Head to the local wilderness areas near Schererville to hike and explore. The Plum Creek/Cook County Forest Preserve, 13 minutes from Schererville, sits on the Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve. The preserve includes forests, a small pond and cattail marshes with plenty of opportunities for adults and children to discover nature. Kids can handle rocks and feathers while everyone learns about animals, obtains information about attracting butterflies and watches birds at the feeder. The center also includes programs on bats, hummingbirds and bird-feeding. The Wampum Lake Woods/Cook County Forest Preserve in Thornton, Ill., a 23-minute drive from Schererville, provides visitors with views of flowing springs through dolomitic limestone alongside the region's native flora and fauna. Winter hikers can walk out to the marsh next to Wampum Lake to see geese, ducks, loons, eagles and osprey on the lake water. At other times of the year, bird-watchers may catch sight of a red-breasted merganser, warblers or a great blue heron.
Spend a day at a regional arts and crafts show. Area shows provide craftspeople with the opportunity to exhibit and sell at local fairs and festivals. In Griffith, the Calumet Council of Munster together with the Boy Scouts of Troop 264 and their families invite visitors to come to the town's annual Fall Harvest Craft Festival. The festival takes place in September in Griffith, 13 minutes northeast of Schererville, at the Griffith Lutheran Church on Broad Street. Throughout the weekend festival, individuals can browse through the handmade crafts, enjoy food and listen to live entertainment provided by a local band. The Highland Department of Parks and Recreation invites visitors to attend the Highland annual Craft Show and Vendor Fair in Highland, 14 minutes north of Schererville, each November. The weekend fair runs for two days and features a wide variety of crafts, including handmade puppets, jewelry, wooden items such as birdhouses and picture frames and home-baked and home-canned food items. The fair also features a bake sale and live music.
Enjoy one of the area museums near Schererville. The Lake of the Red Cedars Museum (cedarlakehistory.org) at the Cedar Lake Town Grounds Complex on Constitution Avenue in Cedar Lake, Ind., displays a collection of artifacts that provides information about local life from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Exhibits include displays of the fashion, local businesses and industry of the times. Visitors can see a historic tool room, a 1920s-era house, a one-room schoolhouse and a men's and women's fashion collection. Cedar Lake is a 20-minute drive from Schererville. In nearby Hammond, the John Dillinger Museum (dillingermuseum.com) provides an accounting of the life and times of the notorious criminal. As of August 2011, the museum is open on Thursdays through Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The museum offers tours given by appointment from May through October. The museum displays information about advances in crime-fighting methods and conveys the message that "crime doesn't pay."
Discover some of the cultural attractions in the Schererville area. The Theater at the Center (theatreatthecenter.com) in Munster, 18 minutes northwest of Schererville, offers listings of plays for children and adults alike. In addition to the performances the center offers, the center operates workshops and classes. Indiana University Northwest in Gary, a half hour's drive from Schererville, invites individuals to visit the Northwest Art Gallery of Contemporary Art (iun.edu/~nwacadem/gallery). The museum displays works that generally do not receive major museum or gallery attention, but the university believes they will interest the university community as well as the general public. Exhibits include historic and contemporary art from all cultures.
