It's a new bridge but still done in that classic style. We took this in before the Covered Bridge…read moreFestival so we could enjoy the beautiful area before the crowds. If you come during the festival this place is filled with activities and vendors

Such a pretty view of a little waterfall near this old mill! There's also a historic marker nearby…read more Phone service connectivity is a major issue when touring Parke County, so it was a huge perk to get free wifi at this location as I planned my next stop.

Wolf Park is a wolf sanctuary where people are educated about wolves and taught to be respectful of…read morethese magnificent creatures. You can go out in groups to explore the land and you might get lucky enough to actually see a wolf in the wild. There are lots of fun things to buy in the gift shop. There are plenty of great picture opportunities in the park. If you love nature or wolves this is a great place to check out.

Taking part in nature is always a great way to spend the day. I would make sure to take the guided…read moretour this makes sure you will have the opportunity to see the Wolves arrangements must be made ahead of time. We did see 2 of the Wolves and heard them howling in the distance. The staff was very informative about the facility

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.

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.

played there 3 times this year and the course has only improved over the summer. Greens are in…read moregreat shape and the fairways are great. The only bad thing I have to say is that there are 2 older gentlemen that think they own the course. All 3 times they stand at the senior T's and talk and talk and talk.. Yesterday we tried and tried to get their attention to either hit or let us play through. Then I drove to them to see if they were ok and was meet with foul language and gestures. I went back we t'd off and while we were going by them one of them gave me the finger and was told to go get F'd. We also noticed that later many groups were held up by these 2. They ruined a great day of golfing. Thanks

Beautiful park with plenty of options for everybody. Great walking paths and golf courses.read more

Great park. Love taking the dogs to walk around the lake on a nice day! Area around the lake is…read moreflat and easy, but the trail through the woods is challenging so you can get anything you want. Views are amazing, especially at sunset!

Note: Review is for the park only, not the campground…read more This east side park is lush and green with several shelters, playgrounds, and Burns Lake. The lake has numerous fishing docks. An Amphitheater with stone seating faces the lake and has a small "stage" area at the base. The rest of the park has a paved path on the east side and other trails that wander around the lake. One of the key points of interest along the path is the Kenneth E Smith Memorial Labyrinth which is a recreation of the one "in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France in 1220." There are 34 changes of direction before you reach the center. If you stay on path, it totals 0.58 miles if completed. Of course, since it is simply inlaid without barriers, you can walk off anytime you choose. Most of the areas I walked were clean, but some natural debris, like fallen limbs, was around. A large tree had fallen into Burns Lake near one of the fishing docks. Shelters seemed clean and came with numerous picnic tables and some grills. Overall, a nice place to hike and play on a day trip. Review #2691

Nice place for a walk and some bird watching. Some trails are paved and some are mowed grass and…read moresome are crushed gravel. You can stick with level trails but they have less shade or you can head in to the woods and get shade but more elevation shade. I was there on a Friday afternoon and I didn't see another person at all.

This secluded park has several types of hiking available. For those who like wooded hikes with…read moresteep terrain changes, Trail #2 is a half mile loop that will get your heart pounding. For someone who likes a level hike along a prairie, the park has a longer loop around the perimeter of the 83 acre park. For visitors with mobility challenges, a paved loop near the north end parking lot goes around the northern prairie while skirting along the north end of the woods. The park is located off SR 67, south of Martinsville, just passed the street sign for Hyndsdale on North Duckworth Road. Duckworth makes several zigzags west and north before you see the east parking lot (the north parking lot is farther north and then west on Gray Road.) At the east end parking lot, you can head straight west up the gravel path into the woods. At the crest of the hill, you will be able to head left, straight, or right. The right side path is for Trail 1 and leads north on a short loop back to the parking lot. The left side path and the straight path are the two ends of Trail 2 which wanders through the hilly forest until reaching the south/west edge of the forest. The stretch between these two exits is a gravel path along the prairie that connects the two. Unfortunately, there are no trail markers and only some of the kiosks at the north end parking lot have maps showing where the trails lead. Apparently, there is supposed to be a tree identification program along the trails, but I could not find any markers along the trail to tell which trees matched up to the photo I took of the map with the key. The north end parking area has access to a shelter (with a grill and tables) and a mini "playground". There are a couple additional picnic tables to the west of the lot that are shaded and overlook the creek. Port-o-lets are found at the north parking lot as well. While hiking, I also noticed lots of bird houses for different varieties of fowl in both the prairie and wooded areas. Near the north lot, there is also a utility pole with numerous bat houses mounted near the top. The houses are for the endangered Indiana Bat. Fortunately, the bats are nocturnal, so no need to be concerned about an encounter. Overall, I liked the variety of the hiking trails, but wish that the park system would make sure both parking lots had trail information and that the trails and trees were indicated more clearly. Review #869

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.

Raccoon State Park in Parke County is a beautiful park with a nice campgound, but we will not be…read morereturning. All I can suggest is that if you go there and have a problem with a dog attack, that you 1. make sure you make a report with DNR when it happens, 2. you get the names of the OWNER(s) of the dog(s) and not just the name(s) of the person(s) who has control of the dog(s) at the time of the attack. I also suggest if you, a family member or your pet(s) are hurt, do go to the doctor or vet asap and retain a full report of the visit. The rules of keeping pets on a leach no longer than 6 foot long and/or keeping them securely tied up appeared not to be enforced and may not be a violation that would be deemed liable for the dog(s) owner if you are injured. This is not legal advise as I am not an attorney, just a word of advise. I am sure this can happen anywhere, but this is what we came across at Raccoon in Parke County, so this is our own story. Otherwise, this is a great state park and the staff has always been wonderful.

We truly enjoyed our stay here! It was such a peaceful experience, and we were even visited by a…read morecurious raccoon. This place has so many sites to choose from, and you can't go wrong no matter what you choose! We can't wait to stay again.

I'm a lover of labyrinths and working to develop a memorial labyrinth here in my home city of…read moreIndianapolis. I've long been an activist and I've frequently visited Terre Haute on my travels allowing me to visit the Kenneth E. Smith Memorial Labyrinth, an 80-foot in diameter labyrinth with 34 turns located in Hawthorn Park adjacent to the Dogwood Shelter. It is patterned after France's Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth, an early design that continues to inspire many of today's labyrinths. This labyrinth is one of the few in Indiana to make a conscious effort to be wheelchair accessible. The path is 30" wide with 6" in-between in an effort to allow room for wheelchairs and strollers. My guess is that this would actually work well for most manual wheelchairs. This labyrinth was completed in 2003 and is constructed of aggregate mix concrete. As it's in a park setting, it's surrounded by much greenery. I wouldn't say this is one of Terre Haute's premiere parks, though most times I've visited it's been fairly well kept. This is especially true of the labyrinth itself as it has a garden maintained by the Wabash Valley Master Gardeners. A meditation garden surrounds the labyrinth. It features a swing, benches, rose bushes, a fountain, trees, and other greenery. Much of the funding for the labyrinth was donated by Mrs. Lavern Smith in memory of her husband who had passed in 2000. It is intended to be a family friendly labyrinth and is open to children during the dawn to dusk park hours. Because of the meditative atmosphere here, it's an ideal location for a small wedding or more serene, spiritual type of event. The J.I. Case Wetland Refuge is also located within the park's grounds. The entire park is just over 256 acres and includes camping options. It's on the border of Rose-Hulman and also accessible from the Heritage Road National Trail.