One of the most spectacular displays of Fall color in the Indiana Dunes National Park is the sugar bush at the Chellberg Farm. Consisting mostly of maple and beech trees, this ravine is ablaze in golden Fall color every autumn. The elevation changes between the creek and top level immerse you in color and texture, allowing you to take in the trees from almost every angle.
Down inside the ravine, the canopy overhead appears to be on fire during sunny days, especially when contrasted against the shaded creek bed. Looking down into the ravine allows you to see the colorful tops of these trees, something normally reserved for the birds of the park, because even though there are plenty of high vantage points, most other areas of the park are covered in oak trees that are not quite as striking in autumn.
Certainly one of my favorite places to visit in Fall, this ravine is also home to the annual maple sugar time, a celebration of the maple syrup roots of this area. Each March, the park offers quick tour of the maple sugar process, from the Native American methods to the modern methods of the Chellberg's utilizing a wood-fired boiler in the sugar shack.
No dunes, no sand, no lake, but this part of the Indiana Dunes National Park has some of the most striking color anywhere in Northwest Indiana.
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