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 Hedge Apple Woods
Ewing Park
One of Bloomington's best kept secrets is Hedge Apple Woods Nature Preserve, a wooded trail which connects Ewing Park I on Towanda Avenue with Ewing Park II, accessible from the top of "Jersey Hill" along Jersey St. or Ethel Parkway off Emerson. In reality, the Ewing Parks themselves are probably unknown to many residents.
Hedge Apple Woods, named for some of the many trees which are found along the trail, is located at the far west end of Ewing Park I, and runs west behind the residential properties on Sunset Road. Park benches are located along the trail for hikers, bird watchers and those who bring their sack lunches for a quiet half-hour in the midst of a busy day. Developed with the assistance of the local chapter of the Audubon Society, the property features natural plants and grasses, as well as trees.
Ewing Park I has its own interesting history. Given to the city by Hazel B. Ewing in 1956, (whose former home is Ewing Manor just to the south on the corner of Towanda and Emerson) the park was developed by the B-N Junior Chamber of Commerce and Bloomington City Parks Department with the help of many interested citizens, and dedicated to the youth of Bloomington in 1963. Playground equipment, a small pavilion with picnic tables, restrooms, lots of open space surrounded by large, mature trees that burst with color in the fall - and, of course, Hedge Apple Woods - are all features of the park. Even a plaque dedicating one tree to the memory of Dag Hammarskjold, former Nobel Prize winner and United Nations Secretary General, piques your curiosity as you enter the park from the parking area.
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