Mounds State Park/Summit Lake State Park

The two final parkis I hiked in over July 4th weekend were Mounds State Park and Summit Lake State Park.  Mounds State Park has an interesting history.  According to Wikipedia, Mounds State Park is a state park near Anderson, Madison County, Indiana featuring Native American heritage, and ten ceremonial mounds built by the prehistoric Adena culture indigenous peoples of eastern North America, and also used centuries later by Hopewell culture inhabitants.  I didn't get any pictures of these because I didn't think it would translate well to my phone camera, but here is a photo of a trail I hiked:

You can read more about Mounds State Park here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mounds_State_Park.

Next stop was Summit Lake State Park.  According to Wikipedia:  Summit Lake State Park is a park located near New Castle, Indiana in east-central Indiana. Summit Lake became Indiana's 19th state park in 1988. The park covers 2,680 acres (11 km²), including an 800-acre (3.2 km²) lake.

The park is a mix of woodlands, old fields, wetlands, and prairie restoration areas which provide a wide range of flora and fauna. More than 100 species of birds reside in the park, and the area is popular among photographers and bird watchers. Hiking trails offer good views of the lake. Zeigler Woods Nature Preserve, at the southwest corner of the park, is Henry County's only dedicated nature preserve.

Like Shakamak, this park looked like it had a manmade lake on it and felt more like a recreation area than a park to me.  A good friend went with me.  We had a picnic lunch after Mounds State Park hiking, and then set off on a trail that went through a little prairie with lots of wildflowers.  Boy was it hot!!  We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible.

I wasn't very impressed by this park.  Maybe it would have been more interesting if we had kayaked, or were there early enough to catch some birdwatching.  

McCormick's Creek State Park

 In my continuing quest to hike all Indiana State Parks (I haven't already done) this year, my next stop on July 4th weekend was McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer, IN.  This was definitely my favorite for the weekend so far.  There were two waterfalls:  one smaller, and one bigger one.  The trails were beautiful, but I will say they could have marked them better.  The signs were posted in odd places, and a couple of times I had to ask hikers coming the opposite way if I was going in the right direction.

Here are the waterfalls I encountered:

They also had a cave called Wolf Cave that was formed as underground water dissolved the limestone bedrock and carved out a network of passageways. Over the years Wolf Cave became exposed by the powerful forces of erosion. The cave is now dry because the underground stream it once carried has carved lower passageways.

Here are a few pictures of the trail.  We crossed a couple of streams, and of course Jovie decided to cool off!

What's your favorite part of hiking?

Harmonie State Park/Shakamak State Park

 After I drug myself away from New Harmony, Indiana I made my way to Harmonie State Park located nearby.  Once I located the trail head for the trail I wanted to hike Jovie and I set off.  It is really a pretty park, with the Wabash River in full view.

We passed a couple of streams along our path, and Jovie took full advantage of drinking and cooling off!  It's hard to tell in this picture, but she is laying in the stream.  The water was cool and clean.

Here is a picture of a part of the trail.  So pretty and serene!

After we finished hiking at Harmonie State Park we made our way to Shakamak (I was told by locals this is pronounced Shack-a-Mack).  This place looked like a manmade recreation area, so to me it was kind of meh, but it might be fun to go back a kayak.  I saw quite a bit of wildlife in the water.  

See the ducks in that last picture?  When they saw me walking on the trail the mama duck started frantically quacking and all her little duckies lined up behind her and they swam into the lilies!  So cute.

But by FAR the most interesting thing I saw here was a snake sunning itself on a small tree on the side of the trail.  As I approached I saw it but couldn't tell what it was right away.  It didn't move a muscle as I walked around taking its picture.  I never could find its head.  Hmmmm.  The headless snake?  Perhaps not.  This is a harmless gray ratsnake, excellent climbers, and great for rodent control.

I spent the night at a dicey hotel (because they accepted dogs) in Terre Haute, IN.  Let's just say the carpet felt sticky (insert yuck emoji of your choice here).  Ewwww.

I did have a very nice conversation with my chatty server at the restaurant where I ate dinner.  The food was so-so, but it was really nice to talk to someone!

Next stop:  McCormick's Creek State Park!

New Harmony, Indiana

 When I saw how beautiful the weather was going to be over the July 4th weekend I decided to hit up some Indiana State Parks to hike.  I have a goal to hike in every Indiana state park I have not already hiked in by the end of the year.  I needed a goal, so here I am haha.  I love the serenity of hiking.  Sometimes I go alone, and sometimes I have a friend, or friends, join me. 

Before I get into hiking for the July 4th weekend, I want to tell you about a little gem of a town I discovered near Harmonie State Park.  It's called New Harmony, IN.  I don't recall ever having been there, but my mom told me after I got back that we went there as a family when I was a teenager.  I truly don't remember it.  I stayed at the New Harmony Inn Resort, which was massive for such a small town (population 719 as of 2019).  The best part for me was that it was pet friendly.  I like to take my Havanese dog, Jovie, with me whenever possible on driving trips. 

Back to New Harmony.  According to indianamuseum.org, New Harmony was "the site of not just one, but two early American utopian communities.  The Harmony Society, led by George Rapp, arrived in the United States in 1804 and settled in Pennsylvania before purchasing 20,000 acres on the Wabash River and moving to Indiana in 1814.  The harmonists were religious Separatists from Germany who pursued Christian perfection through every aspect of their daily conduct."

The town exudes serenity.  There are beautiful tree-lined streets with stately brick homes surrounded by what appears to be professionally landscaped lawns.  Flowers lined the sidewalks and front yards.  I came across a couple of places that had the 10 commandments etched into them, or other scriptures. When I arrived to the town it was evening; all the shops were closed.  As I had been driving for several hours I decided to take Jovie for a walk around the downtown area, which was mostly deserted.  So neat and tidy!  Here are some pictures of my walk:  

There were several memorial gardens, too.  The one with the fountain is called Carol's Garden, and I can't remember the name of the other one, and couldn't find pictures of it to find out. Here are my pictures.  So pretty!  

The Harmonist Labyrinth was a beautiful place, too.  The labyrinth was in the center of an area surrounded by tall trees.  I wasn't tall enough to get a great picture of it, so if you would like to see an aerial view go to https://visitnewharmony.com/location/harmonist-labyrinth/:

According to visitnewharmony.com, the Cathedral Labyrinth site "offers an opportunity to walk and meditate on an ancient single path labyrinth. The pattern of this labyrinth duplicates the original at Chartres Cathedral, built in the 12th century near Paris, France."

 

One of the highlights of New Harmony for me was the Roofless Church.  According to the sign placed outside, this church was built as "A House of Prayer for all People".  The gates were topped and inlaid with golden adornments, which is what drew my eye to this. The domed structure you see here had the most amazing acoustics.  A young lady was singing a hymn underneath it when I arrived, and it sounded really beautiful. As the name suggests there was no roof on this.  It was simply a large garden-type area surrounded by four walls.

Those are the highlights of New Harmony.  I confess I did no research before I came to this town, but I was mesmerized by the beautiful, natural settings.

I had a really hard time leaving this little town to go hiking because it seemed like there was a new treasure to see around every corner.  This would be a great place to go for a long weekend and just relax.  

Tell me what you think about it!