Lindsay Wilderness

Some 200 acres of woods and hiking trails run along the northeast side of Bonaparte, and more visiting vacationers are utilizing the area for long walks and mushroom hunting.

Christy Creek, which runs through the Lindsay Wilderness Area before emptying in the Des Moines River on the east edge of Bonaparte, is an excellent site and groups of school children take annual class outings to enjoy the nature trails.

The Wilderness Area also serves as public hunting grounds during the various hunting seasons.

 

Operated by the Van Buren County Conservation Board, the Lindsay Wildernes Area features second growth and some virgin timber that includes scattered regions of butternut, walnut, sugar maple and hornbeam. A wide variety of native shrubs such as blackberry, raspberry, hawthorne, hazel bush, redbud, and dogwood are scattered throughout.

The area was donated to the county by sisters Margorie M. Lindsay and Faye Miller Dawson in 1982.