Fox Island County Park ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This park is about seven miles south of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. If you were to drive from Ann Arbor to Fox Island at 5 mph over the speed limit, it would take you, oh, about 2 hr 24 min. You must park inside the park. There is no place you can park outside the park near the park entrance. This means that walking in on Mondays, when the park is closed, or before or after park hours doesn't work very well. See http://www.indianaaudubon.org, and Jim Haw's emails below, for more info. Bruce ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim Haw Date sent: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 22:02:21 EDT Subject: NE Indiana birding To: bbowman@umich.edu Send reply to: Jhawillet@aol.com Fox Island County Park, Allen County, is the best spot in northeast Indiana for migrant woodland songbirds. From I-69, take exit 102 on the west side of Ft. Wayne and turn west on US 24 toward Huntington. After a short distance, turn left at the second stoplight west of I-69 on Liberty Mills Road. This road immediately curves left, then right again and goes south parallelling I-69. After a mile or so, it turns east and crosses over I-69, at which point it becomes Yohne Road. the park entrance is on your left 3/4 mile east of I-69. Park is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.from May 1-Sept. 30 and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Oct. 1-April 30; closed Mondays. Admission is $2 per person. The park is also rather good for nesting woodland birds, but mosquitoes are terrible in summer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jhawillet@aol.com Date sent: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 17:24:21 EDT Subject: Re: Fox Island County Park To: bbowman@umich.edu Bruce, Fox Island still opens at 9 a.m. EST every day except Monday, when it is closed, and I know of no plans to change that in the foreseeable future. The stated reason is that the county parks budget is too small to permit hiring someone to keep it open for longer hours. There is no longer a place to park outside the park and walk in. People who park on the side of the entrance road outside the gate risk having their cars towed. During the warmer months, the park maintenance man often arrives between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and leaves the gate open, but I don't know how reliably that happens. It is OK to go in if the gate is open, as far as I know. Of course, any visitor is expected to pay the park entrance fee whether there is anyone at the gatehouse to collect or not. There is now a fee envelope post just inside the gatehouse for that purpose. For the past two years, the park has opened at 6:30 a.m. for about 3-4 weeks in April and May to accommodate mushroom hunters. This year it was open early from some time in April until May 12--which, of course, does not include all of the peak of spring migration. I do have access, but my instructions are to leave the gate as I find it; i.e., if the gate is locked when I arrive, I need to lock it behind me when I enter. An exception is made for a scheduled field trip. I can sometimes meet visiting birders and let them in if my schedule allows that. During the school year, I teach on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and am often free on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Jim ----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jhawillet@aol.com Date sent: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 21:03:50 EDT Subject: Re: Fox Island County Park To: bbowman@umich.edu [Answering the question: How far would one have to walk to the park entrance if he parked at a shopping center?] The shopping centers along I-69 and US 24 west have grown since you were at Fox Island. I'd guess about a mile and a half from the nearest parking lot at Kroger to the Fox Island entrance. If anyone wanted to go in on their own before the gate was open, I'd advise contacting the park in advance to ask about permission to do that at 260-449-3180. I've been challenged (politely) by new employees who didn't know me and wondered what I was doing in the park when it was officially closed.