Conrad Station Savanna
June 8, 2025
Is there a place that you frequently pass, and every time you say “I'm going to stop there sometime and check that out”?
Conrad Station Savanna has been that place for us, for a scary number of years. We've passed the little wooden sign along US 41 in Newton County, Indiana, while headed to or from visiting family further north or having a vacation at the Indiana Dunes in Lake and Porter Counties, at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Though it seems far away from it, Conrad Station Savanna is really part of the whole Dunes complex. We have stopped at nearby Kankakee Sands Nature Preserve a number of times over the years to walk a trail or just view the bison herd.
But we kept passing up that little brown sign saying “Conrad Station”, where County Road 725 N, on the east side of US 41, disappears into a wooded area.
This time, after visiting my father in south Lake County, and being that the weather was nice, we had an actual plan to visit Conrad Station Savanna, a 380-acre preserve owned and managed by the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, who purchased the parcels of land in 1996 and 1998 and began restoring it. Black oak savanna is one of my favorite ecosystems to be within, possibly due to fond memories of being in and near them where I grew up.
[Note: Conrad Station Savanna should not be confused with Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve, which is owned and managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and is nearby, but on the west side of U.S. 41. In that place, you can use fire lanes for hiking, and you should be aware that deer hunting is allowed in season.]
Why is this post's location called Conrad Station Savanna? It's because there was a train station called Conrad, and a town called Conrad Station that was platted in 1908 by Jennie M. Conrad. The town existed for about thirty years before Jennie Conrad passed. You can find out more about this town and Jennie Conrad via an information sign along the trail, which is located near various remnants of the town on the west side of the preserve.
And the trail? It's a 1.5 mile, easy loop trail that goes through black oak savanna, a small ephemeral wetland, a tallgrass prairie restoration, and the afore-mentioned town remnants. A small part of the trail, on the southeast end, skirts a “75-acre prairie restoration completed in 1997” (from the brochure - see link at end of post). But most of the trail involves the black oak savanna on rolling sand hills.
After turning east on CR 725 N, you will drive just a little ways until this road meets with CR 250 W (which then goes south.) At this juncture is the small parking lot and the beginning of the trail, along with a view of the flat, restored prairie.
On this day, Esme, of the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, was there with a tent and lots of information, ready to answer questions about the preserve.
You see that you can start out the loop trail in either direction from this point. We chose to go counter-clockwise (which is just like us.)
From here we'll walk together along the trail, through the various ecosystems, taking in the views, noticing the changes. After that I have a section about the various plants (and associated critters) we found along the way, for those who wish to delve deeper.
My camera battery, unfortunately, ran out just before we got to the Conrad Station town remnants, and we had no photo-usable phone with us, so there are no photos at and after that point. I will mention some things we found. Otherwise, we will have to wait until we return to Conrad Station Savanna to explore again, and I'll make sure I can take photos during the whole walk.
Starting the trail on the southeast, the savanna is to Richard's left, and the restored prairie to the right. We did not explore the prairie that day, but visitors are welcome to do so, though it has no path.
Where prairie meets savanna
Getting into the black oak savanna, with bright yellow flecks of Hairy Puccoon blooms.
A mysterious bundle of twigs in the trail that looks quite purposeful. I wonder what the story is here?
A very oak-y canopy.
A denser savanna floor with more Bracken ferns and some oak seedlings. Other types of woodlands tend to have more a shrub understory, but a savanna is more open.
Though there's hardly anything left of this fallen tree to identify it as such, we can still see its shape on the floor, like a ghost or a silhouette. The tree continues to support life in the forest in a different way, including enriching the soil. You can see some holes that may be tunnels made by small mammals.
The section of trail that opens to the ephemeral wetland.
Quite a contrast between more mature trees and many skinny saplings, some in interesting shapes.
This is the point where my camera battery died. I will say that we found the remnants of Conrad Station town, as well as Woodland Sunflowers, Ebony Spleenwort (fern) and more. A critter we encountered, or that encountered us, in good numbers, was some kind of tick. We did not take tick precautions, and we strongly recommend that you do! Fortunately, we suffered no ill effects.
Now on to some detailed photos of plants and critters.
If there are any I have not identified, I will come back to edit and add that information if I do verify it.
Though not blooming here, I'm guessing this is Rattlesnake Master, Eryngium yuccaflolium. The species name comes from its resemblance to Yucca. This is at the edge of the prairie.
Wild Blue Lupine, Lupinus perennis. This plant is a legume, and also important to various pollinators, including the rare Karner Blue butterfly. Unfortunately, that butterfly species has not been spotted in the Indiana Dunes area for some years. L. perennis is a native species, not to be confused with L. polyphyllus, Bigleaf Lupine. The latter is non-native, introduced through landscaping, and has out-competed L. perennis in some areas. If you want to plant Lupine, make sure you are adding L. perennis to your landscape (one example of the importance of scientific names.) Sometimes the name Wild Blue Lupine has been attached to L. polyphyllus, making things more confusing. Plant experts have been calling the native species (L. perennis) Sundial Lupine, to make a distinction.
The bright yellow blossoms of Hoary Puccoon, Lithospermum canescens, are seen in an earlier photo. It is very similar to Hairy Puccoon (L. caroliniense). One way to distinguish between the two is by the leaf tips – Hoary has blunt tips, Hairy leaf tips are pointed. Of course, another way to tell is that the Hairy Puccoon is … hairy, compared to Hoary Puccoon. These are in the Borage, or Forget-me-not, family
Carolina Rose, or Pasture Rose, Rosa carolina, is a native rose. It is always a pleasure to come across native wild roses instead of the ubiquitous, invasive mulitflora rose.
It took a while to identify the pretty little beetles here. They are Acmaeodera tubulus, from the family Buprestidae, the “jewel beetles.” I haven't seen a common name for this species, though it's described as a “metallic wood-boring beetle.” I did find out that the adults feed on a wide variety of flowers, and that the larvae are wood borers on twigs and small branches of various hardwood trees. I found out these things from a blog I was happy to find, called “Beetles in the Bush: experiences and reflections of a Missouri entomologist”, Ted C. MacRae, who has an “inordinate fondness for beetles.”
Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis). Notice the crooked stem and very slender leaves.
We came across two species of Figwort! This one is Lanceleaf/Early Figwort – Scrophularia lanceolata. Sorry the close-up of the flowers is blurry, but it shows just enough to see the differences from the other species (I know it's hard to tell here, but the stamens inside these flowers are yellow.) The shapes of the leaves are an easy way to tell the difference. Lanceleaf, obviously, has narrower leaves than the other species, and they are also toothier.
It was not in bloom at the time, but the look of Lead Plant (Amorpha canescens) is very distinctive, with its many small, silver-gray leaves. This one had already bloomed (this plant has long spikes of lavender/purple flowers), and you can see the seeds on the flower spikes. This is a prairie plant and is a beautiful, interesting addition to a garden landscape, also. It is a legume, so it fixes nitrogen in the soil.
This Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) is in the Morning Glory family, so it often opens in the morning and closes in the afternoon – but this one was staying open longer. Some are pure white, but others are pink or lavender. I think the color on this one is especially nice. And there's that same kind of beetle that we saw on the Pasture Rose earlier.
Bracken Ferns (Pteridium aquilinum) sometimes grow thickly on the woods floor.
n the center of the photos are leaves of a native grape vine – I'm not sure of the species. Wild grapes are valuable to wildlife in many ways, and there are a number of native species.
In the center of the photos are leaves of a native grape vine – I'm not sure of the species. Wild grapes are valuable to wildlife in many ways, and there are a number of native species.
Various Rubus species (bramble berries.)
Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex.)
This is deceptive at first. In the first photo, it looks like this plant has yellow-orange blossoms, but I knew the types of flowers and leaves did not match up. Moving the main plant aside (second photo), I could see what the leaves truly look like that belong to the flowers.
I was having trouble with the ID on this, as so many plants resemble it. My friend Mike helped me with it: Krigia biflora. This goes by a number of common names (possibly more than I list here): Two-Flowered Dwarf Dandelion, Two-Flowered Cynthia, False Dandelion. There are other wildflowers called “False Dandelion” - one of those many instances that show why it's important to not rely on common names.
Mushrooms growing near the downed, rotted tree that was pictured earlier.
Starry False Solomon's Seal, or Starry Solomon's Plume – Maianthemum stellatum.
Not in bloom at the time, Fragrant Bedstraw (Galium triflorum) makes an elegant spray against an old trunk.
The Common Milkweeds (Asclepias syriaca) were not yet in bloom, but sometimes there was the remains of a seed pod from the previous year.
I do not know grasses well enough, but I'd say this grass plant is magnificent. There are brown seed stalks from the previous year.
Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is a colorful, splendid wildflower that is seen along trails here and in the rest of the Indiana Dunes area.
White or Wild Yarrow (Achillia millefolium). This may appear to be in the Apiaceae family, which includes Queen Anne's Lace, parsley, and many more, but it's in the Asteraceae, a huge family that includes sunflowers, asters, daisies, lettuces, dandelion, etc. This family has compound flowers. If you look closely, those groups are made up of many compound flowers. And if you look very closely at one of the compound flowers, you'll see that it has petals around the outside, but many individual, true flowers in the center that are not showy. Think of it as a miniature sunflower. There is argument as to whether this plant is native to North America, or if it was introduced from Europe many years ago and then naturalized. It has a number of medicinal uses.
We came upon these bright yellow-orange flowers and at first I thought they'd be the same as those we saw earlier, later identified at Two-Flowered Dwarf Dandelion. But a closer look showed that, though similar, there were distinct differences, such as the hairiness of the leaves. The flowers were almost completely closed up, and one was in full seed. My guess is Rough Cat's-ear, Hypochaeris radicata. The description of the leaves and seed head match. I wish I would have pried open one of the flower heads for a closer look. Rough Cat's-ear is non-native, introduced from Eurasia.
Another one that has me stumped, though I'm sure it's in the family Apiaceae. The flower heads look so much like Wild Dill, also called Eastern Yampah and Thicket Parsley – Perideridia americana. But, the leaves? Not at all! Wild Dill was named that for its resemblance to garden dill, with the fine, frilly leaves. But the leaves of this plant are closer to something like a wild Anise. If anyone can enlighten me, please do!
Now to focus on some trees and shrubs:
A native Dogwood, it is either Rough-leaved (Cornus drummondii) or Gray (C. cirecemosa.)
Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) is easy to identify by the “winged” sections of the leaf stem, between the leaflets. It is also called Shining, Dwarf, or Flameleaf Sumac.
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina).
A ladybird beetle on a cherry leaf. The other photo shows a kind of gall called a “finger gall”, caused by the Black Cherry Finger Gall Mite (Eriophyes cerasicrumena). This does not harm the leaf or tree. The mite itself is almost impossible to see. To learn more about it, its life cycle, and the creation of this leaf gall, see: http://minnesotaseasons.com/Arachnids/black_cherry_finger_gall_mite.html
I was curious about the peeling bark of these oak trees. Could they be Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor)?
An old, dried Oak Apple Gall, created by the Oak Apple Gall Wasp, Amphibolips confluent. For more information, see: https://sycamorelandtrust.org/2015/08/oak-apple/
These Black Oak leaves (Quercus velutina) have been feeding insects.
Beautiful leaves of White Oak (Quercus alba.)
An Oak-y canopy, with some Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), another tree commonly seen here, poking in from the right side.
And, there it is, except for the last part of the trail. We will certainly return sometime, and I urge others to stop and check out Conrad Station Savanna.
Just make sure you take precautions for ticks, during the season.
Brochure/Trail map for Conrad Station Savanna:
nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/conrad-station-brochure-map.pdf
More information on Conrad Station Savanna:
nature.org/en-us/get-involved/hot-to-help/places-we-protect/conrad-station-savanna
Information on Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve (IDNR):
in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/files/np-ConradSavanna.pdf
Information about black oak savannas:
nps.gov/indu/learn/nature/black-oak-savannas.htm
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