Indiana: Turkey Run State Park

Well I haven't been walking, or blogging, as much as is good for a man, but I did want to report on a jaunt I took last month, passing through Indiana.

I got good advice from the Midwest forum at http://www.backpacker.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi . After a few very helpful post exchanges, and reviewing the time I had available, I settled on a quick walk at Turkey Run State Park.

I only had a couple hours, so I poked around trails 3, 5, and 9. I didn't have a camera (self-limiting factor, as I often spend too much time shutterbugging), but what a wonderful series of gorges, canyons, waterfalls, and hollows! At one location, the Park has constructed ladders, anchored to the rock walls, to allow hikers passage up and down the steep rock canyons.

The weather was warm and humid. I was very glad for the cool caverns and canyons. I was totally floored to find such a dramatic, and simultaneously intimate, place, seemingly plopped randomly in Indiana's corn fields.

The trail map provided at the office was sufficient, but I wished it was topographic, and bigger. The big, fat icons made it somewhat difficult to read with precision.

The park was swarming with kids, I guess a local school field day? I didn't see anybody past the ladders trail, and had the best back-trail scenery all to myself. I wished I had more time, and my hammock.

I asked nice at the campground up the highway, and they let me use their shower after the walk.

Saw a few little brown lizards (skinks?). I heard a few slithers in the grass. Plenty of chipmunks and sparrows.

Stats:
2.84 miles
Total time: 2:11:44
Moving time: 0:52:01

Thanks again, Hoosiers!