Myrna J. Newgent Nature Preserve is an upland forest habitat that is dominated by second-growth sugar maples, hickories, beeches, and elms. Most 19th- and 20th-century farms had a woodlot like this, a quiet space where nature was permitted to endure as it had existed prior to settlement.

The forest floor in spring offers a breathtaking display of wildflowers that may be one of the most pristine in Indiana: large-flowered trillium, yellow trout lily, blue cohosh, Dutchman’s breeches, bloodroot, toothwort and many others. Blue-eyed Mary and purple larkspur are found nowhere else on Shirley Heinze properties. The woods attracts migrant and nesting birdlife, including the pileated woodpecker, North America’s largest.