Hey everyone, I'm Brody actually and today we're going to be exploring Wesselman Woods, the largest urban old growth forest in the United States.

Let's check it out.

So let's start off with the obvious.

What is Wesselman Woods?

So Wesselman Woods is a wonder of a forest Wesselman Woods is the largest urban old growth forest in the United States.

And what does that mean?

So that means that we have some of the oldest trees here.

Anywhere within the United States, within any urban setting.

There is no larger forest that has never been logged before.

It's a gorgeous place.

If you've never been out before, we've got over four miles of trails that you can enjoy many hours of hiking to be done here.

The Nature Playscape It's a great place for families and children to wander and explore, and even for adults to embrace their inner child.

Climbing the trees, swinging the grapevines play a little in the mud.

It's a wonderful place.

What's the mission behind Wesselman Woods?

We have a duty to educate people about the environment and why this place is so special.

But why all of nature is so special and why we have to protect it.

So the education opportunities start as little as two years old all the way into adulthood.

We've got Junior Forest Leak, which is a monthly camp, and there's usually fun themes to what they're doing.

So one week they might be pretending and using their creativity to become wizards in the forest.

But another week, maybe they're becoming junior forest rangers and they're learning about first aid or how to tie knots.

So it varies, but it's a really popular program.

Here's the treehouse at the Nature Playscape, where the only rules here are get messy.

Touch it all.

Be respectful.

Rocks and sticks are for creating and explore.

Pretend and make friends.

And what are the rules for adults?

So what about the adults?

Are there any activities for people like me?

You know, I think speaking as an adult, what's fun here?

I just love to come and enjoy the sounds of the forest.

That is maybe a very broad thing, and maybe not everyone enjoys, especially coming out in the heat.

But for adults, if you want to find your way back to nature or you're some kind of a biology or nature nerd, you can become an Indian, a master naturalist, and that is a series that is ten week program, and it actually ends in a certificate.

And you get to learn from local professionals, different professors about the various types of ecologies.

You're going to learn about mushrooms, you're going to learn about birds, you're going to learn about geology, all pertaining to Indiana.

Okay, okay, okay.

Let's go back a bit.

Could you talk about the trails a little bit more?

For anyone that's a nature lover, I think the best way to experience it is to get in the middle of it.

And because we're one of the few great green spaces with a forest surrounding us, the trails have a lot of appeal.

People should walk down these trails because there are no other trails like this anywhere in the country.

There's plenty of trails, but to be able to walk through a forest that, for all that we know, has been a forest for thousands of years, the explorations don't stop on the trails at West Ham and Woods.

We have lots of events for the community to get involved with and volunteer opportunities as well.

Some of those events include.

Maple Sugarbush Festival, probably our longest and most well known event, and that is a pancake breakfast where we have Indiana maple sirup for the pancakes.

Walking along these trails, I was really enjoying the overall peaceful nature and bliss within this forest, but I was also feeling exhausted from all this heat.

And wearing jeans probably doesn't help.

So let's go explore the nature center.

And so the Nature Center is quite the building.

It's nestled right at the entrance of this forest.

You walk into the nature center and you have this really cool interactive exhibit.

We've brought the forest inside a little bit.

So if it's a day or maybe too hot or too cold, you can still experience the nature inside its history, its ecology.

And we have a really cool timeline, actually, of Wesselman Woods in this, this general area going back to glaciation up to today.

And we have some animal ambassadors as well.

So we have some snakes and turtles as well as some of our raptors.

It's a really unique place to experience close up interaction with animals that you might not be able to see this close up.

Anything you want to say?

Nope.

Okay.

Animals indoors and outdoors.

Trails, a children's play scape, annual events.

All of this seems like a lot to handle alone.

This place runs on volunteers.

It was a volunteers who protected this place.

And now we get to experience this 190 acres of old growth forest because of the dedication of some people 50 years ago.

We're always looking for volunteers and for community members to come.

Things like helping out at the nature center and at the playscape on busy days, or helping me out at Weed Wrangles.

I work closely with volunteer groups with the last Saturday of each month, so it's a really cool way to get off trail, which is a rare opportunity amongst visitors here.

I think that if you don't explore something like this, you won't fully appreciate what it is that we're losing every day.

Every day forests are being destroyed, trees are being taken down.

People don't care enough about their environment that surrounds them.

But it's so important to human life and of course all of the animal life as well.

So I think getting into nature, immersing yourself, even if it's just for half an hour, you can start to really appreciate all the connections here and appreciate life.