NORTH VERNON — Muscatatuck County Park has been named as one of the Top 20 Outdoor Adventure Sites in Indiana by the tourist agency Visit Indiana.
The announcement was made on June 2 as a part of the Visit Indiana blog’s 20IN20 campaign to encourage tourism in the state.
In an article announcing all 20 sites, writer Josh Alsip said “Now, more than ever, it is vital to get out of the house and explore.”
Alsip added descriptions of all 20 sites as places of unique features for outdoor adventures and the environments to accommodate current pandemic safety issues.
Muscatatuck Park shares the 20IN20 honor with other outdoor activity sites such as the Dunes National Park, Shades State Park, Turkey Run and Brown County State Park.
“I think our rock-climbing venues and the hiking and bike trails were the main attractions considered by Visit Indiana,” Muscatatuck Park Director Greg Martin said. “I know our team has worked very hard to develop rock climbing here. We are currently the only outdoor rock-climbing site in Indiana.”
Martin’s “team” consists of only three other members: Park assistants Seth Jones and Paul Gatewood and Office Assistant Lisa Gatewood.
Martin said that even before being named as a Top 20 Outdoor Adventure site in Indiana, an ever increasing number of rock climbers have been using Muscatatuck’s sites.
“We have climbers from across the state as well as from many other states,” he said. “We have also worked for a long time to develop our trail systems. Our bike trails are good enough that DINO has held their events here for years and they will be back again on this July 4th weekend.”
Because of the pandemic, many events such as the Sassafras Festival , the Tame the Terrain event and family reunions have recently been canceled but, according to Martin, there has still been an upsurge in park usage.
“Really, I’ve never seen the park as busy as it has been since the pandemic lockdown hit. It’s like people have discovered what has been in their own back yard all along,” Martin said. “More people are volunteering and I notice people are going around and helping to clean things up without even being asked. It’s like more people are taking pride in ownership of our park.”
For more information about the 20IN20 recognition go to visitindiana.com/blog/index.php
