Indiana is making great strides to bringing in more hikers to their state parks. Several parks have a hiking challenge specific to that park that you can complete.
- Pokagon State Park: Hell’s Pointe Challenge
- Clifty Falls State Park: Four Falls Challenge
- Indiana Dunes State Park: 3 Dunes Challenge
- Shades State Park: 6 Ravine Challenge
- Turkey Run State Park: 5 Mile Challenge
The park we are featuring is Pokagon State Park. Pokagon is located in the North -East part of the state near the Indiana/Michigan state line. This park was officially announced Indiana’s fifth state park in 1925. Here you will experience deep woods and wetlands to observe a vast amount of flowers, birds and other wildlife.
The Challenge:
The challenge is to hike a 8.5 mile loop around the park to the designated areas and take selfies with the signs at each checkpoint to show you actually did it. Inquire about the challenge with a ranger in the Nature Center and they will highlight the trails and checkpoints on a map for you. Once complete return to the nature center before it closes.
The Hike:
The hike itself seems long and arduous being a little over 8 miles. However, for the most part the trail is flat and you can travel quite quickly. Once you hit the wetlands you are very exposed (little to no trees) to the sun and it can get hot fast so be prepared and bring enough water.
The trail is a little tough to navigate do to tons of little trails going in and out with no clear markers, so please bring a map or a gps trail app. I personally like All Trails. Even though a majority of the trail is flat you will experience up and down rugged areas of the park and 89 manmade stairs to Hell’s Pointe.
However, bringing the kids on the challenge should be no issue. There’s a lot of wildlife and flowers to look at. We experienced frogs, birds, and tons of flowers and various mushrooms.
The Reward:
We were gifted stickers and a water bottle for our completion of the challenge. At the time they were out of stickers so the Nature Center Rangers took our address and mailed us our stickers which took a couple weeks. Get out there and attempt the challenge youself.
