Weiler – Leopold Nature Reserve / Black Rock Barrens

This joint 279 acre property includes the 179 acre Weiler-Leopold Nature Reserve and the 100 acre Black Rock Barrens Heischman-McAdams Reserve. There are 2 loop trails for this shared parking area at the edge of the woods. An additional large loop trail, around the previous bottomland farmland that was reforested in 2001 with native oaks and hickories, provides a total of 4 miles of hiking pleasure from the three loop trails.

The 179 acre Weiler – Leopold Nature Reserve features the Ron Bogaard Nature Trail (sponsored by Sycamore Audubon Society). This loop trail is the one on the right heading southwest out of the parking lot. The trail features 4 distinct areas. The trail begins in a restored high grasslands prairie with various native wildflowers. Be sure to watch for informational plant species signs found along the trail. The second part of this loop trail winds thru a wooded area previously used for grazing, the trail brochures found at the trailhead provide information on the evolution of this type of ecosystem. The trail then turns back northeast thru black rock slopes and past a wet meadow. The fourth mini-ecosystem is an open oak woodland along the ridges and ravines with all the usual under canopy grow and wildlife.

The 100 acre Black Rock Barrens property to the east of Weiler – Leopold is a State Nature Preserve as it harbors an excellent example of a siltstone glade ecosystem community which is rare in the Midwest. As a State Nature Preserve care must be taken not to collect or damage any plant, wildlife or material on the property without prior permit from NICHES and the Indiana Division of Nature Preserves. The trail leaves the joint parking area to the left (southeast). Various mini-ecosystems are featured in the trailhead NICHES brochures for this trail. As you start out on the trail you are in a mature white oak forest. You progress thru an area with thin soils over siltstone bedrock produces an interesting plant community. As you descend down to the river bottom area you transverse a deep ravine originally cut by the rushing waters of the melting glaciers 10,000 years ago. Along the bottomland boundary you will travel thru a sugar ample area undergoing thinning management and then to a more moist area from slope runoff and ground seepage that allows for yet another type of ecosystem to flourish.

The mixed ecosystems of the three loop trails provide a variety of bird and wildlife viewing opportunities.

These are foot traffic only trails and as NICHES Land Trust properties the usual NICHES restrictions apply including:

– No camping
– No campfires
– No glass containers
– No vehicles or ATV’s on the preserves, except in designated parking areas ONLY
– No hunting without prior written permission as part of controlled population control
– Dog must be kept on a leash (6’ or less in length)
– No property modifications
– Follow the “leave no trace” philosophy