Dunes Heritage Hike

if you can't find parking at the main lot, there is a huge overflow parking area across Mineral Springs rd.
meet near the washrooms at Chellberg Farm at 11 CT, 12 ET
this hike will be held jointly with
Michiana Friends https://4142298.xyz/meetup-group-yjezdrty/
Wabash Valley Hiking & Social Group https://4142298.xyz/wabash-valley-hiking-social-meetup-group/
dear hiking friends--
today's hike features a cross section of the history of the region during the 19th and early 20th centuries. we have taken this hike every year since 2002, except for 2020.
please check the weather before departure and have appropriate clothing and equipment https://weather.com/weather/today/l/46301:4:US . bring along a lunch which we will eat on the trail, plus enough water (one quart minimum).
remember, this is a fee area--you must DISPLAY A PERMIT to park here--so before you come to the lot, make sure you study the rather Byzantine and non-user-friendly fee structure at the National Park website
https://www.nps.gov/indu/planyourvisit/fees.htm
i'm not sure how much they enforce this off season, or what the fines are, but be informed and beware.
i will pass a hat for a small donation to cover expenses: mostly, this is the cost of using the meetup website, but sometimes I need some dinero to pay for occasional gifts to neighbors who let us use their parking, prizes for contests. as long as i can cover this with people putting $2-3 in a can, i prefer not doing anything more binding or complicated.
this is a complex route, with lots of unexpected twists and turns--if you get ahead of Erin or Jonathan, make sure to stop whenever you come to a junction with another trail or road, or in any place where the trail is ambiguous or confusing. also, make sure you know where your car is parked.
i also encourage you all to take and post pictures to the site. if you don't know how to post to the site, text pictures to me, and i will post them.
i decided to tweak our route so that we hit more of the points of historic interest first, and move the long walk across the prairie, over the river, and through the woods to later in the hike.
we will gather near the restrooms off the parking lot, and wait till 11:20 CT for all to arrive. then we will turn right at the valley's edge and walk a short distance till we come to the Chellberg Farm.
this is a preserved farmstead which was owned by Swedish immigrants to the region, and run in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. there are animals in the farmyard and the barn.
after that, we will ascend some bridges and stairs up a streambed and across a road to the Bailly Family Cemetery. it is quite elaborate for a pioneer graveyard, with a stonework mound and a tall wooden cross, and carved gravestones with passages from the Bible and the Apocrypha.
we will tarry there awhile, then cross Oak Hill rd, and begin the west leg of the Bailly-Chellberg trail. after a short distance, we will come to a junction where you can make a choice.
if you go left, within a half a mile, we will come to the Bailly Homestead, with preserved buildings covering about a century of construction from the family of fur trapper-trader Joseph Bailly and his descendants. we will look around for a while, then arrive back at the parking lot in 0.3 miles, for a total day's hike of 1.8 miles. i will lead this shorter version of the hike.
if you go right, we will walk about 3/4 of a mile through the woods, then over a boardwalk, and cross the Little Calumet river on a bridge, then ascend a hill, and cross the Mnoke' Prairie, then back over the Little Cal, and arrive at the Bailly Homestead, and back to the parking lot for a total day's hike of 4.0 miles. Erin will lead this longer version of the hike.
hope to see you there,
Rick
directions:
from US 12, turn south on Mineral Springs rd; enter the parking lot marked "Chellberg Farm"; if the parking lot is full, there is ample overflow parking across the road; try to arrive by 11:00; we will wait till 11:20, then depart on foot.
from US 20, turn north on Mineral Springs rd; enter the parking lot marked "Chellberg Farm"; if the parking lot is full, there is ample overflow parking across the road; try to arrive by 11:00; we will wait till 11:20, then depart on foot.
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to view photos of previous hikes by this group at this location, see below.
our group has actually been doing this hike since November 24, 2002, but photography was in its infancy then, so i don't have albums for those years. : )
2009 https://4142298.xyz/ricks-hiking-fun-group/photos/765778/
2010 https://4142298.xyz/ricks-hiking-fun-group/photos/1167250/
2011 https://4142298.xyz/ricks-hiking-fun-group/photos/4540442/
2012 https://4142298.xyz/ricks-hiking-fun-group/photos/11801082/
2023 https://4142298.xyz/ricks-hiking-fun-group/photos/33702266/