Turkey Run State Park
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| Turkey Run | |
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| Designation | State Park |
| Location | Indiana USA |
| Nearest City | Marshall, Indiana |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 2,382 acres |
| Date of Establishment | 1916 |
| Governing Body | Indiana DNR |
Turkey Run State Park is located in Parke County, Indiana, in the west-central part of the state on State Road 47 two miles east of State Road 41.. It was Indiana's second state park, with the first parcel of land being purchased in 1916 when the State Park system was first established on the Indiana state centenniel. It hosts the Turkey Run Inn, built in 1919. The origin of the name "Turkey Run" is unknown but the most accepted theory is that wild turkeys would congregate in the gorges (or "runs") for warmth where early settlers in the area would trap them in dead end gorges and hunt them with ease.
Turkey Run State Park is located close to Shades State Park. Both parks are located along Sugar Creek, and both feature the gorge system formed by the drainage of the creek as it cuts down through sandstone bedrock. Mansfield sandstone is the specific type seen at Turkey Run, named after Mansfield Indiana. This makes the parks all the more interesting, since travelling to them is across a flat glacial till plain, and suddenly the traveler enters the gorge system.
A system of trails offers hikers plenty of outing opportunities during the summer months when the crainage is relatively free of water, and the suspension footbridge across Sugar Creek, the main drainage for both parks, provides access to trails on the far side. Trail 3 is particularly noted for its ruggedness, including ladders and narrow but deep gorges. Floating down Sugar Creek through the park in either inner tubes or canoes is very popular in the summer months. Also, in the spring when heavy rains and snow melt flood the narrow gorges many more adventurous hikers will go "creek stomping" through the narrow gorges. However, the fast moving current, steep gorge walls, and unpredictable contours of the creek beds, make this activity dangerous if the water level is high.
[edit] Park Geology
The major features of the park are formed from erosion in Mansfield sandstone from the Mansfield formation. This formation was depostied during the Carboniferous period at the mouth of the ancient where sediments collected and compacted. This swampy environment formed many coal deposits which were mined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collapsed entrance to a coal mine is still a major feature of the park.
During the Pleistocene Epoch the Mansfield sandstone bedrock was carved into the current distinct formations by glacial meltwaters and their associated erosion. Turkey Run features many common features of glaciation, including glacial erratics, till, and scoured canyons from erosion by melting glacial waters.
[edit] External links
| Indiana State Parks |  |
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| Brown County - Chain O' Lakes - Charlestown - Clifty Falls - Falls of the Ohio - Fort Harrison - Harmonie - Indiana Dunes - Lincoln - McCormick's Creek - Mounds - O'Bannon Woods - Ouabache - Pokagon - Potato Creek - Prophetstown - Shades - Shakamak - Spring Mill - Summit Lake - Tippecanoe River - Turkey Run - Versailles - Whitewater Memorial - White River |
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