For our seventh state park, we had our first guest hiker. Jesse's sister, Amy, joined us, since she was visiting from Denver for the holidays. If anyone wants to do the same, let us know. We would be happy for some company. We made this trip on the way to Jesse's parents' house for a giant Linville Christmas get-together. It was nice to spend a couple hours outside prior to being stuffed inside the house all afternoon. The day was sunny and about 35 degrees, but the ground was fairly well covered with snow, which was a fun contrast to our last trip, when we wore shorts!
We entered the park for free, since the gate was unmanned for the winter. That's a bonus! We did a quick driving tour of the park and its campground. There were a few joggers and a couple other hikers around. We parked down by the river. (Unfortunately, we were not in a van!) The three of us plus a backpacked Cooper headed out on trail 6 and checked out most of the park by hooking up with trails 4, 5, 2, and 1. Highlights included: seeing a kayak-er on the river on this chilly day, trail 1 with its tree tour, seeing tiny snowmen all around the park that had been built either by visitors before us or some gnomes (there is a great episode of Across Indiana about the pygmy people of Mounds Park), and the mounds, of course. The mounds are sort of mysterious, because the Indians that built them are mostly unknown. There is no written history of them, so everything that is known is just from artifacts. The mounds were used for ceremonies, not usually burials, as some have speculated. They also line up to lunar cycles somehow. They were, of course, dug by hand (no Bobcats available then!) and that is something in itself because the Great Mound is sizable.
We also visited the park's nature center, which is super nice. It features real bathrooms all year and cool exhibits with real animals. There is also comfortable furniture on its porch to enjoy while your lady friend is in the bathroom. The back room of the nature center offers a bird-viewing room, which is also neat. We learned inside the nature center that there used to be a roller-coaster in the park that went out over the river! It was washed away in a flood. We also learned about the Bronnenburg family, who once lived on the property in a house that is still there. They cared for the mounds and didn't allow people to mess with them or steal artifacts. It was their family that helped the land become a state park. Also, the park is fairly small, but it does have a pool and several nice shelter houses for parties. Trail 5 follows the river for several miles and it has great views. Overall, we liked it and it was fun to have Amy with us.
Mounds State Park
4306 Mounds Road
Anderson, IN 46017
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