Indiana
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Indiana State Parks
I live in the city (Indianpolis) but when i can i escape to shades. I stumbled upon shades and it was the greatest adventure Id had. Its never to croweded always quiet, and the trails are beautiful! Turkey run isnt to far away and though its quite nice and popular it makes for crowded trails people yelling and no parking. I just love shades. Its my all time favorite!
WE ARE PLANNING OUT 2012 CAMP TRIP TO SHADE SECOND WEEK IN JUNE. I HOPE OUR FAVORITE SITE IS NOT TAKEN. HOEP THEY GOT LARGER PICNIC TABLES. 10pm in the middle of January and here I am on the Shades website planning my trip(s) this coming summer with butterflies in my stomach. Enough said. just spent a week camping at Shades....just beautiful and peaceful. very recommended!!!
large camping spaces!
will be back next year for sure. thanks to all the friendly staff we met. WE COME YEAR AFTER YEAR AND ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT EXPERIENCE. WOULD RECOMMEND LARGER PICNIC TABLES. I DO HAVE TO SAY THAT MY HUSBAND GOT OUR BACON BACK WITH THE RACCOON TRIED TO TAKE OFF WITH IT. LAUGHED SO HARD I CRIED. VERY MEMORABLE TIMES AT SHADES STATE PARK. KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THE GHOST A FRIENDLY GHOST CAME TO VISIT US. My husband and I came here for the first time in the spring of last year and absolutely fell in love with the place. We were trying to steer clear of crowded, commercialized parks and this was just the place for us! Everything is so untouched and beautiful, like being in a different place in time. The camp sites are, for the most part, wooded and private. There are plenty of water supplies, trail heads, and vault toilets nearby each site and the sites themselves are rustic the way they should be! . This is a perfect place to get away from it all. The only thing we would change about it is we wish there was a shower house at the end of the sites, closer to Raccoon Run or Rookery Ridge. Other than that we hope this park never changes and we look forward to coming back year after year. Winner winner chicken dinner! I love Shades its very private. I love I can walk all day and rarely see a person. Its the perfect getaway you can fish, hike, camp. They also have great playgrounds for the kids. Last but not least the park workers, rangers, maintenance, etc. They do a awesome job keeping the park in tip top shape. Thank You and keep up the good work. My husband proposed to me at Shades in racoon run... It was a rainy yet beautiful day. We visit this park every year the same time for the peace and love of nature. I hope only the people who truely love nature, building a camp fire without fire starter, and peace and quiet vist Shades. Love it! Best place ever My dad took my brothers, his girlfriend and I there years ago and it was AWESOME! Great scenery!!! Very quiet and great for friends and family!!! Cant wait to go back soon!!!
I have been visiting Shades now for over thirty years. What I love the most is that very little has changed. It still holds that primitive charm that first attracted me there. An Indiana treasure to be sure. I was a Boy Scout for as long as I can remember, and I have camped at many campgrounds, recently I graduated from Boy Scouts and decided to stick around and help out, I am glad I did. My troop stayed at Shades last weekend, Nov 20-22, and everyone loved it! the trails are amazing, the absoluted best I have seen in Indiana, and Michigan. the campsites we stayed at, Youth, were clean and well maintained, though a little swampy at the north edge. there was plenty of room for star gazing, tents and games- all at once! The ravines(ladder trails) were amazing, devils puch bowl made me feel like a little kid, high on exitement. Beautiful waterfalls rewarded us for the hike down the creek. On our we took a trail with only one ladder from the play ground, found sugar creek, got onto a large area of river stones, and found this pile of rocks, about 6 ft. high and 3-4 Ft. around. I will come back someday and the troop is already making plans to do so. Awesome park. Will recommend it highly.
The trails are wonderful! I really enjoyed camping here, Sugar Creek is very close if you like canoe/ kayak (within a mile) We did the 15 mile trip. I went over 4th of July weekend and had a very good time - not noisy although their were tons of people. The sites have plenty of trees and are fairly private. Try not to forget anything though, b/c there is not anything very close. We are planning our next trip back in about a month. I would be careful about food though, for some reason this has been the worse park for racoons that I have been to this year. I LOVED IT EVERYONE IS NICE WILL TELL PEOPLE TO GO THERE ATLEAST ONCE IN THERE LIFE I really hope the 2.5 mile hike keeps people away from this perfect getaway/hideaway. My best friend turned me on to this place 2 years ago. Thanks Matt! 
good hikes, peaceful, not crowded, no liberals We enjoyed the 2.5 mile hike back to our campsite. It is the perfect weekend getaway and we will definately return next Summer. :) This was my favorite destination by car or canoe, back in the 50s and 60s. Summers in high school and on college vacations, here our gang gravitated for picnics, hikes, parking (summer nights in high school) and generally growing up in the appreciation of a local natural wonder. I love this park! I have been going for several years and always find something new. Near Turkey Run and Raccoon Lake. Go you will not regret. This state park is awesome!It has spectacular waterfalls and beautiful views of Sugar Creek.It also has spectacular canyons.This is a state park you must see. This is the most peaceful place that you can possibly be at. If I could go to one place it would be shades. Great camping, clean facilities. The best part had to be the trails. I was 6 months pregnant and we had our 8 year old son with us, and the trails were passable by all of us. The trails were also clean and well maintained. We had a map with the description of each trail...we plan to go back this year and finish the rest! This is the only place my husband and I camp when we want to get away from it all. Very quiet and peaceful campsite! Even at 9 am. We love it! This park is a nature lovers dream. The trails are great and the usage of the park is low. There are some days you will not see a soul. Just you and nature. Peace and solitude. Although it only carries B campsites, it is nonetheless one of my favorite parks. I especially enjoy the crystal falls trail.
