Your Parks
Prophetstown State Park
When I think about my 10 favorite moments in nature, at least four of them took place in Prophetstown State Park in Indiana.
Here, I’ve cross-country skied along a fen full of cattails, bicycled at dusk among a cloud of fireflies, watched thousands of sparrows fly in their rhythmic pattern at sunset and ridden a draft horse-drawn trolley through fields of tall and vibrant pink flowers. My family, friends and I all frequent this treasure, which is Indiana’s newest state park. You’ll find it where the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers meet, near the town of Battle Ground.
Prophetstown is a grassland park with acres of crowfoot and bluestem grasses. It has a nature preserve with fens (peat-forming wetlands) and wet prairie. You won’t see many trees here, but the sunsets are as beautiful as those you might see in the desert sky. Glaciers, moving water, fire and humans shaped the landscape we know today.
There are 5 miles of paved bike trails and more than 14 miles of hiking trails ranging in difficulty from easy to moderate. Along these paths my husband, Larry, and I have seen coyotes, pheasants, deer, sandhill cranes, bald eagles
and otters—to name just a few of the creatures that live here. The coyotes hate the train whistle—it always causes them to howl. We’ve also walked past sun prairies covered in wildflowers such as white wild indigo, Ohio spiderwort, lanceleaf coreopsis, wild bergamot and butterfly milkweed.
Birding is popular among visitors to the park. Depending on the time of year, birders may spot a variety of species, including indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers and dickcissels.
INDIGENOUS LEGACY
Native Americans lived on this land, where the prairie meets woodland, for thousands of years. In fact, the park is named for a village located between the two rivers where 14 tribes gathered in the early 1800s to rebel against European settlement. The tribes lost the battle in 1811. Their legacy is commemorated at the Circle of Stones, a memorial comprising 14 stones—each one etched with a tribe’s name.
The Village lets visitors see the landscape as it looked when indigenous people lived there. The site also includes structures they used such as corncribs, wigwams, shade shelters and the longhouse where the community gathered.
FARM LIFE
Another park attraction is the Farm at Prophetstown, a working farm that is home to heirloom crops and free-range livestock. Visitors experience farm life in the 1920s when animals were still used for labor. Touch the machinery of the day, and tour the heritage gardens and a replica of a Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog farmhouse.
The park is beautiful in all four seasons. It’s truly a getaway.