Brown County State Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brown County State Park, Indiana, USA
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Brown County State Park, Indiana, USA
Map of the U.S. state of Indiana showing the location of Brown County State Park
Map of the U.S. state of Indiana showing the location of Brown County State Park
Location Brown County, Indiana, USA
Nearest city Bloomington, Indiana
Coordinates 39°06′49″N 86°15′53″W / 39.11361, -86.26472
Area 15,696 acres (63.52 km²)
Established 1929
Visitors 1,489,740 (in 2003-2004)
Governing body Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Overlook behind the Nature Center
Overlook behind the Nature Center
For the former Kansas State Park of the same name, see Brown State Fishing Lake.
Covered Bridge at north park entrance
Covered Bridge at north park entrance

Brown County State Park is an Indiana state park on 15,696 acres (63.52 km²) near Nashville in Brown County, Indiana in the United States. The park opened to the public in 1929, and is Indiana's largest state park. It is also by far the most visited park in the state with more than 1.4 million visitors per year, more than twice as many visitors as the next most visited park in the state.[1] It is located along the Knobstone Escarpment and features dramatic views from its highest elevations.

It was formed originally from the 1924-established Brown County State Game Preserve, which gave the state park its initial 1,000 acres (4.0 km²). Eventually, the game preserve would dissolve into the park.[2]

Included within the park boundaries are two lakes: Ogle Lake at 17 acres (0.07 km²) in size, and Strahl Lake covering 7 acres (0.03 km²). In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed many of the buildings, roads, shelters, ovens and trails in existence today. The park and trails are maintained by longtime Department of Natural Resources naturalist Jim Eagleman who lives at the top of the fire tower near the park's Nature Center. There are 70 miles (113 km) of bridle trails and 12 miles (19 km) of hiking trails. The third highest point in Indiana, Weed Patch Hill, is located within the confines of the park, which is sometimes referred to as the "Little Smokies" because of frequent low lying fogs in the forested valleys of the park.

The peak visitation is in the fall during the leaf changing season. A significant portion of the park's annual visitors come during this time. The park affords a number of vistas that overlook wide swaths of deciduous forest that display a large array of colors in the fall.

Contents

[edit] Fauna

Animals common in the park include white-tailed deer, raccoon, gray squirrel and chipmunk. Birds in the park include robin, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jay, cardinal, junco, crow and wild turkey.


[edit] Facilities

  • Abe Martin Lodge
  • Bridle trails and saddle barn
  • Cabins
  • Camping
  • Dumping station
  • Hiking trails
  • Mountain bike trail
  • Nature Center
  • Playground
  • Rental and recreation building
  • Shelter
  • Olympic size swimming pool
  • Tennis courts

[edit] References

  1. ^ Statistics: Parks & Reservoirs Visitation. Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
  2. ^ http://www.in.gov/dnr/history/ Official (Indiana) DNR Historical Timeline

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Indiana State Parks
Indiana State Parks