MICHIGAN BOTANICAL SOCIETY
SOUTHWESTERN CHAPTER FIELD TRIP
Liverpool Prairie Preserve & McCloskey’s Burr Oak Savanna Natural Area
Nathanael Pilla
Midwest Biological Survey LLC
SUNDAY July 12, 2026, 10am Eastern
On this trip, we will visit two sites in northwest Indiana managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Liverpool Nature Preserve and McCloskey’s Burr Oak Savanna Natural Area.
The western portion of the 18-acre Liverpool Preserve is a sand savanna that grades into prairie to the east. The eastern portion of the property is a moist sedge meadow/cattail marsh. Past sand mining operations exposed the moist, acidic sand which has been re-vegetated by numerous of rare plants including sundews (Drosera spp.), bluecurles (Trichostema dichotumum), bladderworts (Utricularia spp.), black-fruited spike-rush (Eliocharis melanocarpa), and carpets of club mosses (Selaginella spp).
Burr Oak Savannas once covered thousands of acres in northwestern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. Due to fire suppression over many decades, the open savanna and the prairie plants in the understory have been lost at nearly all sites. Burr Oak Savanna is now one of the rarest communities in Indiana and is extirpated from Michigan. The 55-acre McCloskey’s Burr Oak Savanna Natural Area, while somewhat degraded, has many pockets of burr oak savanna and tallgrass prairie vegetation.
Bring your lunch. We will start at Liverpool Preserve and around noon we will head to McCloskley’s Preserve to eat lunch and then explore the Burr Oak Savanna.
Level ground makes this a very easy walk. Mosquito repellent and/or netting, sunscreen, water as well as suitable clothing are suggested.
Nathanael Pilla is Botanist/Owner of Midwest Biological Survey LLC. He is co-author (with Scott Namestnik) of the Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park and a frequent contributor to the Great Lakes Botanist.
Carpool: If you are interested in carpooling from Kalamazoo, meet at the Oakland/Vincent Ave Park’n Ride lot at 8:00 am Eastern on Sunday 12jul2026. The coordinates: 42.239108673721454, -85.6156874853463.
Directions: Liverpool Preserve. The approximate address is 3351 Arizona St, Lake Station IN 46405. The coordinates are: 41.79400897846449, -85.50706030909025. Directions from Kalamazoo: Take I-94 west, to Hobart IN and then I-65 south. Exit the Interstate at W 37th Ave (Ridge Rd). Head east on W 37th Ave (Ridge Rd) and in 0.9 miles, turn left (north) on to Liverpool Rd. In 0.5 miles turn right on to Englehart St. In 0.1 miles turn left onto Arizona St. Park on the right (east) side of Arizona St.
McCloskey’s Preserve. The approximate address is 3950 W 49th Ave, Hobart IN 46342. The coordinates are 41.52939558836009, -87.30669903296784. Directions from Liverpool Prairie: Head south on Arizona St and turn right (west) on to Englehart St and then left (south) on to Liverpool Rd. In 2 miles, turn right (west) on to W 49th Ave. In 0.5 miles, we will park in the abandoned Elk Lodge parking lot on the right (north).