What are Indiana's top 5 state parks?
Indiana's state park system was born 100 years ago this month — during the state's centennial. Is your favorite park among the five most popular?
Indiana's state park system turns 100 years old this month.
In what was one of the greatest self-gifting moments in state history, Hoosiers gave the parks to themselves as part of the state's centennial. And while Indiana is known mostly for its featureless horizons and wide expanses of cornfields, the state park system tells a more nuanced story. At Indiana Dunes, you can walk along a sandy lakeshore. At Turkey Run, you can hike through narrow slit canyons. As Clifty Falls, you can stand under cascading water, and at the Falls of the Ohio, you can try to fathom the breadth and the history of a mighty river.
As Indiana prepares to celebrate its bicentennial, we look at the five most popular state parks, based on the Indiana Department of Natural Resource's assessment of average annual attendance over the past five years.
5. Monroe Lake, Average annual attendance: 930,000
The lake at the center of this park — known as Lake Monroe or the Monroe Reservoir — is the largest body of water in Indiana. Built in 1965 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lake is a popular summer boating destination for Central Indiana. It's also a popular destination for picnics and big family gatherings and hosts fishing tournaments. The park's proximity to Indiana University's Bloomington campus makes it not only a fun spot for students to visit but also an opportune site for outdoor research projects.
4. Raccoon Lake, Average annual attendance: 1,030,000
Also known as Cecil M. Harden Lake, this is another Army Corps-engineered lake that's a popular boating destination with good fishing. About 75 minutes west of Indianapolis, near Rockville, the park also benefits from its proximity to the covered bridges of Parke County. In October, the Covered Bridge Festival becomes a mecca for sightseers, who also spill into the park. A unique attraction at the park is an 1880s-era flour mill.
3. Indiana Dunes, Average annual attendance: 1,162,000
Perhaps the most un-Indiana landscape in the state park system is this 3-mile stretch of beach along southern Lake Michigan that's home to big sand dunes and a biological diversity like few places in the state.
The ever-evolving dunes, which can rise 200 feet above the lake, are part of a fragile ecosystem, with threatened species of thistle and an endangered — and feared extinct — Karner blue butterfly. Even so, the dunes are considered a treasure chest for birders. Two-thirds of the park is a nature preserve.
But the big attraction, of course, is the surf, the sand and the sun that comes with being a beach only an hour from Downtown Chicago and one that's handy to Hoosiers from around The Region. "The beach," says DNR spokesman Phil Bloom, "is the No.1 draw there."
2. Brookville Lake, Average annual attendance: 1,333,000
Located in southeastern Indiana, Brookville is in the middle of a triangle between Indianapolis and the Ohio cities of Dayton and Cincinnati, with the 90-minute drive from Indy being the longest haul. The park has a Native American mounds and prehistoric fossils, plenty of campsites and swimming areas. But the big draws include a thriving fishing scene and a variety of trails, including the rugged 16-mile Wolf Creek Trail.
1. Brown County State Park, Average annual attendance: 1,360,000
Everybody's favorite fall foliage destination has a great many things going for it. There's its proximity to both Indianapolis and Bloomington. There's its juxtaposition to Nashville, Ind., with its restaurants, arts and shops, which makes for a nice day trip. And then, of course, there's the beauty of a park that offers rolling hills, scenic vistas and a variety of trails through heavily wooded forests.
At 16,000 acres, Brown County is the state's largest park. While hiking, camping, horseback riding and bicycle trail riding are all big draws, the most popular activity may simply be sitting on a hilltop looking for miles across the treetops, particularly when the leaves are on fire in the fall.
Call Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter: @RbtKing.