Fox Island County Park, 7324 Yohne Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46809, Phone: 260 449-3180, Fax: 260 449-3181. Fox Island Park on Facebook. Fox Island Alliance has a FOX ISLAND ALLIANCE HISTORY Timeline. A nature preserve started around 1975 in the Allen County Parks Department. The 600-acre park contains the largest contiguous forest in the county and a 40-foot-high glacial sand dune which could give visitors some idea what the area looked like when explorers and pioneer settlers came to this area. Sol Fest is held every May since the 25th anniversary in 2000 in celebration of nature education at Fox Island with a mix of music and get outdoor oriented activities. See Rediscover outdoors at Sol Fest Annual event at Fox Island benefits county park efforts by Keiara Carr published May 2, 2014 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
Time for a Plat of the Week! We have always featured a plat by our office in the past. However, our friend Ron Zartman,...
Time for a Plat of the Week! We have always featured a plat by our office in the past. However, our friend Ron Zartman, Park and Education Manager at Fox Island County Park, inquired about Branstrator's Reserve after our barbed wire post last week and it's proximity to Fox Island. This is from Deed Book 89 page 1 as recorded on August 1, 1882 in the Office of the Allen County Recorder. Thanks for asking Ron!
THROWBACK THURSDAY! The Plat of the Week shared for our friend Ron Zartman, Park and Education Manager at Fox Island County Park reminded me of a true bedtime story my father shared with me in close proximity to Fox Island. Do you remember???? Fort Wayne made national news in 1965 when dairy farmer V.O. Harrold corraled 30 Brown Swiss Cattle within the right of way of the newly constucted Interstate 69 to dramatize the injustice he felt in the States offer of the condemned farmland taken. Mr. Harrold was arrested after this stunt for malicious trespass. Carl A. Hofer testified in the trial in regard to damages caused to the farm. Mr. Harrold was awarded $18,500 dollars by a jury of 6 men and 6 women in Superior Court. I rarely drive by the farm without imagining 30 cows fenced in on I-69!!!
23 bird species counted today at Fox Island's Great Backyard Bird Count! Just watch birds for 15 minutes anywhere, log onto birdcount.org and submit your own bird list! The count is from now through Monday, February 15th!
The Great Backyard Birdcount Fri 12 Feb 2016has Fox Island County Park and Nature Preserve current Sightings
One thing we try to stress to our visitors is that if you don't know what a plant or flower is that you see in the park...
One thing we try to stress to our visitors is that if you don't know what a plant or flower is that you see in the park - DON'T TOUCH! There are many plants at Fox Island that are beautiful to look at and an important part of our natural habitat but contain toxins and chemicals that are not human friendly. One such plant is WILD PARSNIP (Pastinaca sativa). Reports indicate that this summer there is an abundance of this plant in roadsides, prairies and waste places in many midwestern states. If the juices of this plant come in contact with your skin and then exposed to sunlight will cause a rash, blisters and skin discoloration lasting several weeks. Visitors should be aware of the existance of the plant, in the park, and please do not pick the flowers of the plant or handle the parts of the plant that you might see off trail. For more information on the plants of Fox Island see any park naturalist on your next visit to the park.
It should be noted that this plant is a host plant of the beautiful Black Swallowtail butterfly.
Photo: 7-1-2016, FI Oak Tree Field, JMO
Along with the Autumn Equinox comes the annual march of some types of insects that find our living spaces desirable as...
Along with the Autumn Equinox comes the annual march of some types of insects that find our living spaces desirable as places to spend the winter. Right now the most persistant of these insects is the Brown Mormorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys). BMSB is native to China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea and was first introduced to the United states sometime in the mid to late 1990's. These fruit and vegatable loving true bugs are generally only a pest in our homes and usually not harmful to humans although their smell can cause alergic reaction in some people.The white bands on the BMSB's antennnae as well as the dark bands around the margin if the bug's shield shaped body are distinctive of this non-native insect.
For more info check out the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Entomology ento.psu.edu or search "marmorated stink bug"
Lightening ripped this mature cottonwood along Lake Road about 4:00am Tuesday morning. The strike, which littered the ground under the tree with shredded parts of the tree, was "deafening" according to park manager Ron Zartman who lives nearby.
Drone photos thanks to Homeland Security. Sadly, this shows some of the worst of the damage caused by the Derecho on June 13. It shows the majority of trees laying down north of the lake parking lot. This extends all the way to the Marsh overlook in this area of the park. The front of the park was bent and broken as well.
It is impossible to explain how much damage is on the trail. That doesn't begin to explain the damage that has been multiplied off of the trail, so a few pictures may be worth a thousand words.
We continue to receive donations which we will use to order trees to be planted in the spring. The order will go out in October. We will find ourselves planting trees for a few spring seasons I believe.
ICYMI: Fox Island Park continues to recover from the June 13 derecho that toppled more than 1,200 trees and caused incalculable damage.
Natalie Haley, park manager, verbalizes the loss: "It's hard to explain the feelings that you go through when you’re in an area that you know what it should look like because here, it still looks kind of similar," she said of the view behind the Nature Center. "But when you go out on the dune … and you know what that looks like, and you turn around and you can’t see anything familiar in any direction, it just throws you."
Read more about the cleanup and restoration efforts here:
American plum. Native tree, small in stature. Alternate leaf arrangement. Flowers smell fragrant. Not to be confused with non-native Callery pear trees that do not belong here and invade our natural areas, and smell of fish. Protrusions on the American plum are not real thorns, but are sharp and may feel like thorns.
Planting red and white oak acorns, with the aid of several volunteers, on these old logging paths at Fox Island. This is an effort to restore them back into forest!
*FUN FACT FRIDAY* For those of you who knew that marcescence was taking place in trees that have not shed their leaves,...
For those of you who knew that marcescence was taking place in trees that have not shed their leaves, CONGRATULATIONS!
Marcescence is the retention of dead plant organs that are normally shed.
Some species exhibit marcescence, or the retention of their leaves, to some degree through the winter months. That’s what you may see when you walk through the forest in the winter. Marcescence is most common in the beech, followed by many species of oak and hornbeam.
There are some common theories for why marcescence occurs. One theory suggests trees may keep their leaves to deter deer and other browsing animals from eating the nutrient-rich twigs.
Another theory suggests that if the tree holds its leaves until spring, and then releases them to the ground below, they may act as quick-start nutrients as the growing season begins, and this is most important for the smaller trees under much of the canopy from larger trees.
One benefit of trees like the beech, which keep most of their leaf canopy during the winter, is for birds who can seek shelter from the cold winter temperatures and winds among those clumps of leaves.
And now you know why some trees don’t go “naked” in the winter. Enjoy your time outdoors! Nature is truly amazing!
They stand 2-3 feet tall and have a tail that is 16-20 inches long.
Their diet consists of small mammals such as rabbits and rodents, as well as fish, frogs, insects, snakes, deer, and even eat fruit and grass. They are not picky eaters. This helps them to thrive in many environments.
Instead of forming packs, coyotes live in family groups. Sometimes they will hunt alone and interestingly, they have been known to hunt cooperatively with other species such as badgers!
Their hair is a grizzled gray color and their bushy tail has a black tip. A great way to be sure you are seeing a coyote is to look at the position of its tail. Typically, dogs run with their tails up, while coyotes run with their tails down. More often, coyotes are heard rather than seen as they tend to vocalize at dusk, dawn, or during the night.
*Pictures taken at Fox Island County Park
Please give yourself time to scroll through the pictures provided in this article. Prepare yourself for when you come into the park later this year (we hope!).
Please give yourself time to scroll through the pictures provided in this article. Prepare yourself for when you come into the park later this year (we hope!).
Immeasurable devastation at a southwest Allen County park planted an idea at Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Soon after the June 2022 derecho, colleagues Scott Bergeson and Jordan Marshall began discussing the possibility of creating a class focused on the destruction and recovery at Fox Island County Park.
The idea sprouted this semester in the form of a graduate-level course on disturbance ecology that also includes undergraduate students. Along with lectures and field trips to nature preserves throughout northeast Indiana, the class features a term project asking students to create a management plan for Fox Island, said Bergeson, an assistant professor of biology.
Natalie Haley, park manager, told the students last month that she’s envious of everything they get to learn. The class will study about 40 acres within the 270 acres dedicated as a state nature preserve. Students will learn techniques for conducting research on small mammals, plants, amphibians and arthropods, such as insects and spiders.
*WALKABOUT WEDNESDAY* I sure love spring! The wildflowers feel so hopeful. I hope you all can get outside in the lovely weather, even if it's not yet here at the park. Have hope! It will be soon!
I sure love spring! The wildflowers feel so hopeful. I hope you all can get outside in the lovely weather, even if it's not yet here at the park. Have hope! It will be soon!
#1 non-native invasive lesser celandine
#2 emerging may apples
#3 violets
#4 spring beauty
#5 bloodroot
#6
dutchman breeches
*WALKABOUT WEDNESDAY* I hope you’re enjoying the blooms wherever you are.
On Wednesday night, Allen County Council approved more than $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to be granted to Allen County Parks, and majority of that will be used to make the trails at Fox Island more accessible for all.
Allen County Council approved more than $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds Wednesday night that are to be granted to Allen County Parks, and a majority of that will be used to make the trails at Fox Island more accessible.
The park has been closed since June of 2021 due to extensive storm damage, but whenever they do fully reopen, county officials want more people to be able to get out and enjoy the trails.
Now that Allen County Council has approved the funds, officials say engineering for the project is set to begin soon with construction scheduled to begin at the end of 2024 and hopefully be finished by mid-2025.
Officials said the money will go toward creating a paved trail, connecting the nature center to the upper trails and making the park more accessible for all.
The project is set to cost around $1.2 million of the $2 million allocated.
**ANNOUNCEMENT***ANNOUNCEMENT***ANNOUNCEMENT***ANNOUNCEMENT** BARRING ANOTHER DEVASTATING STORM, FOX ISLAND COUNTY PARK IS SCHEDULED TO OPEN ON MONDAY, JUNE 17TH AT 9 A.M. LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THEN!
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - we are happy to announce that after two years, Fox Island County Park will be opening again on Monday, June 17!
We are excited to have everyone back again, but we would also like to remind everyone of a few things:
1. We will be open from 9am-9pm (gates will be locked at 9pm)
2. Entry fee is $3/person for ages 7 and over - cash or check only
3. Passes will be sold at the nature center only till July 8, then they’ll be available at the gatehouse
4. The trails on the north end of the park will be closed for public safety as continuing renovations are still going on
5. Guided hikes will be offered to the public to take guests back to the closed areas
6. If we reach capacity for vehicles, we will close the gates until spaces become available
7. We will not be taking reservations for rentals until August
8. Please be patient and respectful of our staff and the park
Welcome back and we hope you enjoy your time at all of our parks!
Parks employees plan to partially reopen Fox Island on Monday, more than two years after the park first closed after a hurricane-like storm called a derecho hit southwest Allen County.
Parks employees plan to partially reopen Fox Island on Monday, more than two years after the park first closed after a hurricane-like storm called a derecho hit southwest Allen County.
On Friday, Fox Island County Park officials provided 21Alive with a first look at the park, sharing what the public can expect when it officially opens on Monday.
Fox Island Park will reopen to the public on Monday for the first time since a derecho devastated it two years ago. To learn more details about the reopening, check out the full story by WBOI's Tony Sandleben.
Fox Island Park will reopen to the public on Monday for the first time since a derecho devastated it two years ago. To learn more details about the reopening, check out the full story by WBOI's Tony Sandleben.
Baxter said the community loses roughly 3,000 trees a month due to various construction projects. He said that’s how many trees fell in the 15 minutes the derecho struck the 605-acre park.
Most of the trees that fell were hundreds of years old. Volunteers and staff planted 7,000 trees to replace those that fell, but Baxter said the park will likely not look the same again in our lifetimes.
Fox Island County Park reopened this morning after being closed for two years due to catastrophic damage caused by a...
Fox Island County Park reopened this morning after being closed for two years due to catastrophic damage caused by a derecho on June 13, 2022. I was among the first to enter this morning as I was there to cover the opening press conference and capture visitors exploring the park. Some areas of the park remain closed due to safety concerns and ongoing cleanup efforts and are clearly marked as such.
After two years of cleanup and preparation, the Allen County Park Board president said today that she couldn't imagine a more beautiful day to partially reopen Fox Island County Park.
After two years of cleanup and preparation, the Allen County Park Board president said today that she couldn't imagine a more beautiful day to partially reopen Fox Island County Park.
Fox Island County Park reopened this morning after being closed for two years due to catastrophic damage caused by a derecho on June 13, 2022. I was among the first to enter this morning as I was there to cover the opening press conference and capture visitors exploring the park. Some areas of the park remain closed due to safety concerns and ongoing cleanup efforts and are clearly marked as such. [ See photo of the red sign! ]
The Allen County Commissioners were pleased to reopen Fox Island County Park yesterday morning. BIG THANKS to Parks...
The Allen County Commissioners were pleased to reopen Fox Island County Park yesterday morning.
BIG THANKS to Parks Superintendent, Jeff Baxter, Allen County Park Staff, and volunteers who worked diligently over the past two years to get the facilities and grounds ready to host visitors again.
Mitch Sheppard, Park Board President, and Board Members Matthew Booker and Matt Henry were in attendance for the reopening event.
Two years ago, a derecho storm cut straight through the park destroying over 3,000 old-growth trees. More than 4,000 manhours were spent just managing the restoration and working with DNR to obtain permission to remove downed trees that blocked roads and trails, which normally be prohibited in a nature preserve.
Only 3 of the 7 miles of trails are reopened. For your safety, please obey signs and maps showing the sections that are currently available to the public. For more information:
Fox Island County Park hosted a drumming program Saturday morning that featured Fort Wayne Taiko, a drumming group from the Fort Wayne Dance Collective. The group offered an interpretation of the derecho of 2022 using Taiko drums and attendees had the opportunity to participate in the performance through a community drum circle led by Eva Webb, the environmental educator at Fox Island. Despite the heat, 65 people turned out for the event. The people, the music, the location, and the breeze combined made for a wonderful experience. And, of course, I captured some of it.
Fox Island County Park Reopens After 2 Years: More than two years after a violent storm lashed Fox Island County Park,...
Fox Island County Park Reopens After 2 Years: More than two years after a violent storm lashed Fox Island County Park, felling thousands of trees and blocking most of its hiking trails, the park is finally ready to greet visitors again. . .
I was looking through my archives earlier and came across these monarch butterfly photos taken at Fox Island County Park a few years ago. Thought I'd share them again.
I was looking through my archives earlier and came across these monarch butterfly photos taken at Fox Island County Park a few years ago. Thought I'd share them again.
Fox Island Alliance Board of Directors President, Tim Ormiston, was interviewed for the “Perspective” section of the...
Fox Island Alliance Board of Directors President, Tim Ormiston, was interviewed for the “Perspective” section of the Monday, July 22, 2024 Journal Gazette. Tim was asked 5 questions pertaining to Fox Island, the Alliance and the Indiana Master Naturalist program.
Natural swimming hole at Fox Island Park! 🏝️ Often known as Fox Island Pond or Bowman Lake, the beautiful swimming...
Often known as Fox Island Pond or Bowman Lake, the beautiful swimming hole in Fort Wayne's Fox Island Park is truly stunning. With nearby trails and picnic areas, you can easily spend an entire day enjoying this spot.
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Log this one in the books! 🌲💪 Civil engineer Airmen from the 122nd Fighter Wing are at Fox Island in Fort Wayne,...
Civil engineer Airmen from the 122nd Fighter Wing are at Fox Island in Fort Wayne, removing storm-downed logs as part of a crucial training exercise. They're practicing clearing debris to ensure emergency vehicles can get through when it matters most. And they’re also cleaning the park! Win win.
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TSgt David Sherman & A1C Halley Clark
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So grateful for 122nd Civil Engineer Squadron of our National Guard! They did a tremendous amount of work for us last week!
Fort Wayne, Indiana
TSgt David Sherman & A1C Halley Clark