Bike rides, paddling, cicadas and accessible nature on tap in the coming weekends
Your future looks bright in the next couple of weekends if you want to go pedaling, paddling, seeking cicadas or finding an accessible path into nature. Here are some options from this week's Outdoor Adventures column.
Moonlight over the Tippy
Have you biked the Panhandle Pathway out of Winamac? An organized ride on the evening of June 7 will offer a rest stop with food and drink in the hamlet of Thornhope, plus a pulled pork sandwich meal upon your return. Ride up to 20 miles round trip as you go out and back on the linear trail through farmland and over the Tippecanoe River (you can turn back at any point).
Everyone will depart at 7 p.m. from the old train depot at Main and Logan streets in Winamac. On-site registration will open at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $25; it’s free if 15 and younger or 80 and older. Visit panhandlepathway.org.
Accessible in Winamac
If you’re headed to Winamac, the nearby Tippecanoe River State Park now offers a new accessible walkway for people with mobility challenges. It gains access to an overlook at the park’s waterfowl area, which has a bench, where you might see or hear turtles, frogs, snakes, songbirds or other wildlife.
Find the overlook parking at the Walnut Picnic Area. The accessible walkway was made possible with support from the park’s friends group, plus labor from area Girl Scout troops. The park is at 4200 N. U.S. 35, Winamac.
More from Outdoor Adventures: Pool floaties down the East Race? Oh yeah, plus other whitewater races this weekend.
Amish ride
Join the Elkhart County Parks for a bike ride of more than 30 miles on the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail departing at 9 a.m. June 8 from Abshire Park, 1302 E. Lincoln Ave. in Goshen, to Shipshewana and back.
This is free with no registration required. Bring your own water, bike, helmet and money for a stop at Amish ice cream shop Mooeys. For questions, call Andy at 574-262-9316.
Cicadapalooza
While the emergence of cicadas — once every 17 years — came and went for most of northern Indiana in 2021, you can slip over to the state’s northwest corner to witness their phenomenon at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve in Valparaiso.
The preserve, at 109 W. County Road 700 North, will host free educational activities from noon to 3 p.m. CDT June 8 because it harbors a significant population of cicadas. Drop in on walks to search for cicadas, help researchers by using the Cicada Safari mobile app, examine the insects up close, do a craft or get a sticker. Reservations are encouraged at heinzetrust.org/event/cicadapalooza.
Paddle LaPorte chain of lakes
Explore Stone Lake in LaPorte and the adjoining waters, like Hennessy Pond and Pine Lake, as you join the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association for a tour on kayaks or canoes June 9. Bring your own boat or borrow one; if you borrow, you’ll pay a $25 deposit, which you can have refunded or give as donation.
Launch will be at 10 a.m. CDT from the Stone Lake beach house. The event is free, but registration is required at www.nwipa.org/events. There, you’ll find several other paddling events that NWIPA will host for the season in northwest Indiana.
Pumpkinvine Bike Ride
This 24th annual organized ride on June 15 will be the first ever on the now fully completed, nearly 18-mile Pumpkinvine Nature Trail from Goshen to Shipshewana. The routes, all with food and rest stops, include 24 and 37 miles (all on the trail) and 50 miles (60% on country roads) and 100 miles (primarily on roads).
Registration and departures will be from 7 to 9:30 a.m. at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds, 17746-D County Road 34, Goshen. Cost is $65, or free for riders younger than 14. Find details at pumpkinvine.org/pumpkinvine-bike-ride-2024.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Bike kayak or do accessible trail in Winamac on Pumpkinvine and LaPorte