What a wonderful place to get out of the city and just slow down! My honey took me here 4/26/26…read moresince we've had some nice weather lately. Pleasantly surprised they have many picnic tables, the cover bridge to see and of course the Falls. Just be careful when walking to the lower fall as you are pretty close to the ledge of the falls. Plenty to enjoy here. Next time we shall have a nice picnic and enjoy the scenery. You can swim too.Parking is easy but i'm sure it gets crowded in the summer time!

Cataract Falls is a geological wonder worth visiting and only an hour west of Indianapolis. These…read moremagnificent Falls were created over millions of years as ice and water carved into the ancient limestone resulting in Mill Creek and two sets of falls. The Upper Falls drops 20 feet and can be viewed near the entrance to the park at several overlooks. We visited this week on a bright summer day. The waters were loud and rapid after recent rains. This is one of Indiana's most beautiful sites. There is a large parking lot near the Upper Falls along with picnic tables, grill, pavilion and small playground. We brought a picnic lunch so we could enjoy the Falls. There are pit bathrooms near the playground in a second parking lot. The Lower Falls are a short drive through the park. A nearby lot provides plenty of parking. The short path to view the falls is not paved, but an easy walk. These falls drop 18 feet with incredible views of the layered limestone exposed west of the falls. I was envious of a lone kayaker below the falls. There are marked trails through dense woods descending near the creek. You'll want to wear good hiking shoes and bug spray if you are up for the adventure. The property was donated by Agnes Stuckey in memory of her mother, Agnes Steiner. The Park is maintained by the Indiana DNR. There was no admission during our midweek visit.

Shakamak State Park is considered one of Indiana's more rustic state parks with a strong focus on…read morecamping and fishing within the park. Shakamak includes three man-made lakes within its boundaries offering 400 acres of lakes along with an aquatic center for family activities. Shakamak was dedicated on Sept. 3, 1928 with land donated by the counties of Clay, Greene, and Sullivan. It's believed the name was chosen by the park's founders and is an Indigenous word meaning "river of the long fish" meant to describe the nearby Eel River. The word is believed to be either from the Delaware (Lenape) or Kickapoo Indians. The first lake was created by stopping up a 5-foot sewer. The other two lakes were added in following years including Lake Kickapoo (30 years later). Prior to these lakes being made, there were no lakes in the area. Richard Lieber stocked the lakes with bass and began what would really make this particular park noteworthy. The Civilian Conservation Corps also helped develop the park from 1933-42. Shakamak State Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. In terms of camping, Shakamak has 8 sites with full hook-ups, 114 electric sites, 42 non-electric sites, and on Maple Loop there are 10 sites (2 are paved and accessible). There's group camping, a dumping station, and a camp store. There are also cabins - I generally find them not very accessible. Shakamak offers picnic areas w/shelters (must be reserved), a nature center, a boat launch ramp, fishing/ice fishing, hiking trails, paddleboat/rowboat/kayak rentals, a recreation building that can be rented, a tennis area, a basketball court, and a swimming pool/water slide area. Shakamak is about 3 miles southeast of Jasonville in Sullivan County. Shakamak has seven marked trails with five being labeled as moderate in difficulty. The other two, both under two miles, are considered easy, multi-use trails for hiking or biking - these two trails have no stairs and white-tailed deer have been known to be seen on them. The longest trail is just under four miles and will take you by Lake Shakamak. The multi-use trails are for the most part accessible, though you are out in nature and I generally recommend not going on trails alone. That said, I've been able to do just fine on both trails. This isn't a real touristy state park except for those who want to fish and hike. That's the real selling point here. For those needing accessibility, it's definitely possible but will involve pre-planning. As some have noted, upkeep here is somewhat hit-and-miss. It's a beautiful park, however, my experience has been it's fairly lightly staffed compared to some other parks. That said, my recent visit things were in good shape and I know DNR has been really working on our less popular parks. I tend to see Shakamak as a less appreciated park that is definitely worth a visit for nature lovers and for hikers who want a chance to see wildlife. I've never not seen wildlife on the trails here.

Shakamak is much bigger than I anticipated. My husband, dogs, and I got a lovely 4-mile hike in…read morewith great views of Lake Kickapoo, one of the three lakes. With two more lakes and six more trails to explore, it appears we'll have to make another trip in the future. I look forward to it!

Beautiful, untapped, natural gem…read more Came here for lunch today and got in a couple miles my advice to senior or maybe not so experience climbers would be to take the stair steps down that are just down the trail about 100 yards

We were in Bloomington for a wedding and had a few hours to kill. this park had everything…read moreincluding a waterfall, caves and scenic shaded trails. Parking lot was small, we came early and no one else was here, 2 cars when we left.

One of the newest parks (2011) for the area is a 25 acre nature park with a lake in the middle…read more For enthusiasts, there is a boat launch for boats using a trolling motor. Fishing is allowed for those having the proper licences. For everyone else, the park has a shelter and covered picnic tables, a great paved hiking path that loops around the lake, and a small playground on the west side of the park. Everything seems to be well maintained and there is plenty of parking on the south side of the park (Maple Street). Review #908

Very nice area with the exception of a large amount of broken glass along the perimeter of the lake…read moreclosest to parking area. Definitely needs remediation!

While exploring Greene County, I saw that there was a moderate 1.6 mile hiking path inside the…read moreDilcher-Turner Canyon Forest. So, I crossed the railroad tracks (heading west) and pulled into the small lot at the south entrance. There is the usual wipe your feet before you enter and the sign in to let someone know the park is getting used. The park is a bit on the primitive side: no restrooms, natural trails, and only a few benches. There aren't actual trail markers, but during the right conditions, it seemed the painting of white patches on trees to help the hiker orient on the paths seemed to work. I could see this being a necessity after the leaves have fallen and covered up the dirt path. Note that there were several dry creeks that I crossed along the way, but because of the 60' elevation change, I could see the need to cross over water or at least muddy ground after a rain storm. The trail does have a short cut for those not wishing to hike the entire distance. After walking up a mild incline for .2 miles, there is a split in the path with a laminated map showing you where you are and the distances around the paths. I recommend snapping a photo of this since there is only one other map posted on the trails. The outer trail to the left (West) is the one with the best views of the canyon. Deep greens and rocky descents are seen and there is a bench to relax and just listen. No immediate access is available here to the canyon floor. However, the trails do gradually reach the lower portion of the canyon to the east, though never quite reaching the bottom, and certainly not near the viewing area on the west end. Along the way, there are a lot more rock outcroppings that have shallow caves. While observing a squirrel who had run into a fallen log, a deer ran by me within 30 yards to the crest of the hill, and then back to where it came from as I followed the path upward. Note: I wouldn't recommend going off trail here unless you have some high tech equipment or are just a bit crazy. The white trail patches are small and are only painted on the side that you can see them from the trail. If you wander off, you will need a lot of luck to find the markers again. If you are unsure, just stop and look to see the next marker before proceeding. They are there....just use patience. Overall, it was an enjoyable hike. I made good time on my trip, including stops to take photos, taking about 45 minutes. Review #1587

We had Vivi as our tour guide and she was very educational for my husband and my first cave tour…read more It lasted close to an hour and the average temp was a very comfortable 54 degrees on a summer day! We saw a transparent cavern fish that you can see their spine and a frog and a bat.

It was the day before mine and the wife's 30th anniversary and I was looking for something fun and…read moredifferent to do. Enter Bluespring Caverns Park. So on our Anniversary Eve I told her what time we needed to get up and what time we needed to leave to make the drive from Louisville to the park. She had no idea where we were going. When we pulled in to the parking lot she said "Well, this looks fun!". We were fortunate enough to arrive about 10:45 am and were the last two booked for the 11:00 tour. The entre fee is around $25 per person, but being a Veteran I was able to get a $4 discount (I'm also told that the Veteran discount is the only discount they offer any more). The tour starts with a walk down a hill that I couldn't help but think would be GREAT on a sled in the winter. It's a helluva walk (both down and up), but VERY scenic. As you descend you can feel the air cool. On a 90° degree day it felt REALLY nice. Once you're down to the bottom you board a boat and start the tour. Sam was our tour guide and he was Most Excellent. Sam has been doing tours at Bluespring Cavern for about 9 years and he shared all kind of facts and trivia during out tour. As I recall our tour was about 5/8 of a mile at a very leisurely pace. Caverns are such amazing, wonderful places. They're their own little, secret underground world. No matter how many I my brain goes into overdrive trying to imagine how it was hundreds/thousands of years ago, how incredibly still and quiet it must be when empty, and how completely isolating they can be. Sam educated us as we went along and entered different "rooms" in the cavern, giving us history and safety tips (DO NOT drink the water) along the way. We even got to see a few bats on our journey. Our boat tour got over a lot sooner than I expected, then it was time to walk back up the hill I think it'd be a blast to sled down. No worries, I'm in pretty good shape. A quick visit to the gift shop and we were on our way. (I added another shot glass to my collection of over 700). We did the boat tour, but they also offer kayak tours and have an overnight room where groups can actually sleep overnight in the cavern. That would be SO freakin' cool! The staff was friendly and funny, the tour was great, and the gift shop wasn't overdone or kitschy. Bluespring Caverns is SUCH a cool place, and we will absolutely visit again.

We had the best weekend getaway here and are so happy to have found this spot through a friend of a…read morefriend. This forest has many camping sites, but they don't let yo reserve any before arriving. Our friend recommended arriving before 2pm to hopefully get a spot. We arrived then on one of the busiest most beautiful fall weekends and scored the LAST spot. Woohoo! We were allowed two tents on our camping spot, which came with a bonfire set up and cooking rack. There was a wooden bathroom only a few steps away and a lake within walking distance as well. The bathrooms didn't have sinks, but there was a water spigot down the road if needed. Most people camping here came for four or five days at a time and had awesome RV or airstreams set up on their camping sites. Therefore, most people went to bed quite early and we weren't bothered by anyone being too loud. Everyone had great fires going and we liked not being the only ones out here. The building where you pay for your campsite also had $5 log bundles you could buy, so we got a couple of those. There were tons of sticks and leaves around that we used to build up our fire as well. This spot is only a fifteen minute drive from Nashville, IN, so is such a great spot. Go check it out!

This review is specifically for the Jackson Creek trail…read more Overall rating: DNR - Do Not Recommend! Sure, there are some scenic views but the trail is pretty poorly marked. It is an "interpretive" trail but the interpretative markers don't have any description. Let's hope you took a picture of the map at the trail head! This could be a lot nicer with some TLC.

Very nice park with a 1800s walking tour of a grist mill (currently being restored), the stables,…read moreblacksmith, school etc. Nice history and no dogs allowed in the village. Plenty of walking trails, the summer offers a huge pool and some sad looking tennis courts. Camping available with newly added row of full hook ups ( worth the extra money). There is an inn and a restaurant on site too.

Spring Mill State Park has well maintained trails, facilities, and campgrounds! All the employees…read morewe encountered were incredibly kind. I loved how unique and well preserved Pioneer Village is. I bought freshly ground cornmeal so that I could take home a little piece of the park to make cornbread with! The park is dog friendly (other than pioneer village where dog's understandably are not allowed).

Being someone who grew up here this park was a staple of my childhood. Its changed some but overall…read morenot much. They have pickleball courts, basketball courts, a city pool with splash pad, multiple shelters you can rent for get togethers, trails to hike, disc golf course, playground for the kids, and the greatest sledding hill in Indiana come winter time. For the 4th of July, they always shoot off fireworks off the top of the hill for the whole town to see. Arguably one of the best city parks in all of Indiana given the hilly terrain and all the activities.

This public park for Martinsville is comparable to Pioneer Park in Moorseville. There are four…read moretennis courts and two full size basketball courts or they can be used as four half courts. They have a full size pool with a water slide, a splash pad and a good size facilities building to accommodate their water park. Both parks are very similar in that respect. This park might have better shelters depending on your point of view but definitely a couple more with a total of nine. Most are fully enclosed and most have fireplaces. Most have some sort of playground equipment at each shelter location. These shelters can be more accomdodating in inclement weather or during colder weather. But enclosed ones have ways to open them up for summer weather such as one or more garage doors. Parking is plentiful at most shelters and all have access to a paved road. There are trails for hiking, a large fishing pond and a dedicated playground with a huge spaceship structure at its core. A dog park is available. My only complaint is there is no sign that I saw directing you to the restrooms. The obvious boy & girl restrooms at the rear dog park were locked.