Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve Reopening With New Marsh Boardwalk

ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana nature preserve is reopening with a new boardwalk for visitors to cross through a marsh area.

The boardwalk goes for a half-mile on a 1.5 mile loop trail through the Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve near Bloomington. The preserve was closed last summer so Sycamore Land Trust volunteers and contractors could build the elevated boardwalk with nonslip plastic decking.

Sycamore's Chris Fox tells The (Bloomington) Herald-Times that 550 posts were set into the marshy ground, with ramps and turnarounds built to make it more accessible to people with limited mobility.

The group says the area is home to some of Indiana's endangered species, including the Indiana bat, Kirtland's snake, crawfish frog and rare orchids.