Outdoor Indiana - March/April 2023

DNR offers a variety of horse camping options
By Scott Roberts, OI Staff

Carl Smith and Susan Johnson head out from their campsite at Brown County State Park for a long trail ride. Photo by Brent Drinkut.

Riding horses is therapy to Susan Johnson. The Nashville resident loves traversing the state’s horse trails because they allow her to find places she can’t get to on foot. Along the way she’ll talk to her trusty companion, which she says always listens.

“You can tell a horse anything, and when you get a good one you want to ride away from everything and just be together,” she said.

Johnson has ridden since she was 1 1/2. She now owns 19 horses and usually takes two or three trips a year to ride. She introduced boyfriend Carl Smith to the hobby a few years ago. Now, she says, he may be more excited about riding than she is.

Being able to camp with their steeds allows the couple to spend more time on the trails and less driving to them.

Jonella Beale of Delphi likes to explore Indiana’s wealth of equine trails on horseback, too. She typically rides to a specific overlook, preserve, river, or restaurant, and often finds the journey as pleasant as the destination.

Laura Whiteleather of Andrews has also loved horses nearly all her life. She’s owned at least one since 1979. She worked for DNR for 12 years before retiring, and she says the best way for she and her husband to enjoy the outdoors is in a saddle.

“There’s nothing like that bonding between horse and rider in the beauty of Indiana,” Whiteleather said. “We’ve camped and ridden in six other states and to us, Indiana is the best.”

Indiana’s state parks and forests have offered horseback riding since 1929. Turkey Run State Park was the first DNR property to do so, on a trial basis. Demand was so great that the opportunity for horse owners to ride trails expanded to other properties. The increase in activity brought the need for horse campgrounds, which are specifically set aside and designed for horses and their owners. These sites are usually wider than traditional campsites to allow room for a horse trailer and typically have a hitching post.

Like many other outdoor activities, horse camping’s popularity boomed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and interest remains at a peak at the 14 DNR horse campgrounds.

Each of these campgrounds across the state offers unique experiences for horse owners.

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DNR transforms abandoned coal mines
By Scott Roberts, OI staff
Photography by Brent Drinkut, OI staff

A 180-acre gob pile remains at Abandoned Mine Lands project site 978 in Pike County, which is being reclaimed by the work of the DNR Division of Reclamation.

In 1736, the presence of coal was discovered on the banks of the Wabash River in southern Indiana. Though exactly who found it and where has been lost to history, the benefits and effects of that find are still seen and felt across the region’s landscape.

Today, Indiana is the country’s seventh largest producer of coal, accounting for more than 29.7 million tons or about 4% of the national total, according to the Indiana Coal Council. Although output has declined in recent years due to an increased supply of natural gas, growth of renewable energy sources, and environmental regulations, the state’s mining industry still supports more than 2,500 jobs. That figure adds $750 million to the Hoosier economy, according to the Indiana Center for Coal Technology Research at Purdue University. Indiana was the country’s third largest consumer of coal in 2020, as it provides 58% of Indiana’s electricity according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Despite constant mining since 1830, Indiana still has more than 17 billion tons of retrievable coal in the ground, which at current consumption rates could last 500 years according to the Indiana Geological and Water Survey (IGWS). This availability continues to make it one of the cheapest and most stable energy resources, even today.

As with most industries, coal production comes with a tradeoff. Open surface mining pits and collapsed underground mines dot much of southwest Indiana. Most of this damage lies in a 17-county area stretching from Vermillion County in the north to Perry County, which borders the Ohio River. These open mines not only make parts of Indiana look like craters on the moon, but also can pose danger to area residents and the environment.

Minerals, especially pyrite, exposed to the air after years underground, can leach acid. For decades, pyrite from mining was discarded in mounds of leftover waste called gob piles after companies washed the coal and determined which pieces of the fossil fuel they wanted to sell. Today’s washing technology has almost eliminated pyrite from the process, but the prior damage done remains.

Also, the steep and uneven terrain from the pits left behind can be hazardous. People walking in these areas can get hurt by tripping and falling. Structures built near these areas can collapse because much of the ground is unstable.

DNR’s Division of Reclamation (DOR) works to solve these issues. “Reclamation” is defined as modifying mined land to an ecologically functional or economically usable state. Since 1982, the division’s Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program has restored more than 1,100 construction sites that encompass approximately 10,000 acres of abandoned coal mines and related impacts from mining.

To read the rest of this article subscribe to Outdoor Indiana or pick up a copy at one of our state park inns. To subscribe, click here or call (317) 233-3046.