Our feet are already in summer, but this week in the “Outdoor Adventures” section we have reason to look forward to autumn.
I love the Biketober Fest
Early bird registration has begun for the return of Love Biketober Fest on October 6, featuring the usual lineup of street and dirt bike options, food, local craft beer, and coziness (warmth and good cheer) at Love Creek County Park in Berrien Center.
Cost is $40 per person and $75 per family through August 16, then $50/$95 through September 22, and $60/$115 thereafter.
Start the day with a 24- or 32-mile ride on gravel and paved roads, or a 25- or 51-mile ride on paved roads. Or try the park’s 3.5-mile mountain bike trails. Or just hike there. Then enjoy a hearty feast and beer under tents.
This year’s proceeds will go entirely to the nonprofit Bike Michiana Coalition and its many efforts to financially support local trail improvements and bike safety awareness. In the past, the ride had shared proceeds with the park for trail improvements and maintenance, but event chair Rob Shellhamer says this year organizers want to make sure more money goes to the coalition’s efforts. The park continues to support the event.
For more information and to register, visit www.lovebiketoberfest.com.
Night bike tour
The City of LaPorte is offering its last nighttime bike ride of the summer. The 13-mile group ride begins at 9 p.m. CDT on August 16 at the Dennis F. Smith Amphitheater in Fox Park, 401 Truesdell Ave., on the north side of Clear Lake, followed by food and fellowship.
Cost is $20 in advance and $30 at the event and includes food, drinks and a t-shirt (if there are any left). Register online at a link here in this column.
Indiana Dunes Art Walk
Hike the Bailly/Chellberg Trail in Indiana Dunes National Park on August 17 from 2-5 p.m. CDT and discover artwork along the way that you can then use to create your own artwork. This family-friendly event takes place on a trail through wooded ravines, open fields and historic buildings. The artwork was created as part of the park’s Artist-In-Residence program.
The event begins at the park’s Volunteer Program Office at 891 N. Mineral Springs Road, Porter, across from Chellberg Farm, between US 12 and US 20 and west of Indiana 49.
The event is free, but the national park charges an entrance fee of $25 per car for up to seven days; annual passes are also available for $45 (www.recreation.gov/sitepass/indu).
Valpo preserves grow
Meadowbrook Nature Preserve, north of Valparaiso, Indiana, just expanded by 73 acres, adding agricultural land that has been (and still is) farmed for over a century, newly established swamps, and upland forests.
Déjà vu? This follows news I reported just recently: The owner, the nonprofit Shirley Heinze Land Trust, has also added 94 acres to the Lydick Bog Nature Preserve in South Bend, with a future trail to connect it to the Indiana Dinosaur Museum.
At Meadowbrook, which now has 300 acres, four miles of trails and forests, wetlands, rivers and prairie, one of the goals is to preserve agricultural land.
There is a crowdfunding campaign to build an amphitheater at the preserve. Donations at patronicity.com/amphitheater will be matched by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority up to a total of $50,000.
And on August 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT, Meadowbrook will host the nature-in-art program “Weaving Through Waterways,” where you can learn to weave things like coasters, turtles and wall decorations, but also take guided walks in the preserve where artists from the Duneland Plein Air Painters will demonstrate their skills. The Mixtura Food Truck will be selling food. Make reservations at heinzetrust.org/events.
Meadowbrook is located at 109 W. County Road 700 North, southwest of US 6 and Indiana 49.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or [email protected].
