HIKING
INFO & EVENTS:
Three Lakes Trail, Morgan-Monroe State Forest
A challenging trail only 35 miles from Indianapolis
Suzanne Mittenthal
[This article appeared in Backpacker Magazine in 2006]
The Three Lakes Trail is used for the route for the nationally known "Run with the Foxes" Mini Marathon Trail Run. It is set on 10 miles of paths that traverse high ridges and low bottomlands (a nearby 3-mile trail is added to make up the mini distance). It is well marked--anyone can hike or run it without map or compass. The Forest's 48,000 acres insulate it from surrounding urban developments; its deep shade, numerous creeks, and plentiful wildflowers will transport you quickly into the natural world.
Begin at Bryant Creek Shelter. At the lake pick up the blazed trail. Follow it clockwise. Near the marshy head of the lake in spring and well into the summer you may be surprised by the sound of frogs calling - peeping, croaking, or booming, as the season advances. In the next three miles the trail enters fern-lined moist bottomlands of the feeder creek, crosses the shale-bottomed streambed, then leads up and over an old settlers' track and down into the hollow above Beanblossom Lake (drained at this time). In late spring you may spot here some local "color" from the Mid-West's Figwort family: Blue-eyed Marys mixed in with White or Foxglove Beardtongue.
The next three miles includes another climb (back up to a crossing of the Forest Road), one of the many that makes this a challenging race for runners accustomed to roads. After passing pioneer Stepp cemetery, the trail winds along a beautiful narrow ridge to Cherry Lake. From the lake, four more miles of trail lead down to a creek in a pine grove planted by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, two more ridge climbs, then back across the road to the lake and trailhead.
DIRECTIONS
From I465 at the edge of Indianapolis take Route 37 to 4 miles south of Martinsville (15 miles N of Bloomington). From Route 37 follow the signs to the Forest. Bryant Creek Shelter is just past the entrance.
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