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!

As an activist who has historically traveled the state of Indiana quite often and usually by…read morewheelchair, I've become aware of a good majority of Indiana's more wheelchair friendly trails. While I mostly prefer the longer trails, occasionally, a good trail within a city is a great place to hold a community event and to invite others to join. There's nothing like a one-mile memorial walk to really draw community support. The Dobbs Trail in Terre Haute is such a trail. It's a one-mile trail that connects two of Terre Haute's premier city parks - Dobbs Park and Deming Park. The trail extends from the backside of the Deming Park pool, goes across a bridge, travels through Dobbs Grove, and ends up at a scenic circle of bricks. It's a mostly paved, relatively level surface that is wheelchair friendly and I have used it for special events a couple of times when in Terre Haute. There's a relatively small section of it that's more cleared forestry, but I had zero issues with it. Most of the trail follows along Poplar Street, a relatively popular residential street that also offers decent visibility. Dobbs Park is a great place to visit with a Native American Museum, a nature center, a pond, a butterfly garden, and thick greenery. Deming is a bigger park at 177 acres. It offers an arboretum, playground, disc golf course, public pool, and athletic facilities. Both parks are really nice to visit and well maintained. While I can't consider this a 5-star trail at just a mile long, it's a nice trail to visit if you're in the Terre Haute area and it's great for walkers/runners/bikers across the spectrum of experience.

This is a great park for Weddings. There is a beautiful view…read moreof the Wabash River. The main shelter house is big enough for a large Wedding Reception. It also has a large stage for your reception entertainment. Adjacent to the Shelter House is Food Prep and Serving Building with a small porch that would be perfect for the wedding party dinning or gift area. Then there is a Grilling Shelter with a grill large enough to cook the entire meal for wedding reception behind the Serving Building. There are very nice indoor restrooms next the the Merom Water Tower. And a nice playground for the restless kids to be entertained. The price is very reasonable. You won't be disappointed.

The City Park of Sullivan covers approximately 50 acres of beautiful, well-maintained green space…read more The main entrance is located in the 600 block of South Main Street, just eight blocks south of the Sullivan Civic Center. The second entrance to the Sullivan Youth Sports Complex is located at 480 E Silver St. In addition to lovely, tree-filled acres for walking and for just enjoying the health benefits of being out of doors, our City Park has a lot to offer including: An outdoor stage Picnic tables throughout the Park Playground equipment and areas for all ages Pickleball courts Soccer fields Softball fields Football fields Basketball court Pickleball courts Public restrooms Enclosed shelter house building With food Prep area. Open shelter houses The City Swimming Pool Complex The Park is open to the public year around from 8:00 AM until 9:00 PM. You can receive information about the City Park by calling City Hall at phone number 812-268-6077. Feel free to call or visit City Hall to get information about how to reserve the shelter houses for your events.

Located on a one way street, the entrance to the park must be approached from the south. The park…read morehas a driveway that loops around the playground and has parking on the east side by some buildings. To the south is a shelter (by the entrance) and the municipal pool to the east. On the north end are basketball and tennis courts. The playground has plenty of shade and seating for adults. Lots of mature trees surround the shelter area as well. Overall, a nice park for the county seat of Sullivan. Review #2962

Great place to be camping. Clean. Sites offer some privacy with trees on each side . Picnic table…read moreand fire pit. Dump station, garbage and. Clean water fillup. Everyone so friendly.

This is not "Abe Lincoln", but his father "Thomas Lincoln". They were owned by Abraham Lincoln and…read moredeeded to his father Thomas. There's a museum which talks about the time/place when Thomas Lincoln lived here - takes about 45 minutes. There are groups where it is set up with buildings and farm animals of the Thomas' Lincoln's time. His grave is just down the road. A key part compares two farmers of the time period. One is a farmer from the area that was interested in farming for profit with the latest technology and Thomas Lincoln, who farmed for the purpose of being a self-sufficient farm owner. There is an example of the homes of each type of farmer. We went in March; apparently there are tours during the summer. Ours was self-guided.

I love Lincoln Log Cabin and have since I was a very young child…read more In the past, there were many animals there and actors who would talk to you in the part of people living during the time period. This was always super fun. I see that much less often now. There are less animals (last time I visited they had sheep, pigs, and chickens only) and I haven't seen any actors there in a while. With that being said, I enjoyed the sheep, chickens, and pigs and I also enjoyed looking at the buildings. They were all locked during my last visit, but sometimes you can go inside of them and look at the insides of the cabins, which is much more fun. During my last visit they were offering free produce they grew in their garden and I liked that a lot. We grabbed some tomatoes. The reduction of one star is simply because I remember the past when this place was super amazing. Now there haven't been actors the last few visits. I have seen sheep, cows, horses, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and cats there before, but my last visit only had three of those animals. In addition, it's more fun when you can enter the buildings. Even without all the animals and actors and access to the buildings, it's super fun and I'd recommend it!

This Public Access Site to the Wabash River started out as the Merom Ferry River Crossing…read more Mrs. Elizabeth O'Boyle Cooper emigrated to America from Ireland and married John O'Boyle. She purchased 2000 acres of lane in the Merom area. After a few years of using a skiff to cross the river she decided to start A Ferry Service. The Cooper Family ran the Merom Ferry Service for several years. The Merom Ferry Service ran well into the 20th century changing owner a few times. Today Merom has a lot more to offer than the Public Access Site. There is the Historical Merom Bluff Park at the top of the Bluff and The Merom Bluff Board Walk Nature Trail at the bottom of the Bluff. The trail has two paths. One runs a short distance along the Wabash River Bank with a small shelter house overlooking the river. With a second path going to up the Merom Bluff Park. The Public Access Boat Launch is concrete and well maintained by the DNR year round. There is also concrete Handicap parking with an additional gravel and grass parking area for your truck and trailer. You won't be disappointed

Casey is the small town full of the World's Largest Things and this is the World's Largest Golf…read moreTee. Appropriately located at the Casey Country Club, I was here on a Sunday in late April. There wasn't anyone else around so I had the Golf Tee to myself. It's interesting but unless you're obsessed with this sort of stuff as I am, I wouldn't go out of my way. Though Casey is an easy detour just off I-70 so you can make it quick as you zip on by between Terre Haute and Saint Louis. [Review 19674 overall - 129 in Illinois - 646 of 2023.]

All of the unique attractions in Casey get 5/5 stars from me and the golf tee is no different…read more Enter through the pro-shop to check-out the golf tee. They even have a viewing deck that you can walk to the top of for a better picture of this monstrosity. For close-up pictures walk down the brick path. Pro-shop stocks some "World's Largest Golf Tee" souvenirs that I snagged for my Dad who's a golf fanatic. If you're already in Casey don't skip this stop on your map! Friendly locals at the golf course, too.