Hiking

[Catrin]

Very interesting. Where I prefer to hike is inside a very large, remote state park in southern Indiana with at least 50 miles of trails (both hiking & mtb) that are physically connected with external (mtb) trail systems in surrounding national forests. There are also horse trails but they are separate systems.

There is a lot of old growth forest, and while there is undergrowth of course, it isn't very tall - which I think differs from down south which may explain the lack of flies and webbing. I've heard terrible stories about black flies in Michigan during certain months so they must favor certain conditions that we don't have. Some trails are heavily used by hikers and mountain bikers, some may only see a couple a day or less - especially the double black diamond trail - I used to be crazy enough to hike that one solo There is a part of THAT trail that is actually more dangerous to walk than to ride and it's dangerous to ride. Beautiful trail though, but I can no longer risk it.

Rattlesnakes are protected in this state park and campers are warned about them when they check in. Park staff will remove them from a campsite when reported but the rattler is released back to the same location when the camper checks out. As much as I've been there I've yet to see any snake outside of periodic rescued snakes in the nature center - usually a rattler or two. I make a lot of noise if I leave the trail for any reason, just in case. Someone lost a pet in the campground a couple years ago because they decided the rules didn't apply to them and didn't leash their little dog. They tried to sue but couldn't get it off the ground as the rules are quite clear - and everyone is told why.