Touch the Earth
Natural Area
Natural Areas: Touch the Earth Natural Area
Touch the Earth Natural Area is a Sycamore Land Trust property that protects nearly a hundred acres in western Bartholomew County. It offers a series of connected loops through former farmland and relatively recent woods; I measured the total distance of those trails (including some backtracking necessary to cover the whole network) at about 2.8 miles. There’s a nice mix of habitats, with meadows, cedars, and some relatively young hardwoods. Spring wildflowers include mayapple, trout lily, cutleaf toothwort, purple trillium, and rue anemone, among others. Tangeman Nature Preserve is very close by, as is Indiana 46, so expect some traffic noise, especially along the northern loop.
Trail Map
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Directions
Bartholomew County. From I-65 Exit 68, west 3.5 miles on IN 46 to Country Club Rd, then left 0.4 miles to parking on the left.
GPS: N 39 11.692 W 86 01.484
Facilities
None
Finder Sketch
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Nearby Natural Areas (miles)
Tangeman Nature Preserve (1)
Hare Preserve at Downey Hill (8.9)
Brown County State Park (11.8)
Hitz-Rhodehamel Woods (17.1)