Hiking Indiana [Paperback]

Phil Bloom (Author)

Book Description

Series: State Hiking Guides Series | Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Written by award-winning outdoor editor and author Phil Bloom, this guide includes more than 60 hikes, ranging from easy afternoon jaunts to multi-day backpack trips.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the living sand dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan to the glacial lakes of the north to the rugged topography of the south, Indiana -- famous for basketball and auto racing -- has an often-overlooked trove of natural treasures waiting for the outdoor enthusiast. In Hiking Indiana, join award-winning outdoor editor and author Phil Bloom on more than 60 hikes, ranging from easy afternoon jaunts to multi-day backpack trips. Watch for whitetails or wild turkeys as you climb the steep hills of the Hoosier National Forest, find serenity deep in the thick pines of the Charles C. Deam Wilderness, or tackle the spiny ridges and deep ravines of the Knobstone Trail, a trail whose hikers fondly deem the Little Appalachian. With current, mile-by-mile trail descriptions, engaging black-and-white photographs, detailed maps, a wealth of information on ecology, geology, and state history, and useful hiking tips for the beginner and veteran alike, Hiking Indiana is the only reference you'll need for discovering the Hoosier State.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 1st edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560447206
• ISBN-13: 978-1560447207
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #853,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Indiana

More About the Author

Phil Bloom is an award-winning journalist and lifelong resident of Indiana with a deep interest in nature that was cultivated at an early age.

An avid hunter, angler, hiker and camper, Bloom was introduced to the great outdoors on family trips led by his parents. He broadened his outdoor experiences as a Boy Scout and earned the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, Scouting's highest achievement.

He also is a certified Indiana Master Naturalist.

The knowledge and skills Bloom developed from those experiences came in handy in his professional life, where he spent the last 16 years of a 33-year newspaper career as outdoors editor for the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette. His reporting on the newspaper's popular weekly outdoors page received numerous state, regional and national awards. The outdoors page itself was twice honored as the nation's best by the Outdoor Writers Association of America, the world's largest organization of professional outdoor communicators.

He joined OWAA in 1991 and served as the group's president from 2008-09.

His travels as an outdoor writer have taken him from the Everglades of Florida to old growth forests of Oregon, from the majestic peaks of Glacier National Park to the raging waters of the New River Gorge in West Virginia.

Since retiring from the newspaper profession in 2007, Bloom has worked as director of communications for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. In that capacity, he is editor of Outdoor Indiana magazine, which has been telling the DNR story for more than 75 years.

He is the author of Hiking Indiana (Globe-Pequot), which recently was released in an updated 2nd edition. Hiking Indiana highlights more than 70 of the best adventures in the Hoosier state, from family-friendly day hikes to the challenging Knobstone Trail that stretches for 57 miles through the rugged ridges and valleys of southern Indiana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource for Midwestern Hikers, June 4, 2001

By 

"aimeemikemaria" (Terre Haute, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hiking Indiana (Paperback)

My family enjoys day hiking and recently completed the Knobstone Trail in southeastern Indiana. We purchased this book in order to get ideas for future hiking trips. If you enjoy hiking, you'll find this book an interesting read and a great resource. It begins with a short introductory section containing general information, especially useful for novice hikers or people (like myself) who are relatively new to this part of the country. The remainder of the book consists of sections organized by geographical or geological themes, with each section summarizing from five to ten possible hiking trips. With hikes ranging in distance from less than a half mile to over twenty miles, both novice and experienced hikers should find something to suit their fancy.

The summary of each hike is complete in a broad sense, including driving directions, general information about the location, decent (though not topographic) maps, mileages to key points along the trail, and somewhat detailed hiking descriptions. Having just completed the Knobstone Trail, I would have benefited from having the mileage and hiking descriptions in this book which are not available in this detail in any other source.

The only details that detracted from this book, in my opinion, were two apparent factual errors -- one in a road name, the other in describing a short segment of the route of the Knobstone Trail. I have seen both errors in other sources including some official publications cited by the author. Although some readers may question the lack of topo maps, the author includes details of elevation gain in each description. Furthermore, most hikes which are lengthy or strenuous enough to require such information are likely to be located in state forests or other public lands for which topo maps are frequently available.

Overall, I highly recommend this book especially for people like myself who enjoy rugged day hiking. There are certainly some hikes described which will appeal to campers and through hikers, as well as some moderate to easy hikes for novices. Whether you live in Indiana or a nearby metropolitan area such as Chicago, Louisville, or Cincinnati, you will likely find several hikes within a drive of an hour or two.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indiana Finally Gets a Great Hiking Guide, June 1, 2004

By 

David Prager "redhawk" (Winterville, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hiking Indiana (Paperback)

As an avid hiker in southwest Ohio, I had searched for years for a decent hiking guide for my neighbors in the Hoosier state. I saw Falcon had one out, so I decided to give it a shot. What I found was a real gem.

There are 65 destinations described in this book with one hike per destination. The destinations range geographically from Indiana Dunes in the north to Hoosier National Forest and the famous Knobstone Trail in the south. Distances range from 1.5 miles to multi-day backpack treks, with the average at around 3 or 4 miles. Thus, there is something in here for every ability and every location.

Each hike contains a summary of the "critical facts" about the trail (length, difficulty, land management, nearby campgrounds, etc.) and a map of the trail that includes only the essential, but still enough, information. Trail descriptions are excellent, as are directions to the trailhead. The only minor drawback to this guide is the lack of a trail summary in the front of the book, a feature I have come to expect in most top-notch guides these days. Thus, you might have to do some page flipping to find a hike of interest to you. There is, however, a table of contents, so the impact of this omission is lessened.

In summary, this book is a great source of information and a real joy to read and use. You will find the best hiking Indiana has to offer described here. Further, this book easily beats any other guide to Indiana hiking on the market. I enthusiastically recommend this guide for purchase.