Phil Bloom - Hiking Indiana: A Guide To The State’s Greatest Hiking Adventures

Phil Bloom is a native Hoosier and lifelong resident of Indiana. He joined the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as communications director in 2007 after a thirty-three-year newspaper career, including eighteen years as an award-winning outdoors editor at the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Bloom is an active member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and served as the groups president from 2008 to 2009. He is an Eagle Scout and an Indiana Certified Master Naturalist. He lives in Fort Wayne.

Hiking can be a solitary endeavor. Sometimes it is the best way to enjoy nature. Researching and writing a hiking book, however, requires considerable help, and there are several people to whom I am grateful.

To begin with, my parents, Mike and JoAnne Bloom, deserve credit for giving me my first taste of the outdoors. I am sure my siblings remember the times Mom and Dad would take us for hikes along the banks of the Salamonie River or in some other state park.

The late Bill McArdle, scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 20 at Queen of Angels Grade School, taught me and hundreds of other boys the basic hiking skills that helped make those 20-milers endurable.

Years later I met Judy Esterline and Judy Deimling, hiking buddies who showed me a new way to hikegoing slower and with eyes wide open to what was at your feet. They made the woods come alive with their knowledge of wildflowers and native plants.

A special thanks to Kay Ellerhoff, formerly of Falcon Publishing, who helped make the professional connection that allowed those past influences to be transformed into this work.

This project took timethe first edition as well as this revised version. Thanks to the many editors at FalconGuides and Globe Pequot Press who exhibited patience throughoutbeginning with Randall Green and including David Lee, Molly Jay, Bill Schneider, and finally Scott Adams.

A long-distance acknowledgment goes out to Tracy Salcedo in California, whose attention to detail in the editing process was remarkable. Through phone calls and e-mails, she helped keep me on the right path.

Special thanks go to Jessica Haberman and Paulette Baker of Globe Pequot who edited this edition of Hiking Indiana.

Thanks also to the editors at the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, where I worked for twenty-eight years, for their support in allowing me time away from the office to complete the first edition of this book.

Special credit for double-checking information for this second edition goes to Shane Perfect with ACRES Land Trust, Bruce Rowe at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Les Wadzinski and Nancy Myers with the Hoosier National Forest, and Indiana Department of Natural Resources staffJill Vance at Spring Mill State Park, Brad Bumgardner (Indiana Dunes), Jeff Cummings (Fort Harrison), Fred Wooley (Pokagon), Barbara Cummings (Turkey Run and Shades), Dick Davis (Clifty Falls), Angie Manual (Mounds), Michael Crews (Lincoln), Bob Greiner (Ouabache State Park), Ted Tapp (Versailles), Andrea Logsdon (Charlestown), Brad Schneck (Jackson-Washington State Forest), and Walt Zak (Clark State Forest).

Thanks also to the many coworkers, friends, and family whose interest in how the book was progressing contributed regular reminders that I needed to stick with it or let them all down.

It can get lonely out there on the trail, so I particularly enjoyed the time shared with special people. Thanks to my brother-in-law, Dr. John Herber, with whom I spent a splendid day on the Lakeview and Boundary Trails, the last hike taken in the first edition marathon.

Thanks to my children, Jacob and Jennifer. I hope you always remember our time on the trails in the same special way that I remembered those spent with my parents, brothers, and sisters.

To my grandchildrenBenjamin, Claire Marie and Matthewthis revised edition is as much for you as it is for anyone. I hope you come to think of it as a doorway to nature.

The person who deserves the most praise is Jessie, my wife. Without her this book would not exist. Her encouragement was constant. Her personal sacrifices were many; her love, sustaining. She is the best hiking partner Ive ever had. Jessie, Ill go hiking with you... anywhere, anytime. Always.

Finally, this updated guide is dedicated to the memory of my late sister, Martha.

When I walk through sunlit meadows

or down a woodland trail,

I will pause sometimes near wildflowers,

and think sweet thoughts of you

Allen, Durward. Our Wildlife Legacy (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1962).

Baker, Ronald L. and Marvin Carmony. Indiana Place Names (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975).

Deam, Charles C. and Thomas E. Shaw. Trees of Indiana (Indianapolis: Indiana Department of Conservation, 1953).

Goll, John. Indiana State Parks (Saginaw: Glovebox Guidebooks, 1995).

Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Directory of Indianas Dedicated Nature Preserves (DNR Division of Nature Preserves, 1991).

Jackson, Marion T. The Natural Heritage of Indiana (Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1997).

Jordan, Christopher and Ron Leonetti, photographers. The Nature Conservancys Guide to Indiana Preserves (Indiana University Press/Quarry Books, 2006).

Lindsey, Alton A. Natural Features of Indiana (Indianapolis: Indiana Academy of Science, 1966).

McPherson, Alan. Nature Walks in Northern Indiana (Indianapolis: Hoosier Chapter Sierra Club, 1996).

. Nature Walks in Southern Indiana (Indianapolis: Hoosier Chapter Sierra Club, 1991).

Runkel, Sylvan T. and Alvin F. Bull. Wildflowers of Indiana Woodlands (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1994).

Seng, Phil T. and David J Case. Indiana Wildlife Viewing Guide (Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, Inc., 1992).

Thomas, Phyllis. Indiana: Off the Beaten Path, 9th edition (Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press, 2007).

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

1100 North Mineral Springs Rd

Porter 46304

(219) 926-7561

Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge

12985 East US 50

Seymour 47274

(812) 522-4352

www.fws.gov/midwest/muscatatuck

E-mail: Muscatatuck@fws.gov

Bloomington Ecological Services Field Office

620 South Walker St

Bloomington 47403-2121

(812) 334-4261

E-mail: MidwestNews@fws.gov

Northern Ecological Services Field Office

P.O. Box 2616

Chesterton 46304-5716

(219) 983-9753

E-mail: MidwestNews@fws.gov

Supervisors Office and Brownstown Ranger District

811 Constitution Ave

Bedford 47421

(812) 279-5987; TTY: (812) 279-3423

Tell City Ranger District

248 15th St

Tell City 47586

(812) 547-7051; TDD: (812) 547-6144

Executive Office

402 West Washington St, Room W256

Indianapolis 46204

(317) 232-4020

www.in.gov/dnr

Division of Fish & Wildlife

402 West Washington St, Room W273

Indianapolis 46204

(317) 232-4080

Division of Forestry

402 West Washington St, Room W296

Indianapolis 46204

(317) 232-4105

Division of Nature Preserves

402 West Washington St, Room W267