Turkey Run state park Indiana

DutchmenSport wrote:

camperforlife wrote:

Hammerboy wrote:
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Dan

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Certainly enjoyed your area, glad you enjoyed mine.

If you remember about 10-15 years ago when the economy in this country tanked after the Sept 11 event, fuel prices skyrocketed, and things were just kind of nuts for a while.

Because long distance traveling was a VERY costly endeavor back then, we came to the conclusion that folks travel from all over the world to visit Indiana parks and attractions. And funny, we traveled all over the world to visit theirs. Because of the transportation cost factor, we were kind of forced to wake up and realize, if other folks from distant locations take the effort to visit Indiana attractions, there must be something right under our own feet we've simply not seen before (or maybe because we lived here all our lives, just take it for granted).

It was then and there my wife and I decided we wanted to visit and camp if possible in every State Park and recreation area in Indiana and look what's in our own back yard with new eyes. So for the next several years, we started checking off the Indiana State Parks we camped at, and visited the few that did not have camping facilities. We've now camped at every state park and state recreation area maintained by the DNR in Indiana and I will have to admit, we had an eye opener just how nice and great these parks are.

Each park is so different, has their own uniqueness, and each one has local culture surround it, attractions, festivals, events, that we could spend the rest of our lives continuing to explore.

We are now making it goal to visit every city/county "Festival" in the state now too (of course, camping in the area for easy access), along with all the various places in the book series called "Weird US"... or in my case, "Weird Indiana"... Weird, click here!

We still do December Florida or South Carolina trip over Christmas week and the 2nd week in March. So it's not like we are stuck exclusively in Indiana.

So, just wanted to pass along an idea if you've never considered it. Check what's in your own back yard. You might be astonished at what's actually buried there.

I wish I could (we can if we tried) do the same and visit every state park in Michigan, problem is with the shape of Michigan it goes very far north and very far west. One of the parks I would love to visit is Fort Wilkens state park in Copper Harbor, problem is its 9.5 hrs according to google maps (longer with trailer in tow) which means it the same drive time as say Pigeon Forge TN. So if I'm going to spend that kind of time on the road I would at this time I'd rather go to the Smoky mountains.

As far as looking in your backyard, Indiana is more in my backyard than most of Michigan LOL. Turkey run was very nice because it was a different trip than what we typically do in Michigan. It was rural/country/covered bridges. In Michigan, for us, we "head up north" as in the UP (Wilderness and lots of it) or the straits area (which we love). The Up is like a totally different state from where I live (Indiana is more like home than the UP) or "to the beach" which usually means sand/lots of water/lighthouses/etc. at any of the great state parks along Lake Michigan. There is definitely a lot to explore yet in Michigan, but Indiana is just as close.

Dan