Mounds State Park, Indiana

 

First on the list is Mounds State Park.  Why the name "Mounds", you ask?  Well rumor has it that our State "fathers" ran out of cool names to give our parks, so they started naming them after candy bars (one of my favorites, I might add).

 

Mounds is located about 20-30 minutes North of Indy and is right on the outskirts of Anderson.  Anderson is large enough to have most anything you might want/need; Walmart, Lowes, various restaurants, etc. It is a relatively small park with about 75 campsites.  All sites are electric (only) with water fill and a dump station.  There is a small store at the campground check-in, which has a few necessities and junk food (one in the same?).  Like all of our Parks, you will be charged a one time $5-6 entry fee at the main gate; with your campsite hangtag serving for the rest of your stay.

 

Immediately upon entering the campground, you will encounter a sign like this;

 

 

Realize that we Hoosiers have an odd sense of humor.  Just ignore the sign and go to your campsite - like everybody else does. 

 

Being a small Park, I'd call it a "weekender" at most.  You'll have time to see most everything.  The main attractions are the "mounds".  This is the "Great Circle Mound":

 

 

When I started going there, years back, it was then believed that these were burial mounds of the Hopewell Indians.  The scholars have since determind that they (the various mounds) were probably for worshipping/ceremonies and/or observing celestial bodies so they would know what season it is.  Or, to say it another way, the scholars really don't know why the Hopewells decided to move around all of this dirt.  I'm certain they (the Hopewells) must have had a good reason - or maybe they were just bored; since Wii hadn't been invented yet.

 

The White River runs thru the Park and there are some nice trails.

 

 

This Park is where Dixie bravely conquered her fear of "stairs". 

 

If you find yourself in need of a place to overnight or weekend, close to Indy, Mounds is worth a visit. If you stay much longer than that, bring along the Playstation...or a shovel and build your own mound!