Shades and Turkey Run State Parks Review

In my opinion I think it's a dirty place. we sat on a large bus that brought us to a river where we where going to canoe,that bus was the dirty and coated with mud!!! The life jackets were even worse mud,mud,mud... The canoes were made out of wood,and looked like they were made 40 years ago!! The hiking was about the only thing I enjoyed. I don't ever think I'm going back again!!!

Great place to get away for a nice hike, choose your difficulty

Awesome place, so much to do and see, I highly recommend it

Great hiking! Trails are well marked, and very detailed and accurate maps are available.

Great place to go hiking. Had an awesome time there hiking and horse back riding. I'll recommend this place to anyone!

Beautiful scenery, good nature center and lovely old inn

We went camping there for our first trip ot was wonderful!

Good place for camping and trailing. Good for events and barbeque

Great hiking trails. My five year olds were able to the trails with us

Beautiful state park to spend the whole day. Nice lodge to stay the night.

Excellent park, only issue is the map is completely Not to scale or accurate where 3-5-9 merge

A great family place for adventure & trail seeking!

Turkey Run was so enjoyable. Wanting to return with our kids and grandkids. Very beautiful

Great trails. Love the canoeing! 10$ to get in and worth it.

Had a great time, Saturday morning was a little crowded for my liking, but other than that it was great.

Mother Nature at her best, and being with good friends

From the suspension bridge, to kayaking on the creek, to just walking the trails, the environment Is gorgeous all seasons. Fall might be my favorite though, the colorful leaves are to die for. This is my favorite location in Parke County, a close second to Shades State Park!

One of the best state parks in Indiana. Great trails, beautiful scenery.

Great hiking, nature center, and restaurant. There is plenty to do for multiple visits

Best park in Indiana. Lots of natural trails. Beautiful Indiana scenery. Definitely worth a day to visit. The hotel is clean and nice. Best hotel in Parke County which is not saying it is a Hilton but the rooms are well taken care of and cozy.

Beautiful place to visit with family or even by yourself

Quiet on weekdays. Easy hiking in the preserve through canyons.

We reserved the "big cabin" for a family reunion.It was great plenty of space 2 fireplaces and attached bathroom. Loved it !

All trails in total are about 11-12 miles. You can easily do all of it in one day. No great views except the creek and trail 3. I would personally say that Shades has much better hiking.

This state park is great. The trails are well established with different degrees of difficulty. Its beautiful there. There are great slot canyons to hike and its great to go there on a hot day. We canoe on sugar creek where the waters are clear and slow moving for a nice day long trip. Public access pool for family fun. Get a yearly state park pass to save money and go there often!

Great place for a scenic hike, one of the best in indiana. Trail 3 is the best if your wanting the most out of your trip. Trail 6 for a beginner. Bring your map with you that they give you at the gate. Enjoy

This is my all time favorite state park. I would not recommend it if you have strolers or wagons because accessing the trails requires you traverses a surprising number of stairs and then cross a narrow suspension bridge. Please don't let this scare you though, the trails are amazing.

Amazing place to take a walk with family including kids and or pets

Gorgeous hiking trails, tubing, kayaking, canoes. Will definitely be returning!

I love Turkey Run. It has a great Inn and the hiking is perfect. There isn't much in the surrounding area so you can focus on nature. I highly recommend trail 3. If you do the trail counter clockwise be prepared to go down some slippery ladders.

Trails are always great here and it's a good place to go on a hot day

Awesome park to walk trails in. It's did get a bit crowded by afternoon. Well worth the drive for us. Sugar creek is a beautiful water way

One of the most gorgeous places in Indiana probably! Some of the trails were closed so that was a bummer but I know it was for a good reason

Such a wonderful place to go and connect with nature!! They have a variety of trails ranging from easy to difficult! Been going here since I was kid, and I will always choose to go here!! Its pet friendly and a great place to be with family!!

Very beautiful, kept clean and is good for the whole family.

Best and most beautiful place to be in the whole world!! Go here every year

It was very nice. I went with my kids and they enjoyed tracking. We would go back. It takes an hour and thirty minutes to go over tracking road.

My family and me love it,can't wait to go back in the fall

Great park! I love hiking there. I think my family has gone there 4 or 5 times this year at least and have been going there every year since we moved to Terre Haute. The trails are exciting with all the rocks, boulders, and water.

Beautiful place to go. I took my wife there for our honeymoon she fell in love with the place

Homey Inn, yummy tenderloin sandwiches, friendly staff, & beautiful trails!!

This place is so beautiful and the trails are amazing. Its rugged trails and you must be careful. It's so historic and theres a lot to do.

With a mix of trail difficulty these trails are a perfect place for any age of family to explore. Connecting with nature is important, and Turkey Run is an amazing place to do that. Absolutely beautiful!

Always a blast at Turkey Run! I love hiking and canoeing. We take out church youth group almost every year

Wonderful paths , but a bit easy to get lost so be sure to grab a map.

Great park full of trails, and a neat little place called Pen Island.

Big park, trails, fun for family, I love this place!

Clean up your own trash! They do a very good job at keeping it clean. Trails can be confusing, make sure to get a map.

great small park, had a blast spending a sunny afternoon hiking around

This is the prettiest state park I've seen in Indiana

Trail three was a great way to break out of couch life for the past three months! The natural beauty of this park defies description, and must be personally witnessed. Wear sturdy, comfortable, slip resistant shoes, as you will be traversing a good deal of distance, over rocky, wet ground. There were a lot of people in the parking lot, nature center, and trail beginnings/ends on the Sunday that I decided to go; so bring your mask for close proximity moments. Other than that, it was nice to get outside without a mask on the middle parts of the trail where other people were sparse and Nature Herself was in glorious abundance. Enjoy, and be safe - the Ladders will test your nerve; remember to sanitize after you climb them.

Was an awesome family weekend even with 8" of snow! Was one of the most beautiful places to be!!!

Love the trails, the tubing, the campground is clean and nice, the pool is olimpic size, the horse barn is awesome!

Camp trail 11. Our dog jumped toward a bird. No guard rails for safety plummeted 100 ft + down we are on our way to emergency vet in Lafayette. Definitely glad it wasn't a kid or adult. This raises my safety concerns for an otherwise beautiful state park.

The best State Park in Indiana! Turkey Run is absolutely gorgeous. The Inn is cute and charming, with a fun arcade, game room and outside playgrounds and fire pit. They also have cabins, which are a little dated, but honestly are very nice and a great place to stay. The campground is a lot of fun too! They also have a great stable, and the horse trail ride you can go on with a guide is so much fun! The horses are very trained but not trail dead. This is our go-to State Park and will forever be our favorite. The staff is extremely helpful and nice, it s clean and the restaurant is very good! Esp the buffet!! If you ve never been and are thinking of visiting don t hesitate! You won t be disappointed.

If anyone out there thinks there is nothing to do Indiana Indianapolis think again. Y'all must go see Turkey Run State Park. Out of all the trials we hiked number 3 is the best. It's a must go do with family, but take note it's for people that can walk, climb, and jump. We had to go over big tree logs and walk on some rocks. All was call the park to find which is the best.