Save with the 2022 Holiday Gift Pack
The $99 State Park Holiday Gift Pack includes:
- A 2022 Indiana resident State Park Annual Entrance Permit.
- A $65 gift card (you choose either an Inns card for hotel lodging or a Camp card for site reservations).
- A 1-year (6 issue) subscription to Outdoor Indiana magazine.
All for just $99. You save $31.
Offer ends Dec. 31, 2021 or when sold out. Limited quantity available.
Holiday Gift Packs are also available for seniors and non-residents.
Deer firearms season begins Nov. 13
Indiana’s 2021-22 deer hunting season is underway and the most popular season, deer firearms, begins Nov. 13.
Hunters will be required to wear hunter orange while deer hunting throughout firearms season (Nov. 13–28), muzzleloader season (Dec. 4–19), and during deer reduction zone season (Nov. 13 – Jan. 31, 2022) regardless of what equipment they hunt with.
Many DNR properties allow hunting, so it’s important to be aware of your surroundings while you enjoy fall weather at a property near you. Hunting seasons for several other game species also have hunter orange requirements from Nov. 1 onward, and we encourage everyone to wear hunter orange when entering areas where hunters may be present, especially when venturing off-trail.
Questions about deer seasons and regulations can be directed to the Deer Hotline at INDeerHotline@dnr.IN.gov or call 812-334-3795, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
Turkey Run State Park
Free parks admission on Black Friday
Skip the lines and hassle of Black Friday. Visitors to a state park, state reservoir, or state forest recreation area on Black Friday (Nov. 26) can enjoy free admission to a park that charges admission that day.
Veterans can also enjoy free admission on Veterans Day (Nov. 11).
Shop the official store of Indiana State Parks
Since you are skipping the Black Friday shopping chaos, consider getting the outdoor lover on your shopping list a gift from Mother Nature's Mercantile, Indiana State Parks online store. There you will find gifts, clothing, permits, gift cards, and of course the Holiday Gift Pack.
New Mountain Biking Trail opens at Brown County SP
The DNR and the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association (HMBA) held a celebratory ribbon cutting on Oct. 8 to mark the opening of Limekiln East, a newly completed 1.6-mile beginner-level mountain bike trail in Brown County State Park.
Limekiln East is the second of three mountain bike trails to be completed in the state park as part of a $200,000 NLT grant to HMBA to develop 7.5 miles of new mountain bike trail. The first, Weed Patch Trail, a 2.4-mile intermediate-level trail, opened in November 2019.
The three new NLT-funded trails will connect with existing trails as well as other park amenities, including the campground, park office, nature center, and Hesitation Point. Once completed, the three new trails will bring the total mileage of mountain bike trails within the state park to 43.5.
Easy way to help Indiana's forests
When you buy this limited edition tree shirt, you are helping reforest Indiana. For each shirt sold, a tree will be planted in an Indiana State Forest in partnership with the Indiana Division of Forestry and the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation.
17 state parks scheduled for deer management hunts
Select Indiana state parks will close for four days in the coming weeks to allow for controlled deer management hunts. The dates for the closings are Nov. 15-16, and Nov. 29-30.
The properties are:
- Cave River Valley Natural Area at Spring Mill State Park
- Chain O’Lakes State Park
- Clifty Falls State Park
- Fort Harrison State Park
- Indiana Dunes State Park
- Lincoln State Park
- Ouabache State Park
- Pokagon State Park
- Potato Creek State Park
- Shakamak State Park
- Spring Mill State Park
- Summit Lake State Park
- Trine State Recreation Area
- Tippecanoe River State Park
- Turkey Run State Park
- Versailles State Park
- Whitewater Memorial State Park
Restoring Savanna Habitat at Willow Slough FWA
Staff at Willow Slough FWA have been working to restore degraded savanna habitat in the region for more than seven years. Thanks to a donation of $40,000, approximately 100 acres of savanna will be restored and become home to many species that depend on it.
Fish are still biting in late fall
It’s getting later into fall, and the fish are still biting. Fish are especially active in the afternoon and early evening this time of year as they eat aggressively to prepare for winter. Look for baitfish (like minnows and shad) being chased near the surface, along the shore, and up creeks.
Check for underwater cover where predator fish can ambush prey. As winter approaches, water will continue to cool, and fish patterns will most likely change. Start by working shallow water and at the surface with larger lures. Be prepared to downsize lures, switch to deeper-diving lures, or change the speed that you are reeling in if you aren’t getting bites.
Wondering when to use a fishing lure? Check our website for more information on lures and other fishing tips.
Abe Martin Lodge, Brown County State Park (Nashville) 812-988-4418
Canyon Inn, McCormick's Creek State Park (Spencer) 812-829-4881
Clifty Inn, Clifty Falls State Park (Madison) 812-265-4135
Fort Harrison Inn at Fort Harrison SP (Indianapolis) 317-638-6000
Potawatomi Inn, Pokagon State Park (Angola) 260-833-1077
Spring Mill Inn, Spring Mill State Park (Mitchell) 812-849-4508
Turkey Run Inn, Turkey Run State Park (Marshall) 765-597-2211
Room reservations call 1.877.LODGES1 or online at IndianaInns.com
Field trip grant benefits Hoosier students
Students at 12 Indiana schools will be able to take field trips to Indiana state parks this academic year thanks in part to the Discover the Outdoors field trip grant program, which is administered through the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation (INRF), the supporting non-profit of the DNR.
Educators in public, private, parochial, and home schools are eligible for the grants, which range from $98-$250 and fund transportation costs, program fees and classroom supplies related to preparation or follow-up for the field trips.
Free youth hunting days, Nov. 27-28
Know a kid who’s interested in hunting, but not sure when the best time is to start mentoring them? Take advantage of free youth hunting days, which occur twice annually in the fall. The second set of dates this year falls on Nov. 27-28. Several seasons are open then. Any resident age 17 or younger on the date of the hunt, accompanied by an adult with a hunting license (at least 18 years of age), can take any legal game in season during this special weekend.
Tagged, federally endangered clubshell released into the Eel River.
Help Indiana’s imperiled wildlife during the season of giving
Colder weather doesn’t necessarily slow down all wildlife. DNR’s biologists are busy searching for green salamanders, juvenile mussels, and whooping cranes. Efforts to monitor and conserve Indiana’s most imperiled species are funded in part by the Indiana Nongame Wildlife Fund. Your donations can fund projects like the reintroduction of more than 3,000 adult clubshells into the Eel River (Cass and Miami counties). Many wild animals provide ecosystem benefits to people, such as freshwater mussels acting as natural filters to improve water quality in Indiana’s rivers and streams.
Want to learn more about the conservation efforts DNR biologists are working on? Subscribe to Nongame Wildlife Fund News.
The Foundation celebrates and preserves Indiana’s natural legacy by raising funds to support the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and its programs.
