The first multi-night trip we took in the Eurovan was to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana. I saw a picture of it somewhere and thought, now that is something unique to Indiana that you can’t see anywhere else, we need to go! So we booked a campsite for mid October and made camping attempt #2. THIS time we did a lot more preparation with the van before going, since I was paranoid about being caught unprepared like last time. So we read the manual, tested the heater, cleaned the vents and got the fridge to work. I bought insulated window shades, made screen door covers, and made a front seat bassinet for the baby. And it totally paid off because this trip was amazing! For more about what we did and learned, check out my post Things To Do & Know About Your Eurovan Before Your First Trip. 

About Turkey Run State Park

Turkey Run State Park is Indiana’s second state park, located in west central Indiana along State Road 47. It is known for beautiful hiking through deep sandstone gorges and beautiful old forests along Sugar Creek. The ravines are awesome and the reason we went! The top 2/3 of Indiana was flattened by glaciers, and in this area glacial meltwaters carved through the sandstone bedrock and carried debris long distances, depositing them way downstream. Some of the ravines are really deep and include stairs to get in and out! Turkey Run’s name origin is unknown, but most people think that wild turkeys grouped together for warmth in the gorges, aka “runs”, where early settlers would trap them. I also like to imagine turkeys running through the narrow valleys for fun.

For more about the state park, check out Turkey Run State Park IN DNR Website & Turkey Run State Park Website.

Turkey Run State Park Campground

We camped at Turkey Run State Park Campground, which is located right next to Turkey Run State Park, approximately .8 miles. We really liked this campground! Reservations online were easy and the website has pictures of every campsite to help you choose. We stayed at site #250 because it was in a big field and near the playground, which was ideal for our kids ages 1 and 3 at the time. The other sites were pretty close together but the field ones were really spacious and had a great view of the starry night sky. There were also some fun little trails around the playground that we explored. I also liked that the campground has lots of sites (we were able to book only a few weeks ahead), both sunny and shady spots, the people were friend (many RVs and trailers were all decked out for Halloween!), and the bathrooms were clean.

The only thing we did not like about the campground was its location outside of the park. Although it’s very close, with a camper van you still have to somewhat pack up to drive your anywhere, which with little kids and carseats is just an added hassle. We understand now why trailer campers are handy, you just unhook the car and go. It does look like you can walk from the far end of the campsite to trail 7 and into the park, but it’s still a ways to the center where all the other trails start, and I wouldn’t attempt it with little kids. So we brought a tent and left some things in there when we drove to the park for the day.

For the campground’s website, click here: Turkey Run Camping.

What To Do At Turkey Run State Park With Little Kids

Turkey Run State Park is really an ideal place to take little kids. I wish we’d stayed longer! Here are the tops things we enjoyed during our visit, with our 3 and 1 year olds.

The Nature Center

We arrived in the afternoon of our first day. The first thing we did was go to the Nature Center to get a map and ask for trail recommendations. The center has a simple display area about the park, forest and wildlife which our kids enjoyed.

The Suspension Bridge

Next we walked down the wide main trail to the suspension bridge over Sugar Creek, which you must cross to access most of the trails. Be warned there are 70 steps down to get to it, and then some more steps up to cross it! We were there in the late afternoon heading on toward sunset, and the colors were gorgeous (see the pic at the top of this post). Our boys were equally excited and terrified of the bridge. They also enjoyed going down to the rocky riverbank to throw stones into Sugar Creek.

Walk Up Rocky Hollow, Trail 4

After crossing the suspension bridge we walked up Rocky Hollow for a beautiful introduction to the park. Leaving the bridge, followed the trail that goes slightly left and then right (as opposed to directly right or left), around a cliff on a boardwalk, and into a deep ravine. You are surrounded by steep cliff walls and there’s this huge rock leaning out over the trail called Wedge Rock. I wish we had gone farther up this trail, it seemed pretty flat and easy, but it was almost dinner time. However, I’m not sure how much farther you could go with little kids, as I hear gets pretty rocky and has steep ladders at one point.

Hike Trail 1 to 4

The next day we headed back for a full day of hiking! We did trail 1 to 4 because the nature center guide recommended it for kids. You take Trail 1 along the river down to the Narrows Covered Bridge, cross it, then take Trail 4 back along the river back to the Suspension Bridge. It’s about a mile there and a mile back, and they are both very flat and easy. Trail 1 goes by some huge trees and rocks that our kids liked to climb, and Trail 4 goes by some rocky cliff faces. Both have pretty views of Sugar Creek most of the way. We carried the 1 year old most of the way while the 3 year old walked or rode on dad’s shoulders, and we ate lunch halfway at the covered bridge for a break. There were no tables so we just sat on the rocks between the covered bridge and the regular bridge, which made for a pretty view. Overall it was a nice walk and I’d recommend it for the bridges, but after yesterday’s amazing first impression I was slightly disappointed to not go through any more beautiful deep ravines that this park is so well known for.

The Narrows Covered Bridge

The Narrows Covered Bridge is accessible from trail 1 or 4, as we got to it, but you could also drive your car to it and park nearby. It was built in 1882 or 1883, depending on which side of the bridge you are standing on, hah! One date is on one end, the other date on the other end! It is 121 feet long and has a window in the middle on each side, which supposedly let the person crossing see if any traffic was approaching from outside. If you like covered bridges, this area of Parke County has 31 covered bridges and an annual covered bridge festival! Another one nearby is the Cox Ford Bridge on the west side of Turkey Run.

Hike Trail 6 & 7

After lunch we put the boys in their car seats and drove to the other side of the park by the Inn for trails 6 & 7. It’s maybe a 2 minute drive and they fell asleep right away so we let them nap, then headed out! We took trail 6 starting by the cabins to the left of the Inn. It goes .2 miles through beautiful deep gorges, we LOVED this trail! We crossed a little bridge to access Trail 7 (if you keep going on trail 6 it takes you behind the Inn and even back to the nature center), which is around .7 mile of a little more canyon path and mostly just woods with some views of Sugar Creek from way up high. Then we took Trail 6 again back to the van since we liked it so much! (The pics below are of trail 6).

More Hiking

I wish we could have tried out more trails, but we didn’t have time! Turkey Run has over 14 miles of trails. All of them are unique and I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them, except maybe #1 if you’re looking for canyons because it just goes along the creek. The rest all have parts of the trail that go through the ravine streambeds, so areas can be slippery, but we encountered nothing we couldn’t jump or help a kid across. For more about hiking and pictures to help you decide what trails to do, see:

Runners Up

We only had one full day at Turkey Run, so we didn’t make it to everything, but if we’d been here longer here are the things I would have done!

  • Picnics – there are several picnic areas near the nature center with tables that looked nice
  • Turkey Run State Park Inn – built in 1919 with several guest cabins, it would have been fun to poke around here and even stay overnight
  • Horseback Riding – guided rides and pony rides, I would have loved to get the kids on a pony
  • Canoe & Kayak – several local places offer trips down Sugar Creek going under the Narrows Covered Bridge!

The Campervanning

This trip went so well because we prepared so well! This was the van during the drive. Note the sleeping baby in the mirror 🙂 Ignore the car seats all tilted…these vans have very squishy seats. The boys loved riding in the van, but it was difficult with them so far away in the back where the passenger cannot reach them (I had to climb into the back multiple times).

Camping was great! Both nights were pretty cold and the window insulation was so helpful, plus the heater works great. The second night there were mosquitoes so we used a door net I got off Amazon. Having the outdoor rug was super handy to keep from tracking in dirt, and the tent behind was where we stored the car seats and a few other things.

 

The first night we cooked in the van and ate outside at dusk. It was such a nice ending to the day.

I made a bassinet in the front seat area for the 1 year old and was so excited it worked! Click here for instructions how I made it. Our 3 year old was too nervous to sleep on his own, so the first night he slept in the bottom with me, and the second night he slept up top with Daniel. (Pic below from when I made the bassinet – our van is not that clean when camping!)

It was the sweetest thing to wake up the next morning in the warm van with them all excited to start the day.

The second night it actually rained right at dinner so we had a picnic in the van! It was definitely cramped. I guess we could have used the bench/table/swivel seats option but the bassinet was already set up.

Overall we really enjoyed our visit to Turkey Run State Park and would definitely recommend it! I hope you make it!