Garnering its name from its most prominent features, Indiana Dunes State Park offers an experience and ecosystem exclusive to the state park system. The ever-changing dunes began forming around 6,500 years ago with the retreat of the last glaciers,…

Established in 1990, the Falls of the Ohio State Park encompasses a rich cultural and natural history unlike anywhere else along the Ohio or Mississippi rivers. Between the start of the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, PA and the confluence of the…

Dedicated in 1925, Pokagon State Park is named for Potawatomi leaders Leopold and Simon Pokagon, who lived in this area during the 1800s. Potawatomi settlements date back to at least the early 1800s around Lake James, now part of Pokagon State Park.…

Each of Indiana’s state parks has something unique to offer and Spring Mill is no exception. Although currently encompassing over a thousand acres, the original 295 acres was purchased from a cement company for one dollar. Included in that purchase…

Opened in 1929, Brown County State Park is the largest of Indiana’s state parks. Known for many decades as the “Little Smokies” because of the area’s resemblance to the Great Smoky Mountains, the park draws more people to it than any other in the…

From Native American mounds to merry-go-rounds, Mounds State Park attests to the varied history of Indiana. Named after the numerous Native American-constructed mounds dotting the park, these features drove the preservation of this land and the…

Though not as well known or as visited as Turkey Run, Shades State Park shares much of the same natural splendor, geology, and ecosystems that visitors to Turkey Run have enjoyed for one hundred years. Added to the state park system in 1947, “Shades…

Originally slated to be Indiana’s first state park, the failure to reach a deal on the purchase of park lands resulted in the creation of McCormick’s Creek S.P. a few months earlier than Turkey Run. The brainchild of Colonel Richard Lieber, who also…

Eyeing the state’s centennial, Colonel Richard Lieber and others helped organize the creation of McCormick’s Creek State Park in 1916, making it Indiana’s first state park. McCormick’s Creek earned its named from John McCormick, a Revolutionary War…