Experience NIU–Alumni Hike at Lorado Taft

Sunday, Aug. 8, 1-3 p.m.

Experience NIU at the beautiful Lorado Taft campus in Oregon, Illinois on Sunday, Aug. 8 from 1-3 p.m.

Gather your family and join your fellow alumni, the NIU Alumni Association, Lorado Taft campus guides and NIU mascot Mission, for a Sunday afternoon picnic and a scenic nature- or history-themed hike.

Tickets for this event are $15 ($20 walk-in) for adults and $10 for children who are 10-17 years old ($15 walk-in), while kids under the age of 10 are free. A picnic-style lunch will be provided and is followed by a guided tour (nature or history) of the Lorado Taft campus.

Nature Tour: Learn about the forest ecosystem and the diversity of life forms that call the forest home. Visit a mesic and wet-mesic northern hardwood forest, dominated by oaks and hickories, but in the process of change, in part due to human use and intervention. The ravines and limestone cliffs, an oasis in the flat agricultural land around us, are both breathtaking and serene. If desired, bring a pair of binoculars in case any interesting birds or wildlife make an appearance! Hike may include hilly terrain and uneven trails. The difficulty level of this hike is intermediate.

History Tour: The Lorado Taft Campus was once the home of the Eagle’s Nest Art Colony, a turn-of-the-century (1898-1942) summer oasis for many in the Chicago art scene, including sculptor Lorado Taft, painters Ralph Clarkson and Charles Francis Browne, writer Hamlin Garland and many others. On the Taft Campus site, these artists, their families and many guests spent their summer days and evenings away from the heat of the city, enjoying each other’s company and finding inspiration. Tour the historical Taft Campus to see where these artists lived, played and worked, including three original buildings and several pieces of art. The difficulty level of this hike is easy.


Questions? Please contact Dana King, ’05, at dking1@niu.edu or 815-753-5421