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

Brown County Country Club (BC3) is nestled in the woods just a couple miles from downtown…read moreNashville, Indiana. I visited there on 11/7/15 for a friend's private event and I loved it! When you drive up, first you notice a massive amount of green land with trees bordering the property. There's a 100 acres of land, so there's plenty of green space. Down the drive, there's a parking lot next to their main building. There's space for 30-40 cars, at the very least. Walking into the building, if you look to your right at sunset (when we arrived), you'll catch a brilliant sunset past the trees. It's a wonderful time to be in nature! Once you walk down the path and into the venue, allow your eyes to soak up the cozy warmth of the wooden walls, bar, and floor. This is a lovely place! Right when you walk in there is a bar to the right and then space for around 4-5 round tables and some counters/long table space for food. Keep walking and you'll have three amazing bathrooms to your left. I know, right? How strange is it to be in love with a venue's bathrooms, but you'll know when you see it. The bathroom doors are set to slide open along the wall, and are all made of re-purposed wood from a Brown County auction (thanks to one of the owners' family members explaining this to me!). The bathroom interiors are all bright colors and nothing is gender specific. Also, it's eco-friendly! The sink water fills up the toilet tanks and there are dozens of white towels & a laundry basket. There's a larger gathering place that can fit around 7-8 round tables in the next room, and past this is a door leading to the outside. They allow bonfires, woohoo! Beautiful. Also, the land is so far away from Bloomington and Indianapolis, that there's no light pollution ruining the night sky. On a clear night, there are dozens of sparkling stars. Camping may even be allowed (it was at this event) and there's plenty of space. They have space for disc golf as well. Overall, I loved the place. I hope to attend future events at this venue. This is a family-owned property and it's the perfect addition to the Nashville/southern Indiana community!

Beautiful family owned 24 hole disc golf course. I'm a first time player and had a blast!!…read moreEverything was well marked out and well maintained!! I also enjoyed the wildlife out in the course. We met one of the owners and enjoyed hearing the story behind the business. Definitely a must do if in the area!!!

If you like hiking in natural settings where you can get a fair amount of distance (around 2 miles…read moreper loop) and without much elevation change (about 60 feet), this may become a new favorite park for you. As part of the Sycamore Land Trust, the properties here total 98 acres and were acquired in 1995 & 1998, so just over 20 years of naturally converting from farm land. There are wooded areas and prairies. There is a small lake hidden from view on the trail but just at the beginning of the Shawnee Trail loop. On the east side of the Shawnee Trail is a small observation deck that lets you overlook a prairie. Not a much better view, but it does held see over some of the grasses that obstruct your view. I will mention that if you are going here, wear clothing that you won't mind getting muddy. Also, be aware that the natural trails are mowed without any gravel or grit for traction, so even if it hasn't rained recently, the trail does hold some moisture which can make it slippery and muddy. I was surprised a couple times with all the fallen leaves and if not for a bit of luck, I may have slipped to the ground. There is a map of the trail paths at the parking lot. I suggest taking a photo with your phone so that you can check progress. The basic layout is the Lenape Trail heads east from the parking lot. If you take the short cut, the trail is only 0.7 miles long through a lightly wooded area. If you push on to the eastern edge of the trail, you add another 0.6 miles and will get more elevation change and pass through some areas where wooden bridges cross over the creek several times. If you want to explore some area where the observation deck and more meadows are visible, take the path that leads to the Shawnee Trail to the north. After following a 0.1 mile path to the north, you can work your way around the loop which is another 0.5 miles. Note that there are random placements of benches along the trails. No restroom facilities exist. The parking lot is gravel and is located about a half mile south of SR 46. I look forward to returning in the spring/summer months when the wildlife is more active and the fields are more colorful. Review #2061

Great experience with bottoms up. Mike was a great instructor. Mike understands people's nerves…read moreduring this process and puts them at ease. He took his time to ensure everyone in my group felt comfortable. I would recommend to anyone!

I have calmed down since my first review. The two employees I mentioned in my review reached out to…read moreme, apologized and tried to make things right. I very much appreciate that. The owner, however, did not take responsibility for his employees or his own actions, did not apologize, made excuses, and blamed me for the problems I experienced. A fellow student reached out to me saying the delay was due to providing safety for all six students with one instructor. There were two students with one instructor and one person training to be an instructor. She suggested that I should have considered hiring a private lesson with an instructor. Funny, I just needed to go through skills, she needed the extra time. My review stays the same, find a different dive company for SCUBA lessons. Try MPH Water Sports or Diver's Supply Indy.

Bloomington is so lucky to have IndiGo Birding here in this small town. David Rupp is not just…read moreextremely knowledgeable about birds. He also has an inescapable enthusiasm and wonderful sense of humor. Bird watching tours can be hikes or kayak rides. I did both, and David was a great instructor for my first time kayaking. You don't have to be a serious "birder" (I'm not) to enjoy David's events. This would be a great introduction for children or teenagers. If you don't see a tour on David's website that fits your schedule, contact him. David added two tours to his schedule just for us. And because others signed up once the new tours were posted, we did not have to pay the private tour rate. David took care of everything, providing binoculars, driving us to and from the hiking spot (which gave us a much appreciated chance to talk with him and learn about the area), and, for the kayaking trip, David brought the kayaks in and out. If you prefer a canoe, just ask for one. For what David provides, these tours are very reasonably priced. This would be ideal for visiting friends and family. My outings with David were by far the two most interesting things I did this summer!

David is AMAZING!!!! So knowledgeable, and he is so great with kids! Most of our group were bird…read morerookies but he taught us everything we needed to know, brought professional grade binoculars for all of us, as well as other professional telescopes for far away birds, AND was gentlemanly enough to let us put all our stuff in his back pack since we forgot to bring one (LOL). My son loves birds and is only 5, and David was so patient and wonderful with him, and our entire family had SO much fun! This is such a great activity to do for any age group, we got to hike in a beautiful area and check out animals we had never seen before!

I've lived in this area for several years and just discovered this local hidden gem. As others have…read moresaid, the gravel/dirt road to gain entrance is VERY steep and has some serious pot holes. My small Mazda SUV handled it just fine, going slowly, but I did get a little nervous going back down. Slow and steady, as long as you've got good brakes, and you should be fine. Just like the short driveway up to the small parking area, the paths are quite steep. When you enter the trail area, take the trail to your right. The trail loops around, returning you to the entrance. If you go the opposite direction, you'll be left to go up the steepest part of the hike. I made that mistake the first time, and let's just say it really tested my ticker. The whole trail takes you about 20 minutes if you don't make any stops. You certainly get the feel of being out in the wilderness, minus being able to hear the nearby highway and airplanes coming and going from the airport.

This is a small land trust tucked on 67 near Martinsville that is a fun moderate hike. The gravel…read moredrove into the small parking area is a steep curving uphill road so make sure you either bring the appropriate vehicle or plan to park a bit away and walk in. It is off of a nice wooded road with private residences, so is mostly quiet with the feel of deep woods. You can hear a bit of the road from later in the trail but it isn't too overwhelming. The trail is marked with some signs but can get confusing if you don't prepare and download a map given online. It helps to have also read a few blog posts about the land trust so as to get a feel for the trail and types of wildlife you might encounter. There are no benches along the way or any facilities in this spot, but there are plenty of fallen trees on which to sit if you want to stop and take a break or listen to the sounds of the woods. It is a lovely hike which has some hills and uphill depending on which way you go on the trail, and some wonderful vistas of the woods ahead. We throughly enjoyed our hike and we took breaks to look around so it took us a bit longer. I'd say it is a good 1 1/2 hour path at a slower walking pace. We did get a bit confused and did one extra loop twice as the marker isn't really well defined, so next time I will use the map or use Alltrails to calculate our path. A wonderful outing though and then we headed to Martinsville for some local BBQ which made the day that much more fun! Highly recommend this spot!

This park makes good use of a flood plain next to the Blue River. The small park offers a public…read moreboat launch, about 20 spots for campers, a pavilion, ball fields, playground and rail trail. Today when we visited, the fields were under water from recent rains. The playground offers a lot of slides and swings. The equipment was clean but rusting in spots and in need of a face lift. The boat launch is a little treacherous during high water. You really need to watch children as there is no safety protection around the boat launch and the water run quickly. I was pleased to see a police patrol in the park during one of my visits.

This riverfront park has several shelters, a playground, a boat launch, multiple camping sites, and…read moresome sports fields. The park is in need of some attention and appeared to be having some work done near the soccer fields at the south end of the park. There is a paved trail that runs along a ridge on the east end of the park and extends all the way to the observation deck overlooking the Big Blue River. The river has a ridge that helps keep the water from overflowing into the park area. The camping sites (with picnic tables and hookups, but no grills) line the river bank. A playground is centrally located between the shelters and is fenced. It has several slides, swings, and some climbing equipment. Overall, it seems like a decent park for the town but could use some updates. Review #835

As an adult with a disability, it can be super tricky trying to honestly review certain businesses,…read morelandmarks, and natural settings because there's a need to balance honesty with the awareness that after quite a few years of life I've accepted that certain places simply will never be accessible. A nature preserve is a great example. Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve is absolutely beautiful, but only a small portion of it really can be considered accessible. First off, this is a wetland preserve. That means, well, "wet" and "land." Part of the trail is dirt. Part of the trail is this sort of hard plastic boardwalk. It's rather narrow (I can't picture a large motorized chair handling it, though my smaller manual chair could for the most part). This nature preserve has 824 acres. It provides a home for the endangered Indiana bat, the Kirtland's snake, and there's reportedly an eagle's nest here (the bird, not the restaurant. Ha.). This is an Indiana State Nature Preserve, an "Important Bird Area" per the National Audubon Society, and a Wetland of Distinction by the Society of Wetland Scientists. The hiking trail comes in at about 2.5 miles. It's worth noting that accessibility is limited. There are eight parking spots, no restroom facilities, and the area is prone to flooding. The raised boardwalk has four observation decks. Kudos to the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and Duke Energy Foundation for improving accessibility with the newest part of the boardwalk trail. The plastic deck is 36" wide with openings of less than 1/2". The maximum grade is 10% for 15'. The trail is for the most part what I'd consider flat. There are six places where you can pass/turn around. If you're prone to falls or unstable pushing your wheelchair, I wouldn't do this alone as if you go off the boardwalk, which is possible, you're in the water. In case you're wondering, the Kirtland's snake is non-venomous and pretty reclusive. I will note that the trail from the parking lot to the boardwalk is crushed gravel. Again, I found it manageable but many would not. This is not a recreation spot. There are no real "activities" here. It's a nature preserve, and that's exactly what it's about. Birders should also be happy here. You might see an eagle, an egret, woodpeckers, woodcocks, warblers, and more. There's also a frog pond (I confess. I love frogs.). Nature preserves are not "parks." This is a remarkable place preserving nature, and I was pretty in awe of it. Parks, at least to me, always feel relatively controlled. Nature Preserves have a bit of spontaneity to them, maybe even risk. I'm so glad I found this place. I never knew about it, but when I was in the Bean Blossom area I did a quick search of other places to check out and "Voila!" here it was!

The Trees Are Fresh The Bugs Are Kinda Annoying At Times…read moreAnd The Nature In This Park As Really Good I Recommend You Take A Walk Here If You Wanna Get Vitamin D