Wing Haven Nature Preserve is protected forever.
180 W. 400 N., Angola, IN 46703
255 acres
2 miles of hiking trails
Indiana State-Dedicated Nature Preserve: this preserve is owned and protected by ACRES Land Trust, but also given additional protections under the Indiana Nature Preserves Act (1967). (ACRES was instrumental in creating the Nature Preserves Act that protects hundreds of places statewide.)
Located near Angola, Wing Haven has a rich diversity of plants, birds, mammals and aquatic species in three major ecosystems: glacially carved kettle-hole lakes bordered by a wetland fen system, upland forests and rolling grasslands/meadows.
This chain of glacially-carved kettle-hole lakes, known as the Seven Sisters, includes Gentian Lake and Little Gentian Lake, named by Helen Swenson for the purple gentians that bloom on the lakes’ edges.
The preserve hosts one of the largest concentrations of marl flats and fens in a small area in northern Indiana. They support natural communities uniquely adapted to the alkaline conditions.
The Seven Sisters lakes provides habitat for nesting Sandhill Cranes and Marsh Wrens, along with other migratory waterfowl. Wing Haven features a variety of older and successional forest habitat, as well as open meadow habitat for both resident birds and migratory songbirds.
Wing Haven habitat also supports reptile and amphibian species, including a state-endangered and federally-threatened snake: the eastern massasauga rattlesnake is a small, thick-bodied, venomous, but timid, rattlesnake that spends its days hunting rodents and small amphibians in wetlands.
Visit Wing Haven and celebrate its life with us.
Wing Haven trails are open daily, from dawn to dusk.