out of the surrounding farm fields as you drive down County Road 600 West near New Palestine. An easy loop trail takes you through the property, which features American basswood, American beech, American hornbeam, shagbark hickory, slippery elm, sugar maple and sycamore trees. In spring, beautiful wildflowers blanket the forest floor.

The Laura Hare Preserve at Blossom Hollow offers a quiet refuge for humans and wildlife. Blossom Hollow is part of a large unbroken hardwood forest block, habitat that is key for migratory birds and forest interior nesting birds. On its ridges, mature white and red oaks cling to slopes covered with ferns and wildflowers. In the creek valley below, the bedrock is dotted with granite chunks—evidence of the glaciers that once covered these hills.

Meltzer Woods is one of Indiana’s last remaining fragments of old growth forest. “Old growth” means the land has trees more than 150 years old and has been left as forest for a century or more. This is a special place where you can walk under majestic trees, some dating back to the 1600s. Much of our state looked like this when European settlers first arrived.

Lying alongside the White River, this property offers views of glorious summer wildflowers in season, with a mix of prairie plants and oak savanna. Along the river to the south, bottomland forest is growing. These are the result of our restoration efforts in 2008, when we planted over 19,000 trees here.

Situated along the White River, Oliver’s Woods Nature Preserve offers a nature immersion in the midst of a bustling commercial district. This urban nature preserve encompasses 16 acres of woods, 37 acres of prairie-savanna restoration, and a mile of White River frontage.

This partially wooded property near the Indianapolis International Airport is being restored as a nature preserve. Many volunteers have helped plant trees and remove invasive plants since we received the land in 2013.

Betley Woods at Glacier’s End is exactly what its name would suggest: the place where the glaciers stopped their southward march. Specifically, it is where the Wisconsin Glaciation ran into the Brown County Hills. As a result, the property has both glaciated and unglaciated land and supports a surprising diversity of flora and fauna within a tightly compressed area.

Browning Marsh harbors more state-rare and -endangered species than any other similarly sized property in Central Indiana. It provides several wetland habitats including emergent marsh, forested wetland, and wet prairie.

Meltzer Woods is one of Indiana’s last remaining fragments of old growth forest. “Old growth” means the land has trees more than 150 years old and has been left as forest for a century or more. This is a special place where you can walk under majestic trees, some dating back to the 1600s. Much of our state looked like this when European settlers first arrived.