A hidden gem in Southern Indiana. This is right off I-69 by Jasper. Only $10 to camp here with a…read moretent. For canoe and kayak rentals it's only $1 a day! Such great prices for an amazing location. We set up our tent on a peninsula overlooking the lake with nobody near us. The interstate noise carried, but it wasn't too loud. We didn't put on the rain fly and could hear the crickets, frogs and fish jumping. Campground was well kept. Clean bathrooms, mowed lawn, playground for kids, and everyone (staff and campers) were friendly. Perfect spot to test out my new tent. Great park to enjoy Indiana summer nights!

Camped here once great! Golf course we go here sometimes every Sunday! We love this place.read more

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!

Hornady Park is mainly an open space with some shade trees, a nice fishing pond, a shelter and a…read moreplayground. There is a loop for traffic to circumnavigate the park with an occasional pull off place for a few cars to park. On the east side is a shelter. On the south side is the playground. If you simply like being outside or letting your kids run and climb on the playground equipment, then you may have a more favorable view of the place. I'm not much of a fisherman, so I can't tell you if this is a good or bad place to catch fish, but I thought the lake looked well maintained. Review #3186

Hornady Park is a good place to keep you entertained. Very good splash park for little kidsread more

Here for the annual Casey popcorn festival. A lot of fun - tons of vendors, food, vendors, and…read morepeople selling everything as typical with a town festival. Lots of free entertainment some pretty decent size acts and then just some locals. In addition, free popcorn for everyone. Rides and other activities. Takes place every year on Labor Day weekend.

This park is a good place to just relax for a little bit while traveling. There is a lot of big…read morethings to see in Casey, Ill, so it's nice to have a place like this where you can just chill. There is a lot of greenery, quite a few picnic areas, a playground, ponds (with ducks & geese), and restrooms in addition to sports fields. Moreover, there is an RV park as well with restrooms and showers. It's very pretty and there's lots of public parking.

Such a Great experience for all ages doing both the drive thru and walk thru gave you an up close…read moreand personal experience with the wildlife

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this place. I expected some little petting zoo but this was a…read morelot more. We splurged and did the wagon ride and we're not disappointed. Everyone is given a bowl of animal food and these animals know it! The wagon crossed the cattle guards and here came the animals. Horses, water buffalos, things I've never seen nor heard of. You then can place food in your hand and these animals reach under the bars of the wagon to eat from your hand. For those not wanting that you can always place the food on the wagon floor. But hand feeding a bison was definitely a first for me. There is also an option to drive your own vehicle through the zoo but the wagon ride seems more exciting (and safer on the car). There is also a walking trail past the petting zoo, kangaroos, hyenas, and others. We did not go through the prehistoric museum. Only disappointment for one of us was that we didn't pet the sloth. A great kid experience after spending time driving through Amish country.

This was the perfect place to view the total eclipse of the sun in 2024. I was coming from the…read moreannual Midwest Sociological Society meeting which was in Des Moines, and stopped the night before north of here near Champaign Urbana. The Chief of Staff and I thought we were located well from there to either go East into Indiana or South to Southern Illinois to get well into the Path of Totality depending on the shifting weather reports and radar predicting partial cloudiness. We ended up here and the town was most welcoming. This is a very pleasant park even without a once in a lifetime celestial event, it's large and can handle lots of cars without feeling crowded. There's a good play ground, lots of benches and swings and grass and trees. Nice picnic tables, very family friendly but also nice to spend some time alone with a book. Reasonably clean restrooms, and the town is very much worth a visit.

The squirrels are very cute and will come up to you for you to feed them, brown and white ones…read more Bathrooms and playgrounds.

This is a nice nature park. It has a couple of ample sized parking areas, three to be exact. There…read moreis a nice calm 3 acre lake in the park with picnic tables and picnic shelters with tables under them and grills just outside of them. Fishing is allowed in the lake, but with limits. You will definitely need a fishing license to fish here. With every nature park, there is some green space to play filed activities such as soccer, football, catch, kite flying or other activities. This park is no exception. There is a decent amount of green space by the playground area. Some of the shelters are in desperate need of repair though. A couple has sections of the roof collapsing in. There is a small playground at this park with older traditional equipment laid on a wood chip bed. Some of the playground equipment includes a some traditional and toddler swings, A tall spiral slide, a decent sized jungle gym with slides, a see-saw, and a large truck tire. It has benches and picnic tables on the perimeter of the area where parents can sit and watch their littles. There are a couple of small accessible piers on the lake that you can walk out on. They do not go too deep into the lake. I would say about 10 to 15 feet from shore. You will find a nature center and Native American Museum here at the park, along with some awesome wooded trails. It you are not feeling adventurous and are intimidated by the wood trail, you can just walk around the lake. I saw a bunch of people doing that while I was there. Additionally, there is a nice bike/running trail that goes past the front of the park. All in all, there are approximately 3 miles of trails which will take you past restored wetlands, through pine woods, old growth and second growth forest as well as a 25 acre State Nature Preserve. With visits to the Nature Center, native American Museum, Lake, playground and trails, you could easily spend a half a day or more here. I wish that the playground area was a little bit more robust, but it will do. This park has a peaceful vibe and is very relaxing. It is a destination park and hopefully you will get to visit it in the near future.

We are retired. Nice place to bring your lunch, watch the Canadian geese, and dads trying to teach…read moretheir kids to fish!!

Great place to spend the day with the family. The nature center offers a visitors center with…read moreanimals, a library, lots of activities for kids and also a bird observation window. I love taking my dog and my stepdaughter for a free day of fun.

This a great place to rest and recreate. It is so peaceful and the volunteers are the most…read morefriendly. Come out and watch the birds,feed the fish or just count the trees.

It was a perfect day for hiking around the paved trail of this park on the NW side of Bloomington!…read more After pulling into the large paved parking lot, I noticed the playground and shelter to the west, the community gardens to the east, and a basketball court to the north. Between the shelter and the court, a wide paved trail (very little change in elevation, so excellent for physically challenged visitors!) takes a short loop around the pond in the park. I would estimate the walk is roughly the distance of what you would find at a high school track. But what you see, particularly in the autumn, is a wide range of color as the woods slope away from the trail. There is also a POI on the east end of the trail called "Hack's Arch" which is made of stone and has its own plaque telling why it is there. Though it is a little out of the way from downtown Bloomington, it is easy to find (despite the small detour for road repair.) Simply take 17th Street west (it becomes Vernal) over the interstate and watch for the park on the north side of the road. Well kept and though some of the large trees were recently removed for safety reasons, brand new trees are being planted to bring more shade to the area with less risk of falling branches. Review #3288