Hardin Ridge Campground in Hoosier National Forest in Indiana

Posted byWhere's Wendy? Livin' in the Edge!Posted inUncategorized

I’m STILL trying to catch up on my posts! 🤷‍♀️ I’d previously edited & saved 200+ of my favorite photos of HR & written most of this, but I haven’t had enough solid reception to finalize it until now.

I’ll always treasure our time at Hardin Ridge. 💝

August 10 – 24, 2021

Hardin Ridge is a 1,200-acre campground located on the shores of Monroe Reservoir in Hoosier National Forest in Indiana. “Hoosier National Forest, one of Indiana’s premier federal resources, provides outstanding stewardship of over 200,000 acres in nine counties of south-central Indiana.”
Dogs aren’t allowed at the beach area, but with our Camp Hosts permission, I drove over occasionally to watch the gorgeous sunsets over the water.

If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be spending 14 days with Maddie, camping deep inside a national forest in Indiana, my reaction would have been 😳!

HR was a magical place to visit. I didn’t want to leave, but there’s a 14 day limit. 🥺 Our original reservation was for 9 days. On our second day there, I extended it to the full 14 day maximum.

Our campsite was perfect! The car was parked in the driveway, at the top of the stairs. We had a nice picnic table & an in-ground firepit. The restrooms were close by. They were kept spotlessly clean & had nice, HOT showers. 😊
There were always birds serenading us from the treetops, including owls every night. 🦉
Our time at Hardin Ridge was truly a magical experience. ❤
We were visiting HR during the heat of summertime, but the tree canopy surrounding us provided enough shade to keep us cool & comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised that there were almost no bugs to bother us! 👍🏼
This was one of the short trails I hiked in search of geodes. I’d considered taking Maddie along, but I found a shaded area to park & left her sleeping peacefully in the car. That turned out to be a very lucky decision because the terrain would have been tough for her. In some areas, I had to crawl under or over enormous downed trees. In other places, the path was narrow & cracking from recent erosion. 😳 Have I ever mentioned that I wasn’t a camper or a hiker, before this trip?
🤔
A few people contacted me directly during this time because they were worried about us being so isolated in the forest. The main concern for me was that we’d get a visit from Yogi & Boo-Boo 🐻. After doing my research, bears were no longer a threat. We did have deer wander through on a regular basis, much to Maddie’s delight & dismay! 😉
Also, please notice the well-maintained pavement.
All of the campground roads were in fabulous condition, including the driveways to each campsite.
Searching for Bigfoot, collecting geodes & watching for the Perseids meteor showers were my main interests at HR.
I was able to accomplish 2/3 of my wishlist…
Hint: I never saw any of the meteor showers because the trees were too thick overhead.
While I was writing about Bigfoot yesterday (2/26/21), my phone rang. It was supposedly a Scam Call from Indiana, but I’m still wondering if it was Bigfoot trying to contact me. 🤔
I don’t know anyone else in Indiana. 🤷‍♀️
I ventured into Bloomington, IN in search of some fresh bread & produce & hit the jackpot at Bloomingfoods Co-op Market! It’s been a cooperatively-owned grocery store since 1976 & offers high-quality, locally-sourced food at a fair price. As expected, the prices were a little high, but the quality was exceptional & well worth the money.
While at Bloomingfoods, I asked for the location of the nearest public park. This one was close by & it was a beautiful place for Maddie & I to enjoy our lunch.
This community garden was full of local gardeners, bees & butterflies, all busily tending to their flowers & vegetables.
I made good use of my Bloomingfoods purchases over the next few days. It was so much fun to treat myself to a feast of healthy food!
This was salmon that I reheated on the grill. This cheese was a specialty goat cheese, recommended by my sister who raises dairy goats. Between the delicious food & the wonderful setting, this was one of my favorite (& healthiest) meals on this trip. 💕
I splurged & indulged my sweet tooth! 🤷‍♀️

Geodes, Geodes & More Geodes!

According to geology.com, “geodes are spherical to subspherical rock structures with an internal cavity lined with mineral materials.”

https://scienceline.org/2012/11/where-do-geodes-come-from/#:~:text=As%20water%20flows%20through%20the,a%20million%20years%20to%20grow

Geodes are usually round & they always have a bumpy surface. They sometimes have loose material inside, which can be heard when shaking the rock. They’re usually lighter than their size would indicate because the inside isn’t solid.

In most national & state parks & forests, it’s illegal to take anything from the environment. When we arrived at Hardin Ridge, I was encouraged to hunt for geodes & allowed to keep them! 😍

It quickly became an obsession! They’re really easy to find & they’re EVERYWHERE! I kept reminding myself that rocks are heavy & take up valuable space in an already overloaded car… 🙄

There were massive amounts of geodes everywhere. One interesting thing I learned was the best place to look for them. Geodes are round & relatively lightweight. During a heavy rain, they roll down the hills & get trapped at the base of trees. They basically collect themselves! The bottom photo is a geode the size of my hand & it sparkles. 💕
Our campsite had a perfect geode cracking rock! I put a geode in a sock & whacked it on the rock. Done! Obviously, this method is not the best way to carefully open a geode, but I was happy with my results. 👍🏼 I ended up buying a package of heavy men’s socks to save my own socks!
In the upper right is a small geode, prior to being cracked open. Below it is what the interior looked like, after being cracked open. It was full of “rust”!
I created my own geode washing station on the picnic table. Every geode is incredibly unique. It was fun to crack them open to see what surprises were hidden inside. Most of them contained a lot of loose rust that needed to be washed out. Bleach & Rust Out worked well.

I became so interested aka obsessed in geodes that I joined a FB group of Indiana geodes & fossil collectors! The members were happy to share their knowledge about finding geodes & offered their best methods to open & clean them.

We’ve visited several Tractor Supply stores across the country because they carry Maddie’s food. At this TS, they were selling a large selection of 4-H t-shirts. The Middlesex County 4-H Fair at home has always been special to me & takes place in late August.
To celebrate my love of 4-H, I now own 3 t-shirts! 🍀
I also had a rare moment of feeling a little bit homesick there. A dear friend of mine passed away unexpectedly, shortly after we left home in May. Larry & I had been friends through 4-H for 50+ years. It was difficult to be so far away on the day of his memorial service. 🥺
On the left is Maddie’s ice cream face in July 2013 & the current version is on the right. 💝
We had our own going away pity party! Sadly, we were leaving this beautiful forest the next day,🥺, so I decided that we needed to drown our sorrows in ice cream! 🍧🍦
Indiana has an Ice Cream Trail, featuring ice cream shops all over the state. I drove 15 miles each way to Jiffy Treets & it did not disappoint! I devoured a “small” S’mores sundae with mint chip ice cream. 💕 Maddie got their “special” dog ice cream, which is vanilla soft serve with a dog bone!
All of this cost less than $6.00! Yummy!
When we returned to our campsite, I watched the last 2 (extra) innings of the Red Sox game on my phone. The game went back & forth, but we finally won it in the 11th inning, with a walk-off GRAND SLAM homerun!!! How sweet it is! 😉
I still wasn’t happy about leaving the next day, but I felt much better! Ice cream can cure almost anything for me!
This is an extremely rare photo!

I’m in it… 😉

I didn’t want to leave Hardin Ridge without at least one siting of Bigfoot, but after almost two weeks of searching for the big guy, I’d become discouraged.
I finally asked a Camp Host for a clue to his favorite hangouts. Even with my clue, I just couldn’t find him. 🥺 On our last full day at the campground, I FINALLY caught a glimpse of him! With a few, well-timed maneuvers, I was able to get close enough to say hello. To my astonishment, he very kindly stood still for a few photos! He’s definitely the quiet & shy type, but he’s also tall, dark & handsome❣
(Spending 2 weeks in a forest creates a wild imagination!)😁

P.S. – We’re still in Arizona 🏜, but we’ll be heading out soon!

Published by Where's Wendy? Livin' in the Edge!

On May 2, 2021, I departed from Massachusetts in my 2017 Ford Edge (Breezy Blue) with my 13.5 year young pup, Maddie, to fulfill a lifelong dream of a road trip across America. Our departure was delayed by a month, but we're making up for lost time now! My goal is to be out and about for a year.

3 thoughts on “Hardin Ridge Campground in Hoosier National Forest in Indiana”

  1. Hi Wendy!
    The pictures are absolutely wonderful!!! (:
    Please let me know if you receive my comment! I tried this a long time ago, and it looks like you didn’t receive it.
    Take Good Care, and Stay Safe!
    You need to write your book! It will be a Best Seller!!! Then it can be made into a movie!! (:
    Love,
    Karen (:

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  3. Hi Karen❣ Welcome! I’m glad you’re “here”. Thank you for your enthusiastic compliments! I appreciate it. I originally planned to write this blog for myself, as a way to create a journal of our adventures. When I mentioned the idea, several people asked to follow along. It’s been fun sharing our journey!
    I’ve really enjoyed combining my love of travel, photography & writing. (I’m just using my cellphone camera because it takes wonderful pictures!)
    I’ve had several people suggest a book or movie… 😁 I wish I could do that to finance my travels!
    Take care & thanks for checking in!
    Love, Wendy & Maddie 🤗🐾💝🐾🤗

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