Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
It's an easy walk or bike ride or inline skate along the Beyer Farm leg of the Lake City Greenway.
The eastern trail entrance is just beyond the Pike Lake Firemen's Building grounds along Pike Lake at the end of Arthur Street.
The other end is north of the Women's Center on the Kosciusko Community Hospital campus at Provident Drive.
The 10-foot-wide, two-thirds-of-a-mile path begins and ends on asphalt with a wooden boardwalk above the wetlands fed by the Beyer-Brady ditch.
Contrary to expectations, there are very few mosquitoes.
"This is a healthy wetlands," said Jeff Noffsinger, "with plenty of mosquito predators."
Noffsinger, Warsaw's city planner, has spearheaded the greenway project for the past few years. The concept began as a Kosciusko Leadership Academy "white paper." With federal and state grants, donations and support from the community, the eight-mile greenway system is on its way to completion.
There are two overlooks constructed on the boardwalk. An elevated observation point was made possible with a $10,000 gift from the Esther Pfleiderer Trust.
The trail is designed to be used as an educational tool for students of all ages as well as a relaxing look at nature.
The boardwalk, built above the flood level, offers views of Pike Lake, the wetlands and a small woods west of the hospital.
A 4-inch-high "toe" rail guards the edges of the boardwalk when it is 30 inches or lower. When the boardwalk is higher a handrail has been installed.
The wetlands species include plants like reed canary grass, cattails, black willow, autumn olive, button bush, swamp rose and viburnum.
Red-winged blackbirds swoop to perches on nearby shrubbery. American coots, Great Blue herons and other water-loving fowl can be seen along the trail.
The mammals and amphibious residents are a little more leery of visitors, detected more often by the rustle of grasses than by a visual verification. Whitetail deer, beaver, raccoons and muskrat are said to occupy the area.
The Beyer Farm wetlands are known as "lacustrine" because they are associated with lakes and include freshwater marshes, shrub and forest.
The trail is currently open to the public. An official opening ceremony is planned for 9 a.m. July 12 behind the Warsaw Women's Center. A family fun walk is planned immediately following the opening, and bicycles will be prohibited that day only due to the number of people expected to walk the trail.
