[1] The area was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974[2] and a State Nature Preserve in 1977[3] The sandy soil creates a variety of habitats, from oak barrens, wet prairie, including sedge meadows and prairie marshes.

[4] The trails into the prairie are chipped bark pathways, which can have the surrounding grasses and forbs leaning across them.

The area is accessible from a parking lot on Main Street (E 53rd St) just east of Kennedy Avenue.

Some unusual creatures seen in the prairie include the red-headed woodpecker, sedge wrens and the brown butterfly.

[4] Prairie maintenance is dependent upon a natural regime of fire, which has been suppressed in this urban area.

Therefore, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has assisted the regeneration by mechanically removing trees, woody brush and implementing 'prescribed fires'.

[4] This habitat mimics the pine savannas in the Northern Woods allowing brackens and sweetferns to thrive amid the prairie vegetation.

These savannas can survive through droughts because the oaks and the prairie plants have taproots that reach down to the water table.