Hare Nature Preserve at Downey Hill
Natural Areas: Hare Nature Preserve at Downey Hill
Box Turtle. Click to enlarge
Officially the Laura Hare Nature Preserve at Downey Hill, and one of several preserves named after and made possible by the estate of Dr. Hill, who earned a PhD as well as an MD and lived to be a hundred! A gated lane proceeds generally east from the parking area, but your best bet is to head north or south onto the approximately five-mile loop that winds its way around the property and start enjoying. You can always use the lane as a short cut to return to the parking area should you decide not to attempt the entire loop. This is quintessential Brown County terrain: ridgelines, ravines, trees. Give yourself plenty of time to savor it.
Trail Map
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Directions
Brown County. From IN 46 X IN 135, east 2.5 miles on IN 46, then right on Valley Branch/Mt. Liberty Rd. Stay on Valley Branch as Mt. Liberty veers left. There is a parking area on the left, 1.6 miles south of IN 46.
GPS: N 39 10.395 W 86 08.752
Facilities
None
Finder Sketch
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Nearby Natural Areas (miles)
Tangeman Nature Preserve (8.1)
Touch the Earth Natural Area (8.9)
Hitz-Rhodehamel Woods (11.3)
Yellowwood State Forest (15.7)
Brown County State Park (16)
Selma Steele Nature Preserve (16.3)
Scarlet Oak Woods (16.9)
Morgan-Monroe State Forest (17.7)