A Colorful Fall Hike at Dickson Mounds Museum

It is a perfect autumn day (10-22-23) for a solo hike at Dickson Mounds State Museum. There is a slight cool breeze that rustles leaves in the treetops. As I look across the prairie from where I sit at picnic hill, the tree line is full of fall color. Varying shades of red, orange, and yellow stand out among the yet green leaves. Most spectacular to me are the burnt orange sassafras and golden yellow hickory leaves. Along the edge are deep burgundy leaves of the gray dogwood shrubs, accented with pale white berries. Bright red blackberry and sumac are striking against other nearby plants.  

Colorful trees along the prairie. 

Blackberry leaves. 

Sumac. 

I hiked the yellow prairie trail first so that I could warm in the sun. I also had better views of the changing trees from outside the woodland. Along the trail a tree caught my eye that was full of blue berries, yet the leaves were golden and shaped like a mulberry tree’s leaf. This was not mulberry fruit, nor the leaves of a cherry tree that has similar looking fruit. Upon closer examination I saw that a wild grape had wound around a mulberry so tightly, that the trees seem to merge into one. I’ll call it a mul-grape tree. Wrong but spectacular.

Mul-Grape tree.

Upon entering the green wood’s trail I immediately climbed downward on a much narrower path. I passed a massive white oaks (Boy, what they've seen over the years.), and then my path was blocked by a large white oak’s fallen branch. I used my trekking pole to maneuver across and through it, continuing down to the more open bottom land. There, among the mostly spent fall wildflowers, was a perfect little Black-Eyed Susan, which I always think looks like a Jerusalem artichoke. I thought about this museum and how I'd tasted the Jerusalem artichoke at an event here once. Winding around and back up the hill I heard a loud crash off to my right in the woods. I knew it had to be a hedge ball. Sure enough, around the next bend were oodles of freshly fallen hedge balls. I'm sure glad one didn't fall on my head and knock me out. There are a lot of invasive plants here. Burning bush, barberry, garlic mustard, honeysuckle, and autumn olive are way too prevalent. Though, there is also a diversity of many nice native plants here too. 

White Oak tree. 

Black-Eyed Susan

Sugar Maples in yellow through the woods.

On the way back to my car, I hiked the red trail and passed under the sassafras trees that I'd seen from across the prairie. It was a large sassafras grove, all intertwined with somewhat spooky, crooked, and gnarly branches that reached high to the sky. There, their orange, red, and yellow leaves shone brightly, illuminating and brightening the spooky scene beneath.

Sassafras leaves and more cover the path.

Sassafras tree canopy. 

Such a peaceful day for a fall hike. As I gaze at the bright blue sky with wispy white clouds above the tree lines kaleidoscope of color, I'm reminded how blessed I am to live here. The changing seasons are not only beautiful but guide us through our own cycles. This is the season to slow down and give thanks for this hip, happy, healthy, beautiful life I have.

On the way home several cars slowed or stopped in front of me, appearing lost. They either turned around (to go back to the orchard) or turned into the Emiquon Preserve or the Emiquon Refuge. How wonderful to see people enjoying this perfect fall day too. I loved seeing small children playing at the orchard and people so fascinated by water birds wading in Lacey Ditch that they had to pull over to see them closer. That is why we live here, where we can observe nature up close and personal, without huge crowds. As a friend always said, “I don't know why millions of people don't live here, but I'm glad they don't.”