Seemingly a bit late this year, peak color at the Indiana Dunes National Park is almost here. Late October, and hardly any leaves have fallen in the ravines of the Chellberg Farm sugar bush, but they are beginning to change color.
The sugar bush is a term for the area of maple trees planted and maintained for maple sugar manufacturing each spring, and Fall is a great time to visit for exceptional color.
Mainly maple, beech and oak trees, the woods here change to bright green and gold, and in turn, everything is bathed in golden light as you wind through the trails.
Once down in the ravines of the woods, the trees seem taller than usual, dwarfing all who wander beneath them. The golden colors surround the trails, and in a few days, even the ground will be completely gold with fallen leaves.
Walking through the bush at this time of year when the trees are preparing themselves for a long, hard winter, I often think ahead to early spring when the temperatures begin to climb just above freezing. This is the time when the sap in the maple trees begins to flow, and maple sugar time takes place at the Indiana Dunes National Park.
Wishful thinking from someone who loves warm weather.
