Fort Harrison State Park

 

 

 

Location: The park is actually in Indianapolis, east of I-465 south on 56th ST., then north on Post Road. Follow the signs.

Description: A new state park, founded when the Army Base here was decommissioned in 1991. Facilities are still limited, but trails are open. So is a "golf Resort and Conference Center" !!, but oh, well, you have to take what you can get in the middle of an urban area, and there are about 1700 acres in all. There is some very nice forest in here and some pleasant hiking along Fall Creek; so far this is a day use only park. Hopefully funding and staffing will get straightened out; things looked a little disorganized and undersupported when I last visited. But there are possibilities here, and it's a lot more like a natural setting than the other Indianapolis State Park, White River.

Nearby Points of Interest: Indianapolis isn't the worst city in the world; check out the zoo, the Children's Museum (one of the best in the country), the Art Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum (native american). The Zoo and the Eiteljorg are set in White River State Park, which is not covered in these pages because it is not much like a state park and certainly not a natural setting (except for the river itself, to a degree). Bitternut Woods is just north of Indianapolis.

Cautions: Watch out for flying golf balls.

Ownership: Indiana DNR

Map

 

National Forest