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Portland Arch Nature Preserve: Fountain, Indiana
little Indiana and family headed to the small town of Fountain, Indiana to check out something unique: Portland Arch Nature Preserve.
This is absolutely a lovely area–and the perfect place to spend an afternoon!
Fountain, Indiana: Portland Arch Nature Preserve
Driving to the nature preserve, traveling through this small Indiana town, I was expecting big signs and a place to get a tag for the car. But in reality? You just pull up, park, and go!
Yes, this Fountain County treasure is a freebie outdoor activity–293 acres of forest fun that was once home to a resort and even a boy scout camp! Those days are long since past. Today there’s only about .8 of a mile walking loop.
We were not dressed for hiking. We were dressed for a day of little Indiana-ing that does not usually include forest trails. In other words? Semi-nice clothing and flip flops.
I’m sure we looked like we came straight from the city! Isn’t that a hoot!
Indiana Nature Preserve
Portland Arch Nature Preserve: Fountain, Indiana
But we were all determined to see how far we could get before our lack of supportive footwear and bug spray would make us turn around. Turns out we got pretty far, much farther than we thought we would.
Our boys were thrilled with the trail–especially when we crossed a small bridge over Bear Creek.
As we progressed onward, the trees became more dense and we reached an interesting and big rock formation. The muddy dog that passed us should have been the giveaway.
Yes, little Indiana and family were forced to turn around. The game was called on account of mud: squishy, soggy, squelching mud!
Go There
Portland Arch Nature Preserve: Fountain, Indiana Rules
Absolutely you should take advantage of this awesome trail! Although we didn’t get far enough to see it, we heard that you will see different ecosystems played out here.
It’s a peaceful and fun change of pace for sure. Just follow the signs on the trail and you’ll be fine! If you need to know the rules, check out the image on the left.
Find pictures in Indiana on my Flickr photostream or on the new little Indiana Tumblr blog.
Just don’t forget to tell ‘em that little Indiana sent you!
Portland Arch Nature Preserve
N Portland Arch Road
Fountain, Indiana 47932
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