Thomas Ciurus Park and Nature Preserve

Some time ago, perhaps a year or more ago, I read about a DeMotte Park that was outside the city limits and was a nature preserve. Recently I was in the area and decided to see what was there. Doing a little searching on the Internet, I learned that this was the first park that the Demotte Park Board supervised: "In 1969, Thomas Ciurus donated a 40-acre wooded area about two miles southeast of DeMotte. Ciurus donated the acreage on the condition that the land was to be used as a park or nature preserve in perpetuity or it would revert back to the Ciurus heirs."

I found a map and directions to the property in another document. It is west of the Sandy Pines Golf Course at the end of a road that goes into a subdivision with large house and huge lawns.

I was short of time, so I hurried along the trail, which was remarkably maintained with wood-chip mulch. The trail is a loop, and there are two entrances/exits, the one shown above and another one a bit further south that also goes into a subdivision. There is a bit up and down along the route, but all of it is through oaks woods with a lot of sassafras in the understory. There were few flowers, though since it is woodland, there may be more in the spring.