Hiker's Path: The DePauw Nature Park
A recent Thursday was a beautiful day. The sky was clear and the day was sunny and the temperature was right around 70 degrees. The rain had finally subsided.
It was a perfect day for a hike.
With gas prices so high these days, I had decided to explore or visit places a little closer to home. And to share some of these places in this column. The DePauw Nature Park is one of those.
Hiker's Path: Hiking on the Three Lakes Trail in Morgan-Monroe State Forest.
The nature park use to be the site of an active limestone quarry from 1917 to 1977.
Hanson Aggregates, who owned the quarry, donated most of the land for the park to DePauw University in 2003. Additional acreage was purchased by DePauw during the last few years. The property consists of about 500 acres. There are 10 1/2 miles of walking trails at the park and some incredible scenery. Most of the trails connect together sooner or later so you can walk as little or as far as you want. It’s not located directly on campus, but you can walk to get there.
I have written about this place before. And since it’s 25 miles from Spencer, it qualifies as an honorary mention for places to hike close to home. So off I went on for an afternoon’s adventure.
I drove up to Greencastle and found my trailhead. I had decided to hike the trail that looped the quarry, the Quarry Rim trail. Not only does this trail follow the rim of the quarry along with other connecting trails, but it also has a trail that takes the hiker across the bottom of the quarry. It’s considered easy to moderate in ease of hiking.
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Finding the trail was easy as there’s lots of signage in this park. The path I followed was plenty wide enough and had lots of big rocks lining the trail. On the other side of these rocks was a pretty steep drop-off. I took great care to stay on the trail. There wasn't much shade to be found so wearing a sun hat was a good idea. I had brought mine along. The trails were very well maintained by the University. Lots of wildflowers growing along my path.
After I followed the rim trail for a while, I came across the lower quarry trail, so I decided to hike down into it. There were lots of beautiful trees and plants as well as wildflowers growing down at the base of the quarry. I saw some beautiful Cedar trees, cattails, daisies, tall grasses, as well as others. I also saw lots of rock formations, both natural and manmade. Soon the trail took me to a small lake that made up the deeper part of the quarry. It was very scenic down inside of this big quarry.
When I finally made my way back up and out of the quarry, I came to a great overlook.
From there I could see a wonderful view of the quarry. Benches were strategically placed at this spot which provided a great place to take a breather.
It was soon time to hike back to my car. I had a good hike at the Nature Park! Well worth the drive. The summer hours are 7 am until 9 pm. Admission is free.
If you decide to visit this place, it’s better to go in the cool of the day during the summer or visit in the spring or fall. The quarry rock tends to hold the heat in so on hot days it can be a little uncomfortable. Make sure to wear a sun hat and take lots of water,
Looking to get out for a walk? Here are 10 places in South Central Indiana to go on a hike.
To get to this park:
From Spencer, take State Highway 231 North to Greencastle. Make a left at the Veterans Memorial Highway. Go one mile and turn left on South Jackson Street, then turn right in West Walnut street.
A quote for your week: ”Life is a journey with big rocks to climb, little ones to trip over, and milestones to mark where you’ve been”. - Unknown
Until the next trail!
Susan
This article originally appeared on Evening World: Hiker's Path: The DePauw Nature Park
