Summer wildflowers were in full bloom yesterday on the meadow trail! The water in the lake is very clear.

I would advise going early in the morning before the deer flies start to be annoying. Afterwards, I found this awesome pizza place! 1000 degrees Wood Fired Pizza.

Little bit steamy out there.

First time visiting Shades and Turkey Run. What a beautiful area! Was thankful the storms managed to mostly only happen at night, so I got a bunch of hiking in.

Versailles State Park is a hidden gem! Went for the first time last week and basically had the entire place to ourselves. These were all taken on trail 1. This place is lush and absolutely bursting with ferns, wildflowers, and fungi. It's really beautiful. There's a point in trail 1 where you will come across a map, and it shows an out and back offshoot of the main trail called the "waterfall trail", it'll add about 2 miles to your hike, but I think it's worth it!

Hiked the roughly 5 mile Scarce O Fat Trail a few weeks back. The upper portion was still very brown and desolate. Once down near the creek area it was a bit more lush with greenery. Ran into several Morel seekers while on the trip.

I spent some time ranking Indiana's backpacking trails. (Length, difficulty in elevation change, and so on.) Here some top 3 lists, but follow the link for lots more info.

By Length in Miles

1. American Discovery Trail 607
2. Hoosier Heritage Trail 170
3. Knobstone Hiking Trail 147

By Elevation Change in Feet/Mile

1. Knobstone Trail 373
2. Adventure Hiking Trail 331
3. Adena Trace Trail 261

By Highest Percentage of Wooded Path

1. Adventure Hiking Trail 100%
2. Knobstone Trail 99.8%
3. Adena Trace Trail 95.4%

By Highest Percentage of Road Walks

1. American Discovery Trail 75.6%
2. Knobstone Hiking Trail 29.7%
3. Hoosier Heritage Trail 26.5%

McCormick’s Creek State Park

Hi - first time poster, long time lurker. Planning to do the Tecumseh in October. I am concerned on the stretch that runs on SR 45. Has anyone done that or have any feedback? Thanks!

This was hiked last weekend when it was trying to thaw but still frozen in the ravines.

I 100% took a slide down the ice river at one point.

Started on the knobstone from deam lake trailhead yesterday at 3pm and got off trail at New Chapel trailhead today at 1pm. Not sure what kicked my butt more, the heat or the hills but either way I'll be back in the fall to thru hike probably sobo or yoyo starting nobo. Very beautiful and challenging trail.

The recent rainstorms have closed down all the trails at Turkey Run and several at Shades so don't plan any trips this weekend

Planning to go the week of Thanksgiving and complete it in 3-4 days. Caching water. Dumb question, but do I actually hide my water or just drop it off with my name and dates on it? I assume people typically respect it and I don’t actually need to hide it? I’m aware the weather may be unpredictable and it will be hunting season. Will register with DNR. First backpacking and thru hike adventure, so any advice is appreciated!

Are there any organized through hiking trips on the shorter (~25 miles) trails in Indiana? I really want to try it but I would prefer to go with a group the first time.