Events here to find green outdoors or golden maple syrup

Joseph Dits, South Bend Tribune
·2 min read
The Harbor Country Hikers gather at the Jens Jensen Preserve in Sawyer, Mich., during a 2022 hike.
The Harbor Country Hikers gather at the Jens Jensen Preserve in Sawyer, Mich., during a 2022 hike.
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Do you need to see green here in late winter? Or the golden warmth of maple syrup? Either way, we've got events for all abilities here, as culled from this week's Outdoor Adventures column.

The main column:How this Mann-ly bike race will grind out of Swiss Valley

Evergreen hike

Join the Harbor Country Hikers for a 1.5-mile hike through conifers and evergreens at 1 p.m. March 4 as the group explores Jens Jensen Preserve and the adjacent Pepperidge Dunes Nature Sanctuary in Sawyer, Mich.

Meet at Jens Jensen, 6851 Parkway Drive. Take the Red Arrow Highway just south of the Sawyer Road traffic light and turn right onto Parkway Drive.

Maple sugar at Fernwood

Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles will host a Sarett Nature Center naturalist to lead a workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. March 4 on historical and modern maple sugaring methods and how to set up your own backyard tapping system.

Cost is $15. Register at www.fernwoodbotanical.org.

Dunes 5K

The 23rd annual Runnin’ with the Irish 5K returns from 8:30 to 11 a.m. CST March 11 on the roads in Indiana Dunes State Park to benefit St. Patrick School in Chesterton.

Along with the race, it includes a half-mile kids fun run ($10) and a noncompetitive 5K walk. Cost is $30. Register via runsignup.com.

This means that the park’s roads will be congested before and during the event.

Garden artist

Landscape historian Judith Tankard will give a virtual lecture from 2 to 3 p.m. March 11 on landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, who designed lavish gardens for the elite, including the Rockefellers, and later for colleges that include the University of Chicago.

Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles hosts this lecture, which costs $25. Register at www.fernwoodbotanical.org.

Rent-a-Sap Bucket

Bendix Woods County Park in New Carlisle is taking orders for this annual program where, for a $40 donation, you get one pancake breakfast token for Sugar Camp Days on March 18-19, one pint of Bendix Woods maple syrup, two maple leaf chocolate pops from Veni’s Sweet Shop in Niles, one gate pass and a chance to win a short canoe trip for two.

Donations benefit supplies and educational programs for the park’s maple sugaring.

Order by March 10 by writing a $40 check to St. Joseph County Parks and sending it to Rent-a-Sap Bucket, 32132 Indiana 2, New Carlisle, IN 46552. Call 574-654-3155 for more information.

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Find hiking 5K in Indiana Dunes Fernwood garden lecture or maple syrup