NUMBER 1: POKAGON STATE PARK
I rated this park #1 for a good reason. If you are a camper that likes to stay busy, than this park is a perfect match for you. Not only does this park have great camping facilities, but has many extra activities you and your family will enjoy without having to leave the park grounds.
ACTIVITIES AND FACILITIES
Camping: Campground is equipped with flush toilets, hot water and showers. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Electric sites, primitive sites and youth tent camping are available. Group camping is available to 120 people in summer and 40 people in winter however, you need to write property manager for details.
Hiking: Available year round. There are 10 miles of trails ranging from easy to moderate.
Nature Center: Exhibits on park’s natural and cultural history. Woodland window auditorium and is open most of the year. The Interpretive naturalist service is free year round and you should inquire at the nature center, park office or inn for more details.
Inn: The inn has rooms, cabins and an indoor swimming pool, whirlpool and sauna in a European setting. The indoor pool is only available to inn guests. The inn serves single meals, Sunday dinners, banquets and reservations need to be made with the inn manager.
Fishing: Bass, bluegill, walleye, crappie, catfish, northern pike. An Indiana fishing license is required.
Boating: Boat rentals are available at the inn beach during the summer months. No LAUNCHING facilities for private boats. However, docking slips are available on a first come basis.
Swimming: There is a free beach. The beach has a bath house and open Saturday before Memorial Day and no later than Labor Day. There is concessions by the beach and a general store.
Winter sports: There is an 1,780 foot refrigerated twin track toboggan run which operates from Thanksgiving through February with extended holiday hours. Sledding, ice skating, cross-country skiing, camping and ice fishing are available. Cross-country ski rental is available.
PARK HISTORY
Before settlers settled in the area now known as Steuben County, this region belonged to the Potawatomi Indians who ruled for many years. The parks name “Pokagon” came from the last two notable leaders named, Leopold and Simon Pokagon (father and son). By treaty, the Potawatomi Indians transferred to the federal government approximately one million acres of land, including the present site of Chicago, at the price of three cents an acre.
There are more lakes in Steuben County than any other county in Indiana . All are natural and all are formed from the massive earth moving and gouging glaciers. Where sunken blocks of ice broke away as the glaciers melted, today are kettle hole lakes which some of them are found through out the park on hiking trails.
Pokagon State Park is on the shores of Lake James and Snow lake near the town of Angola in North East Indiana just 20 miles West of the Ohio State Line. Amid the rolling hills of Indiana’s lake country, Pokagon State Park offers unexcelled opportunities for outdoor recreation at all seasons of the year.
During an age when the climate of our world as we know it, was approximately 10 degrees cooler and more snow fell in the winter then melted in the summer. As an accumulation piled up over thousands of years, it formed an ice sheet which flowed down from Canada and over northern Indiana. That glacier began melting between 10 and 15 thousand years ago and what resulted was the landscape we enjoy today. This glacier was the last one of four to cover Indiana and has been named the “Wisconsin”. The Saginaw lobe of this massive, one-mile thick, ice flow was the last of the “great forces” of Mother Nature to leave a lasting impression on the face of the lands of what is now part of Pokagon State Park.
While walking on many of the park trails, you will easily notice piles of rocks, and individual rocks, seemingly coming from nowhere. These big stones are known as glacial erratics. They are part of the total mass of earth brought down from the north known as glacial debris or glacial till.
The lakes form an attractive background for Pokagon, offering excellent fishing, boating and swimming throughout the summer, and a perfect setting for many winter sports when the snow flies. There are two beaches, one supervised by lifeguards and ample opportunities to enjoy lake sunsets.
For more information on Pokagon State Park or any other Indiana State parks please check out their web site at: http://www.IN.gov/dnr Or write to: Department of Natural Resources 402 W. Washington Street, Rm. W256 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
Information on Pokagaon State Park taken from Indiana Department of Natural Resources
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alexis said
are you allowed yo bring your dog(s)
tbarger said
Alexis,
Thank you for your comment. You are allowed to bring your dogs as long as they are on a leash of not longer than 6 feet. However, dogs are not permitted in the Hotel.
rita lamb said
how do we purchase a year pass, and is it good for a car, family or individual
rita said
please email how to get a family pass
tbarger said
Thanks for your question.
In order to get a family pass, you must go to anyone of the Indiana State Parks and ask to purchase a “Yearly Pass”. You can purchase this pass at the 1st check gate at the park. As a matter of fact, My wife and I have just finished making a reservation for this park for a 2 night stay in one of their cabins for our anniversary in March. We will upon entrance, get a yearly pass so we may use it for camping throughout 2009.
$36.00 Annual entrance permit for Indiana Resident
Admits noncommercial vehicles, driver and passengers to DNR properties which charge a gate fee.* Good from January 1, until December 31, of the year issued. May now be used at Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center for up to 5 people per pass per visit.
$46.00 Non-resident annual entrance permit
Admits non-Indiana resident noncommercial vehicles, driver and passengers to DNR properties which charge a gate fee.* Good from January 1, until December 31, of the year issued. This pass may now be used at Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center for up to 5 people per pass per visit.
This pass will let you through the front gate at any Indiana State Parks. Once inside the park, you are free to roam around with the exception of the campground which you must show a camping tag to pass the camping check gate. (If you are on a bicycle or on foot then this exception does not apply.)
I hope that this answers your question. For more information about Indiana State Parks go to their web site at: http://www.camp.in.gov