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TRAILS
CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT This is YOUR PARK All visitors are expected to observe the following rules that we can fulfill the purpose for which this and other state parks were established, the preservation of a primitive landscape in its original condition and a place where you might enjoy the out-of-doors.
CONSIDER THE RESULTS IF OTHER VISITORS USE THE PARK AS YOU DO HELP PREVENT FOREST FIRES Build Fires only in Designated Places. FIRE IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO OUR PARKS AND FORESTS
EACH INDIANA STATE PARK is fully equipped with all facilities for picnic parties or campers. The overnight camp fee is twenty-five cents (25¢) per car, which partly covers the cost of fuel, water and sanitary maintenance. The water is tested frequently throughout the season by the State Board of Health. Shelter houses and refreshment stands provide rest and comfort. Hotel reservations should be made by mail direct to the Inns. A Points of Interest map showing the complete state highway system and location of each state park, memorial, game preserve, fish hatchery, and forest reservation with a more detailed description of each; likewise the location of ninety other points of interest, is free. Ask any park custodian, or write the Department of Conservation, State Library Building, Indianapolis. INDIANA DUNES STATE PARK comprises twenty-two hundred acres of primitive, beautiful, historical and amazingly unique Hoosier landscape. It lies in Porter County and includes three miles of Lake Michigan's south shore, all of which provides a magnificent beach capable of accommodating many thousand bathers. Eighteen hundred acres are wooded, including swamps, and prairie bogs replete with the most diversified flora and fauna of the mid-west. Other acres are made up of drifting sand hills, peculiar to the Dunes region. A three-story pavilion on the beach provides shelter, bath houses, and locker room, and houses cafeteria, complete restaurant and dining room service. Arcade Hotel, overlooking the lake, contains fifty sleeping rooms. Limited American plan service is available at Duneside Inn, the park's second hotel. Concrete parking pavement on the beach accommodates twelve hundred automobiles. CLIFTY FALLS STATE PARK comprises a portion of the rugged, majestic landscape of historic Jefferson County near Madison, where the beautiful Ohio Valley is finest. The outstanding feature of this park is the water-worn gorge where Clifty Creek drops seventy feet from a stone ledge. Trails wind through the great hollow and along the sides of precipitous vine and fern-covered cliffs, giving access to wooded ravines and lesser water-falls. Clifty Inn is on the crest of a steep slope, four hundred feet above the Ohio River. The sweeping curves of the river, Kentucky hills far distant, and the panorama of Madison are unsurpassed, viewed from the Inn veranda. The Inn provides comfortable beds, immaculate housekeeping, and well cooked food in abundance. POKAGON STATE PARK comprises nearly one thousand acres of the lovely, peaceful rolling landscape in Steuben County, two miles of which front Lake James. There are four hundred acres of deep woods. The big lake is a fisherman's paradise. Buffalo, elk and deer in their native habitat, but within strong corrals, represent the larger species of wild life once native to the mid-west. Excellent boating and bathing facilities, and tennis courts, offer wholesome recreation. Saddle horses are available and an eighteen-hole golf course is located nearby. Potawatomi Inn's dining room seats three hundred capacity. Excellent cooking and modern guest rooms, make this an unusually popular lake park. SPRING MILL STATE PARK of eleven hundred acres in Lawrence County, is perhaps the most unique of the state parks. Here in a beautiful little valley among heavily forested hills is the restored pioneer village of Spring Mill with its massive stone grist mill operated by a flume and overshot water wheel. The post office, general store, apothecary, nursery, distillery, saw mill and numerous residences all furnished completely in the period of our forefathers, provide a never-ending delight to park guests. To the student of nature, the caves and subterranean streams with blind aquatic life, are great attractions. Restaurant service and refreshments are available in the quaint old log tavern. McCORMICK'S CREEK STATE PARK in the White River valley in Owen County has within its boundaries some of the most majestic scenery of southern Indiana. The park is at the edge of the great stone belt, and is replete with ravines, gulches, and timbered slopes. Park woodlands are noted for the great profusion of wild flowers. A modern artificial swimming pool and bath house is in operation. Dormitories and mess halls for large camp groups make this park especially adapted to organization camps. Canyon Inn, a modern structure, accommodates sixty-eight over-night guests, and serves special chicken dinners for week-end visitors. BROWN COUNTY STATE PARK, in the heart of the mountainous hills of Brown County, has that spectacular topography of dense woods and wide, sweeping valleys, all readily accessible over modern, all-weather roads. The Kin Hubbard Ridge development consists of a group of delightful and fully equipped cottages serviced by the Abe Martin Hall. This community group nestles in the forest fringe atop a promontory and commands an unsurpassed view of the area. The Hall provides restaurant service or staple groceries. The cottages may be rented by the week upon application. SHAKAMAK STATE PARK lies in a triangle of Clay, Green and Sullivan Counties, offering the recreational features of rugged and wooded country. An outstanding feature of the park is a beautiful, meandering lake of fifty-five acres, affording boating and supervised bathing. The park contains a tree nursery and pheasantry, providing demonstrations in reforestation and game culture to those interested in this phase of conservation. Shakamak is equipped with dormitories and mess hall to accommodate organization camps up to a capacity of two hundred and fifty people. MOUNDS STATE PARK, in Madison County, on the bluffs of White River, is a reservation set aside for natural recreation and preservation of a group of prehistoric earthwork monuments constructed by that vanquished American race known as Mound Builders. These mounds represent the largest and best preserved group in Indiana and are of great interest to laymen as well as archaeologists. Excellent boating and picnic facilities are available; refreshments are obtained at the Pavilion. MUSCATATUCK STATE PARK, in Jennings County, embraces the finest scenery, gorges and timbered slopes of the beautiful Muscatatuck River. This section of Jennings County long has been known for fine hunting and excellent fishing. Muscatatuck Inn, with cottage rooms, provides delightful lodging and wholesome food for those seeking quiet and restful surroundings, and enjoys a wide reputation among motorists as a stop over point. DESCRIPTION OF TRAILS TRAIL No. 1. Along the south shore of Sugar Creek, past the swinging bridge to the covered bridge, then south to road, west along road through camp ground to hotel. This is a comparatively easy trail with few places to climb. Interesting places: Lovers' Lane, Hawk's Nest, the Large Elms, the Sycamore Grove, the largest Walnut in the park, Goose Rock, Ship Rock, the largest tree in the park, Lusk's Fill. Distance2-3/4 miles. TRAIL No. 2. Either along Trail No. 1 or through the camp ground and down the steps at suspension bridge. From Trail 1, Trail 2 leads through Newby Gulch, across the plateau, across the road (Trails 1 and 2, at this point are together), through the woods for about one-fourth mile, then west through Gypsy Gulch and Box Canyon to swinging bridge and back to camp ground and hotel. Interesting places: The Tuffa Beds in Newby Gulch, High Bridge over Newby Gulch, overhanging Rock Cliffs in Gypsy Gulch, and Box Canyon and many beautiful ferns. Distance3 miles. TRAIL No. 3. Take Trail 1 to swinging bridge and cross Sugar Creek, go up Rocky Hollow (Trail 4) for about one-half mile, then west through woodlands, down the ladders in Bear Hollow, east by river, down ladders in Ladder Rock, return to swinging bridge. From this point the trail follows the north bank of Sugar Creek eastward to covered bridge and returns to the hotel along Trail 1. Interesting points: Wedge Rock, Rocky Hollow, the Coal Mine, Lusk beech, and covered bridge, Punch Bowl, Bear Hollow, the Ice Box, and Ladder Rock. Distance2-1/2 or 4-1/2 miles. TRAIL No. 4. Trail 1 to swinging bridge, thence to Rocky Hollow, turning at the head of the Hollow through woods to Lusk Home on the hill above the Narrows, back to camp ground or hotel by way of Trail 8 or Trail 3 along Sugar Creek to swinging bridge. Interesting points: Rocky Hollow, Yew Trees, Wedge Rock, Punch Bowl, Lusk Home, the Old Mill Site, the Covered Bridge, and the Coal Mine. Distance3-1/2 miles. TRAIL No. 5. Starting point the same as Trail 3. Trail 5 branches out from Trail 3 and extends for some distance west of Trail 3 by routing through the woods. Instead of going up Rocky Hollow, Trail 5 can be reached on Trail 3 by going west from swinging bridge up through Ladder Rock. Interesting points: The Ice Box, beautiful woodland scenes with ferns and flowers. Distance4 miles. TRAIL No. 6. From Sunset Point down to Turkey Run Hollow, up Hollow to road. This is the shortest trail in the park. Interesting points: The Overhanging Cliffs, under which the wild turkeys came to roost, the Arch Bridge over Turkey Run Hollow, and Sword Moss which is found only in a few places in North America. Distance1/2 mile. TRAIL No. 7. From Sunset Point down into the Hollow, west up cliff, around Inspiration Point through woods, and down the Hollow to Sunset Point. Interesting points: Mosses, Walking Ferns, and Yew trees, good view of Sugar Creek and Overhanging Cliffs. Distance3/4 mile. TRAIL No. 8. Along Trail 1, to swinging bridge. Cross bridge, go east along creek to coal mine, then north on Trail 8 to junction with 4, east (right) through woods to Lusk Home, west along the edge of field to Coal Mine and Trail 3 to swinging bridge. Interesting points: Coal Mine, ferns, flowers, Lusk Home, Narrows, Mill Site. Distance3-1/4 miles. TRAIL No. 9. This is the longest and most arduous hike in the park, for in order to reach Trail 9, parts of Trails 3 and 5 must be taken. Trail 9 extends from Trail 5 west through Falls and Boulder Canyons. Interesting points: The Glacial Boulders, deposited many years ago when the great glaciers from the north covered this area. Many of the same points seen on Trails 3 and 5. Distance4 miles (via Ladder Rock); 4-1/2 miles (via Rocky Hollow). |
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