Eagle’s Crest Nature Preserve Trail

If you are looking for some quiet, natural solitude in Indianapolis, the west side of Eagle Creek Park is one of your best bets.   One of Indiana’s finest nature preserves is located right within the park boundaries.  Eagle’s Crest Nature Preserve is an oasis of mature hardwood forest in the northwest corner of Marion County.

With dramatic overlooks of Eagle Creek Reservoir and rare examples of primitive forest, the Eagle’s Crest Trail is full of variety and surprises.  The thoughtful preservation of these ancient forest areas allows the visitor a rare glimpse into the past to see the landscape much as it appeared to the native Americans before European settlers arrived.

The sizes of some of the trees are staggering, and in October they provide a beautiful curtain of color around the reservoir.  In August, large areas of the forest floor light up with thick blooms of the native wild leek.  This preserve in fact harbors several uncommon or endangered native plant species.

In 2013 the HHC built a trail which walks the visitor through some of the highlights of this special forest.  It is a one and a quarter mile path that loops the visitor back to their starting point.  There are a few challenging hills, but they are somewhat moderated by the gentle grade of the path.  If you visit, please help ensure this area can continue to be enjoyed by generations to come by staying on this preserve loop trail.

To find the trail, park near the Eagle’s Crest rental house and walk east past it toward the edge of the woods. Look for  the trail head in an opening on your left near the eastern most edge of the lawn. Click here for a printable topography map of the trail and surrounding area.

Here are the GPS coordinates of the Eagle’s Crest Trail, in standard gpx format: Right-click here and select “Save As”.

If your browser tries to save the file as xml, add “.gpx” to the end of the filename.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions: