Brown County State Park

Brown County State Park is located in the United States in the center of the southern half of the state of Indiana. The park is by far the largest of 24 state parks in Indiana, and occupies —making it one of the larger state parks in the United States. It is among Indiana's most visited state parks with about 1.2 million visitors annually. Early settlers tried farming in Brown County's hilly woodlands, leading them to clear the forests. Beginning in the 1840s and continuing for the rest of the century, most of Brown County's forests were cleared.<!--

Beginning

At least two people played major roles in the creation of Brown County State Park. Richard Lieber, an Indianapolis businessman who became the first director of the Indiana Department of Conservation, visited Brown County in 1910. Lieber was so impressed with the beauty of the land that he built a cabin near Nashville and suggested that a portion of the county should be set aside for a state park.<!-- Lieber was not the only one from Indianapolis that was impressed with Brown County. In 1923, the Order of Elks expressed interest in establishing a state park in Brown County.

Lee Bright lived in the small Indiana town of Nashville in Brown County. Bright believed that creation of a state park would restore the economic health of the region through tourism. However, the Department of Natural Resources did not control any game preserves at the end of its fiscal year 1924 (September 30, 1924), and controlled only in the entire state. In November 1924, a game warden was appointed custodian of the preserve.|group=Note During November, 1924, the Indiana Department of Conservation appointed a game warden to manage the preserve. The new manager was a resident of Nashville, and familiar with the area. It was also announced that much of the land would be reforested. A total of of Brown County land was designated for the propagation of wildlife.<!-- Additional acreage was added in 1927, increasing the reserve to over . During the same year, an observation tower was constructed on Weed Patch Hill, the highest point in the area. A dam was constructed in 1928 to create an artificial lake that was expected to cover . It was planned to stock the lake with game fish then allow fishing after two or three years. The lake was completed by the spring of 1929, and plans were announced to build a second (and larger) lake. By January 1929, the preserve covered about . Funds from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses were used to acquire the additional land. Brown County State Park was the fourth such park established after this legislation. In 1929, Brown County commissioners gave the state conservation department of land adjacent to the Brown County Game Preserve for the creation of a state park.<!-- After training, workers from the Corps arrived in Brown County in 1934. The Corps began constructing much of the park's extant infrastructure. They worked to prevent erosion by reforesting with walnut, pine, and spruce trees. A second camp for the Civilian Conservation Corps opened in the park in 1938. The CCC Trail—the park's Trail 2—is one built by the Corps.

Beginning in 1941, the Brown County Game Preserve and Brown County State Park were unified as a single state park. The second preserve is the Ten O'Clock Line Nature Preserve.<!--

The 1987 Pan American Games, hosted in Indianapolis (roughly north), utilized Brown County State Park as the venue for the road race cycling competition.

Kin Hubbard

Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868 – 1930) was an American humorist-cartoonist

In 1932, Brown County State Park was dedicated in honor of Kin Hubbard. Abe Martin was Hubbard's main character, and Brown County State Park's Abe Martin Lodge is named in his honor. A picture of Hubbard hangs in the lounge of the lodge, and a collection of Hubbard memorabilia is in a room nearby.

Description

thumb|400px|right|Fall foliage at Brown County State Park|alt= Hill view with orange, red, yellow, and green-leaved trees.Brown County State Park is the largest of the 24 state parks managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. It is in the center of Indiana's southern half, "just minutes" from the town of Nashville, Indiana. The park occupies in Brown County. It has three entrances, adjacent to state roads 46 and 135. The northern entrance is close to the Abe Martin Lodge, Saddle Barn, tennis courts and a swimming pool.<!-- Brown County State Park affords a number of vistas that overlook wide swaths of deciduous forest that display a large array of colors in the fall. Peak visitation is in the fall during the leaf-changing season. In spring the dogwood, redbud, and serviceberry trees are in bloom. Activities available in the park include camping, fishing, biking, hiking, and seasonal horseback riding. Many of these activities are available all year. Overnight visitors may stay in the campgrounds, rental cabins, or the Abe Martin Lodge. The park has a nature center and a nature preserve. The park contains nine mountain bike trails totaling . When settlers first arrived at this hill, they found only a patch of weeds—a tornado had destroyed the trees—leading to the name.

Natural resources

Flora

thumb|October in Brown County State Park

The most important tree in the park is the American yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea, formerly known as Cladrastis lutea). This tree typically does not grow further north than central Kentucky, and has been designated as a state threatened species in Indiana. The hooded warbler, pileated woodpecker, and ruffed grouse nest in the park. The pileated woodpecker, Acadian flycatcher, eastern wood pewee, white-breasted nuthatch, wood thrush, and yellow-billed cuckoo can all be observed in the park's Ogle Hollow Nature Preserve. Other bird species in the park include the blue jay, the crow, the junco, the white-breasted nuthatch, and the robin.

Geology

Glaciers from the most recent ice ages did not reach south far enough to flatten the land in Brown County, though glacier meltwater helped deepen gullies in the region, and made hills steeper. Brown County's rocks are part of the Borden Group, and are mostly siltstone. Limestone, dolomite, and chert are the Borden Group's secondary rocks.

Climate

The Brown County area has a humid subtropical climate, classified as "Cfa" in the Köppen climate classification system. Precipitation is somewhat evenly distributed throughout the year, and temperatures can be relatively high. The record high temperature over the last 99 years for county seat Nashville is . The record low over the last 99 years is .<!--

|date=February 2015

Recreation and facilities

Places to stay

thumb|250px|Covered Bridge at north park entrance|alt=Covered bridgeThe park's Abe Martin Lodge, built in 1932, has 30 guest rooms, two lobbies, a gift shop, and a full-service restaurant. An annex to the lodge has 54 more rooms. An indoor water park was added recently. Rental cabins are available nearby. Each of 20 two-story family cabins can accommodate up to 8 people, and 56 rustic cabins are available. Campers have the choice of two classes of campgrounds—all with restrooms and showers. The Class A campgrounds have electrical hook-ups, while the Class B do not. A horseman's campground is available with one portion having electrical hook-ups, showers, and toilets—while the other portion is more primitive.

Activities

Sight seeing, birdwatching, mountain biking, fishing, hiking and horse riding are all popular activities at Brown County State park. The park is one of fourteen Indiana State Parks that was in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse. The total eclipse lasted three minutes and fifty–four seconds. The park has over of mountain bike trails, including trails endorsed by the International Mountain Bicycling Association and Bike Magazine. Four beginner trails are to long.<!--

Fishing is available at two lakes to holders of a state fishing license. Horseback riders have their own entrance to the park, in the park's southeast corner, which leads to the horsemen's campground—also in the southeast of the park.