are fi lled with horse riders as well as hikers and bicyclists enjoying the excellent multi- use trails. One of my favorite trails in this system is
the Ahnapee State Trail, featuring over 30 miles of trail open to horse and mules. As an added bonus, parts of this trail system are suitable for driving, so expect to see horse- drawn buggies, carts and wagons during your visit. T e Ahnapee trails are similar to many others in this system in that most are linear trails and have no camping facilities, so they’re prefect for day riding along the
banks of the Ahnapee and Kewaunee Rivers as you pass by farms, prairies and wooded areas fi lled with wildfl owers. As this is a rails-to-trails project, riders
should expect to ride along a wide and fl at crushed gravel path. Equestrian usage is limited to the period between mid-April to mid-November. Trying to ride in the off season would most probably mean at aching skis to your mount’s hooves. As with any area that we ride, please fol-
low Leave No Trace practices to preserve our ability to ride these trails.
DEAM LAKE STATE RECREATION AREA - HENRYVILLE, INDIANA
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ext we’ll venture south from Wisconsin to Indiana as did the “Father of America’s National Parks,” John Muir. Perhaps better known for the name- sake camp on the fl anks of Mount Rainier, Mount Muir in the Angeles National Forest, and the John Muir Wilderness, John Muir also spent considerable time in the Midwest. Before he went on to fame in America’s west, he undertook a trek from Indianapolis, Indiana to Florida in 1867, passing through what is now the Deam Lake Recreational Area.
E John Muir’s oſt -repeated quote, “Keep
close to Nature’s heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean,” certainly is a valid thought for trail riders like you and I and speaks to our seemingly insatiable need to head out with our horse or mule for an aſt ernoon, a week- end or even longer when we can. Not just a creator of wit y sayings, John Muir founded the Sierra Club and devoted much of his life to the preservation of the magnifi cent western forests. His writings inf luenced presidents and the masses to take action to preserve many of the large natural areas you and I ride today. One large natural area well worth a visit
is the Deam Lake State Recreation Area in southern Indiana. T is forested area hosts an extensive and dedicated equestrian camp boasting 68 camp spots and access to the adjacent 24,000 acres of the Clark State For- est. Altogether there are over 100 miles of equestrian-friendly trails that can be ridden from Deam Lake, certainly enough to spend a week exploring and wash our spirit clean. Horse campers will have their choice of
two diff erent types of experiences—regular horse campsites away from the lake where you can keep your mounts close at hand or lakeside sites where you’ll tuck your mount safely inside a stall in one of the six
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well-maintained barns. Keeping in sync with the luxury of having a stall away
n s
from home, you’ll also fi nd bathhouses com- plete with hot showers in the campgrounds. Once you’re out on the miles of well- marked and -maintained trails, you’ll fi nd you can pick and choose any number of rides to match your mood for challenge and length. Trails vary from wide enough to ride three abreast to narrow single paths that meander throughout the forest. For those who lack an inner compass (like me), all horse trails are color-coded and many inter- sect, allowing you to create your own route for the day. T is hidden gem in the hills of southern Indiana should be on everyone’s visit list.
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GIFFORD PINCHOT STATE PARK - HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
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ur final stop this month is Gifford Pinchot State Park in Pennsylvania. The park is just
one of several public lands named for Pennsylvania’s 28th
governor.
Pinchot not only served as governor of the state in the early 1930s, but prior to that he was the fi rst chief of the US Forest Service and also endowed the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Stud- ies, where the aforementioned Aldo Leopold studied. As the nation’s fi rst Forest Service chief, Pinchot established many of the policies that still allow trail riders the oppor- tunity to venture into the wilderness on horseback.
Pinchot’s quote, “T e earth and its resources belong of right to its people,” speaks to the value of preserving our access to wild places both big and small. While at 2,338 acres and less than 20 miles south of Pennsylvania’s capital
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