Dendrology Tour: Bloomington, IN

Trees, trees, trees!

Most of Indiana has a temperate climate and goes through all four seasons, and Bloomington is no exception. There is some range in soil types throughout the city, but most forests that grow here are temperate deciduous. This is due to the mild winters, lush springs with moderate precipitation, dry, humid summers, and warm but short fall seasons that Bloomington experiences each year. While there are several native species, many species have been introduced here, whether for ornamental purposes, as shade and street trees, accidentally, or otherwise. For example, most conifers growing in Bloomington were introduced for commercial purposes and spread afterwards through seed dispersal.

There are three main locations on this tour: the Indiana University (IU) Arboretum, a large patch of woods near a neighborhood dubbed "the Park Ridge East forest," and along the North Fork Salt Creek.

The trees located in the arboretum are easily accessible: you can park in one of the various parking lots near the site, and there are walking trails that lead to most of the trees.

The unofficial entrance to the Park Ridge East forest is at the end of East Sheffield Drive: there is a path leading through the underbrush at the dead end into the forest itself. Walking trails extend throughout the forest so most of the trees there are also easily accessible, although a few are off the trails and you have to walk by some thorns to get to them.

There are pulloffs near North Fork Salt Creek by which to access the trees there, but there are no trails by which to get to them. A couple of the trees border the edge of a soybean field, so you have to circumnavigate the field if it's growing season. To get to the last species on the tour, you have to go to a pulloff right across the highway (or cross the two lanes by foot) and walk through some tall grasses, but it's not too difficult to get through.

I would recommend wearing comfortable closed-toed shoes and pants that are somewhat thick (jeans will do) for this outing. I'd also advise bringing a water bottle to stay hydrated; trust me, you will want one. On this tour, there will be lots of walking about and a little bit of travelling off the beaten path! Warning: this is likely to lead to plenty of wandering around, as there are many other species of trees to see at and in between these three locations.

Species on this tour: American basswood, American sycamore, bald cypress, bigtooth aspen, black ash, black cherry, black locust, black oak, boxelder, Bradford pear, common hackberry, dawn redwood, Eastern redbud, English oak, persimmon, red pine, shagbark hickory, silver maple, sugar maple, sweetgum