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The south side's nature ground
The city's woodland: Rum Village is the city's own hiking ground. The park department's page for Rum Village Park describes 160 acres of natural woodland, a designated nature area, on the city's south side off Ewing Avenue: "Three miles of trails wind through this habitat. Many native trees and a wide selection of flowering and herbaceous plants may be found here. It is a remnant of the land that once was, a source of food and shelter for a variety of wildlife and a haven for renewal of the human spirit." Over a hundred species of birds have been seen in the park, the department records, with nesting owls, woodpeckers, and warblers, and foxes, deer, reptiles, and amphibians besides. The Rum Village Nature Center anchors the trails — free, and the trailhead for school and family programming — and the park's hills serve informally in winter for sledding and cross-country skiing. The mountain-bike annex across Gertrude Street is told in the bike pass above. The park's future trail shape is in public process as this section is written: the city's master-plan engagement for Rum Village drew more than 150 participants to a first event on 6 September 2025 and over fifty to a second on 29 January 2026, with concepts — enhanced hiking and biking trails among them, and a beginner mountain-bike line under discussion — expected in the first quarter of 2026 and no timeframe set beyond that.
Sources:
- South Bend Venues Parks & Arts, Rum Village Park / Rum Village Nature Center (the 160 acres, the designated nature area, the three miles of hiking trails, the wildlife counts, the nature center).
- South Bend Tribune, 3 February 2026 (the master-plan engagement events of September 2025 and January 2026; the plan's trail concepts and open timeframe).