Outdoor adventure: Hiking

Amy Bartner

September 17, 2008 by Amy Bartner

0 votes

Hitting the (nature) trail

It's time to get out of Indianapolis. But only temporarily...to find some nature.

I'm talking about a gorgeous state park with trees and wildlife.

I was long overdue for some Mother Nature lovin'.

A quick Google search for "hike + Central Indiana" brought me to the unofficial Web site for McCormick's Creek State Park. The photos of caves and rock bridges from Trail No. 5 won me over.

A few days later, three of us -- photographer Michelle Pemberton, my little sister Jenny and I -- made the hour drive (through, um, scenic Gosport) to the state park in Spencer.

Trail No. 5 is considered "moderate." That means it's not the paved accessible route, but it also means we didn't need climbing equipment to make it up the hills. Even so, our first goal was to find a good walking stick. OK, so it was my first goal. My second was to find some sort of cave creature.

We headed out on the 2-mile hike. At first, it was nothing more than a pretty walk on a manmade trail through some trees. The fringes of Hurricane Ike had brought rainforest-like humidity, and we were all sticky and a little nonplussed about this hiking trail through caves and rock bridges.

Then the trail began to wind a bit, and we saw impressive layered patterns in the rocks.

Soon we all were pointing in different directions, saying, "Look at that gigantic tree!" and "Look! Fungus!"

Tiny orange fungi globes kicked off our Mushroom Tour '08. I never knew so many kinds of toadstools even existed, and apparently, they all grow in Indiana's forests.

Halfway through, we reached Wolf Cave. The mouth was about 461/27 feet tall, and the ceiling became lower as the cave went inward. Yeah, it was pretty shallow. It was dark, too, and I've seen "The Descent," so you can imagine my wariness when Michelle suggested I crawl inside for a photo. The situation wasn't helped when Jenny screamed just as I was about to crawl in. She was startled by a bright orange cave salamander, who was slithering away from scary humans. Goal No. 2? Check.

A little farther down the trail, we found the Twin Bridges. This is where I started to think, "Why haven't I known about this place?"

The Twin Bridges were, without a doubt, the most impressive part of this hike. We climbed through the natural rock formations with awe. The cave and the twin bridges started the second half of the trail, which was slightly rockier, but filled with bubbling brooks, miniature waterfalls and, yes, more mushrooms.

We would've stayed out there much longer, had it not been for the muggy weather. The trip was the perfect fall hike, short and beautiful -- and cheap.

And I can assure you, I'll be back.

- Amy Bartner / Indy.com

McCormick's Creek State Park

Where: 250 McCormick Creek Park Road, Spencer.

Cost: $4 per car weekdays, $5 per car weekends.

Info: (812) 829-2235, www.mccormickscreeskstatepark.com

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