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- Indiana Dunes National Park — Miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, towering dunes, wetlands and prairie meet within a compact stretch; you get big-lake beaches, rare dune ecosystems, and short hikes that feel wild despite being an hour from Chicago. Great for sunrise on the beach, birding at the marshes, or a quick dune scramble that really feels like no other part of Indiana.
- Brown County State Park & Nashville Arts Colony — Rolling, forested hills, sweeping fall color and a loose, artsy small town make this Indiana’s Appalachia-lite. Hike the ridge lines, then wander Nashville’s galleries and woodshops for local crafts and music — the landscape and creative culture together are a distinctive Hoosier combo.
- Turkey Run State Park — Deep sandstone gorges, tight ravines, suspension bridges
- Indiana Dunes National Park — Miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, towering dunes, wetlands and prairie meet within a compact stretch; you get big-lake beaches, rare dune ecosystems, and short hikes that feel wild despite being an hour from Chicago. Great for sunrise on the beach, birding at the marshes, or a quick dune scramble that really feels like no other part of Indiana.
- Brown County State Park & Nashville Arts Colony — Rolling, forested hills, sweeping fall color and a loose, artsy small town make this Indiana’s Appalachia-lite. Hike the ridge lines, then wander Nashville’s galleries and woodshops for local crafts and music — the landscape and creative culture together are a distinctive Hoosier combo.
- Turkey Run State Park — Deep sandstone gorges, tight ravines, suspension bridges and old-growth trees carved by glacial streams. The slot-canyon feel, the ladders and roots you scramble past, and quiet backcountry campsites make it my personal favorite for a weekend backpack or a day of serious scrambling.
- Parke County Covered Bridges — The county has the largest concentration of authentic covered bridges in the U.S.; these wooden spans, set across lazy creeks and farmland, are literal pieces of 19th-century rural engineering. Drive the back roads, especially in spring or fall, and you’ll see why locals geek out over each truss design.
- Angel Mounds State Historic Site — One of the best-preserved Mississippian Native American earthwork sites in the Midwest, right on the Ohio River near Evansville. Walking the mounds and trails gives a rare, tangible sense of a pre-Columbian urban center — both peaceful and archaeologically important.
- Marengo Cave — An easy-to-reach, show-cave system of limestone passages and stalactite formations tucked into southern Indiana’s karst country. Guided tours are surprisingly hands-on and dramatic; the cave’s natural architecture is a neat counterpoint to the state’s limestone-built towns.
- New Harmony (Hidden gem) — A tiny town with outsized history: 19th-century utopian experiments left a unique mix of thoughtful planning, classic architecture, and low-key cultural programming. It’s the kind of place you stroll slowly through, poke into restored houses and lecture garden layouts, and leave thinking about how different America almost was.
- Bedford Limestone Country (Hidden gem) — Bedford and surrounding towns are where Indiana limestone was quarried for the Empire State Building, the National Cathedral and lots of sculptural work. Drive the quarry roads, gawk at the cut faces, and notice the carved stone in local courthouses and storefronts — a local industry that shaped national architecture.
- Mounds State Park (Anderson) (Hidden gem) — A compact hill-and-mound park preserving a ring of prehistoric earthen mounds from the Adena/Hopewell cultures. It’s low-key, easy to walk, and gives an intimate look at indigenous landscape engineering without the crowds you’d find at bigger archaeological sites.
- Clifty Falls State Park & the Historic River Town of Madison — Clifty Falls drops dramatic waterfalls into steep sandstone gorges right above the Ohio River. Pair it with a stroll through Madison’s well-preserved 19th-century downtown — porch-lined streets, river views, and honest-to-goodness southern-Indiana charm you won’t get in big cities.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past decade, I’ve backpacked through 80+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.