THE SCENE
Alternating sand ridges and depressions foster close-knit savanna, prairie, and wetland

Highlights
Prairie grasses, gentians, and orchids; a great variety of butterflies; fall birding

Stats
131 acres, 270 native plants, short interpretive trail

Behind the scenes
Ongoing project is restoring endangered Karner blue butterflies

Getting there
From I-94/80 in Indiana, exit at Cline Avenue (Rd 912) north. Go north 2 miles to U.S. 20 (5th Ave). Head east/right about 1 mile to Hamlin St. Turn north/left and go 1 block to 4th Ave. Turn left and park on either side of the road. Sign marks entrance.

Fall 2004

A diverse landscape, home to the highest concentration of endangered plants and animals in Indiana

Lake County, Indiana

Light industry and commercial development dominate this part of northwest Indiana, and the drone of Interstate traffic fills the air. Yet here, in a working-class residential neighborhood on the west side of Gary, lies one of the largest remaining parcels of the globally rare "dune and swale" landscape.

Ivanhoe Dune and Swale, a 131-acre state nature preserve, is owned and managed by the Indiana chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Much of Ivanhoe was originally surveyed for single-family housing, but TNC began acquiring individual lots at tax sales and through donation in the early 1980s. Once common along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, the dune and swale landscape has been reduced to a few remnants, many of them in Lake County, Indiana, where they have miraculously survived the onslaught of heavy industry and urban growth.

Delaware skipper. Photo by Paul Labus.

Throughout most of the preserve, a series of sandy ridges (dunes) alternates with long narrow wetland depressions (swales), all running parallel to the Lake Michigan shoreline. They formed over the past 5,000 years as the waters of this great lake receded in stages, each time leaving a sandy beach behind. The ridges and swales at Ivanhoe are subtle and not always obvious to the casual observer, especially when vegetation is high. Visitors are more likely to see a gently rolling landscape than a clearly defined "corduroy" pattern.

Though human visitors may not notice the dunes and swales, the plants certainly do. "The landscape supports many different natural communities," says Paul Labus, director of TNC's Southern Lake Michigan Rim Project, listing sand prairie, black oak savanna, sedge meadow, wet prairie, and buttonbush swamp. With so many ecosystems beside each other, visitors can find plants and animals not normally seen in such close proximity. Botanists have identified more than 270 species of native plants at Ivanhoe. According to the Indiana Natural Heritage Program, the dune and swale preserves of Lake County sustain the highest concentration of threatened and endangered plant and animal species found anywhere in Indiana.

Fall is a particularly appealing time to visit Ivanhoe. The prairie wildflowers are at their finest in September. Look for rough blazing star, great blue lobelia, sky-blue aster, and showy goldenrod blooming amid the tall prairie grasses. Closer to the ground, visitors may find delicate, purple fringed gentians, as well as white ladies' tresses orchids. The abundance of wildflowers attracts 50 resident butterfly species in impressive numbers. Among them are the Karner blue butterfly, a federally endangered species, and the columbine duskywing, which is known nowhere else in Indiana. Ivanhoe is also a great place to view migratory birds as they seek temporary refuge each autumn after their long journey down the shorelines of Lake Michigan.

Ivanhoe Dune and Swale is open to the public for walking and nature study. Call The Nature Conservancy at (219) 473-4312 for more information or to help restore habitat at the preserve.

— Ron Trigg

See also:

Restoring the Butterfly Tapestry (includes the Karner blue)

Southern Lake Michigan Rim

Guidelines to Visiting Nature Conservancy Preserves