Indiana’s parks don’t hibernate in winter — and neither should you.
Angie Manuel — Interpretive Manager for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources — joins me to talk about what’s happening across Indiana’s 36 state parks this season. Christmas bird counts. Sandhill crane hikes where you can hear them before you see them. Nights of lights. Family-friendly craft events. And First Day Hikes on January 1st at every single park in the system.
I also learned something I didn’t know: the tradition of the Christmas Bird Count started in the early 1900s as a conservation alternative to hunting. Instead of going out and shooting birds, naturalists started counting them. It’s now one of the longest-running citizen science traditions in the country — and you can participate at Clifty Falls State Park this December.
A note from Missy: Angie said something that stayed with me — you don’t have to go out for a full day. Even 30 minutes outside in the winter can boost your mental wellbeing in ways that are hard to get anywhere else. That one’s going on a sticky note.
Episode Guest
Angie Manuel – Interpretive Manager
Indiana Department of Natural Resources – Division of State Parks
Show Notes & Links
- Indiana State Parks: in.gov/dnr/state-parks
- Christmas Bird Count: Clifty Falls State Park, December 27th
- Sandhill Saturdays: Whitewater Memorial State Park
- Snowman Trail & Winter Craft Bonanza: Summit Lake State Park
- First Day Hikes: January 1st at all 36 Indiana State Parks
- Annual State Parks Pass — great gift for the holidays
Episode Transcript
Winter in the Parks: Indiana State Parks
The Parks Podcast, Episode 56 | Angie Manuel, Interpretive Manager, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of State Parks
Winter in Indiana State Parks
Missy Rentz: As we continue to celebrate winter in the parks, today we’re exploring Indiana. Angie Manuel, who is the Interpretive Manager for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources in the Division of State Parks, is joining me today. Angie, welcome to The Parks Podcast. I love talking to you and learning about what’s going on in Indiana. The weather, especially recently, would indicate that it’s winter — but we are just a few days away from the calendar indicating that it’s winter, and while everybody’s starting to celebrate the holiday season, parks are a great place to go for the holidays and festivities, but also all throughout winter. What’s going on in Indiana this winter?
Angie Manuel: At state parks and other DNR properties, winter swings heavy with snow or cold temperatures, and then we get sunshine and beautiful outdoor days. And so Hoosiers just watch the weather and when it’s good they get outside — and they have lots to look at when they get there.
Snowman Trail and Bird Counts
Missy: Your website and the Parks Podcast have a huge list of activities that are happening — and you keep it updated year-round with really unique activities. There are a couple of events I think are so interesting. At Summit Lake State Park, they have the Snowman Trail and Winter Craft Bonanza, which seems like a spectacular activity for kids.
Angie: It is — it’s a family-friendly activity. You head out into the park on a trail where they have some fun winter and holiday cutouts, and you can take a selfie with those fun cutouts. There are also some clues since it’s a scavenger hunt type activity. You get to the right selfie station and if you’ve chosen the right one and snapped a photo with it, you can head back up to the office and claim your prize. And while you’re up at the office, they have a room dedicated to winter and holiday crafts — so you can enjoy some outside time and some indoor time too.
Missy: Oh, that sounds like so much fun — the perfect activity for families. And then taking it back to nature — at Clifty Falls, they’re doing a Christmas Bird Count on December 27th. What is a bird count? What does that entail?
Angie: Yeah, so there are different ways of doing bird counts, but Clifty Falls State Park and some of our other state parks partner with the Audubon Society, often in their region, or it may be a statewide initiative. They’ll head outdoors — and it’s a blitz. You head outside for a few hours, sometimes all day if you’re courageous enough, with your binoculars. You keep your ears open and you count and document as many birds as you can. They’re looking for diversity in species and the amount of beautiful birds that you see. That’s a December bird count. They do another one around Valentine’s Day too — a backyard bird count. So get outdoors and help count Indiana’s birds.
Missy: That seems important. Why is it important that we host bird counts?
Angie: Yeah, if we don’t know what birds are in our backyards or out in our natural areas, it may be that those populations are declining and we can’t create conservation efforts for them. We always need to make sure that we have cardinals and crows and jays and woodpeckers, and some of those specialty winter birds like snowy owls and other winter migrants. So it’s important to get out and count them to make sure that we are keeping tabs on their populations — and if we need to intervene and do some conservation efforts, we can do that because of those bird counts. They keep us knowledgeable.
Missy: Can you be a newbie to birding to be able to do something like this? Or do you have to be an avid bird watcher?
Angie: That’s a great question — and that’s why going to some of these events is a good idea. If you are a novice, if you’ve never identified birds in your life but enjoy being outdoors and love birds, go on a program like this. You can go with an expert and tag along and learn something along the way. Conversely, if you’re an expert birder, you can get out there and take somebody new and get them into the activity with you. So wherever you are on the spectrum of birding, get out there and you can enjoy it.
Sandhill Saturdays and Nights of Lights
Missy: I’m so intrigued by birding — it’s something I haven’t done yet. What other birding activities are happening in Indiana?
Angie: Yeah, so a unique one that Whitewater Memorial State Park does is they offer Sandhill Saturdays. Sandhill cranes, which are typically a migratory bird and often leave Indiana for the winter, actually love it around Whitewater Memorial State Park’s reservoir. They hang out in the coves where the water is often shallow and hasn’t frozen over — they can still find lots of food. So the interpretive naturalists there will lead Sandhill Saturday hikes and they’ll do lots of viewing with scopes and binoculars. And the fun thing about Sandhill cranes is you can listen to them. You don’t always have to be able to see them — but just listening to a Sandhill crane is magical, especially in the wintertime.
Missy: Throughout the park system, there are also lots of wonderland of lights and Nights of Lights events — it’s a really good place to go to get into that festive spirit.
Angie: It absolutely is. And this is something that has taken off over the years. It used to be that our recreation season was Memorial Day to Labor Day, and then it became a little bit more springtime and a little more fall time into October. And then November, people still have to come out around Thanksgiving and Black Friday — or what we call Opt Outside. And my goodness, now it’s just rolled right into December and people are just as much enjoying the holidays, the Christmas season, any of those celebrations. They do it with lights. Sometimes we have a campground full of campers in December — they’ll set up lights and there’ll be driving tours. Visitors may pay a few dollars to come see it, and it becomes a great fundraiser. So it’s something you can enjoy in the warmth of your car and still get in the holiday spirit.
Missy: And I really like that because you have the traditional holiday lights, you have some craft events, but you also really do lean into the nature and give people the opportunity to celebrate nature in this unique way. Parks have really unique things to see and hear during the winter.
Angie: That’s essentially part of our mission with state parks — to always make it about the resource, whether that is natural resources, plants and animals, and landscapes and habitats, but also our culture and history. So it may be a Christmas theme, but we’re gonna bring into it wildlife, or talk about evergreen trees or frozen landscapes that are beautiful and fun to play in. Our state park mission is to always keep in mind the resource — how wonderful and beautiful it is. Otherwise, it’s just your basic backyard.
Why Winter in the Parks Is Worth It
Missy: I like hiking, but being in the park in the winter — even if it’s just for a few minutes, hitting the playground or whatever — there’s another kind of beauty to it. When it’s quiet, you still see animals, you still hear animals. Maybe even more of them because it’s so quiet. It’s a really magical place to be and to see what’s happening with nature in the wintertime.
Angie: It sure is. Animals are somewhat forced to come out during the daytime because that’s when it’s sunny and most warm — they’re out foraging for food or finding access to water. So in the wintertime it’s more likely that you’ll see wildlife, specifically birds, because all the leaves are off the trees. Bird watching is a little bit easier. And sometimes in the winter we see bird guests to Indiana who love Indiana winter — so you’re gonna get to spot a unique bird that time of year. And in the snow, all the animals leave signs that they’ve been there. A fox may have walked through the trail just before you, or rabbits may have been hopping around, or a bird might be skipping down into the snow to wash their wings a little bit. You’ll see all those signs of wildlife in the snow if you keep your eyes open.
Missy: You’ve got to really be present. It’s so beautiful. I think a lot of people think about winter and think about their own hibernation — the idea of going outside to the park just doesn’t come to their mind, whether it’s because it’s cold or there’s nothing to see. What do you recommend for people who are just getting curious about this whole going-to-the-park-in-winter thing? How do you recommend they approach a visit?
Angie: Yeah, certainly they can decide for themselves what feels comfortable. If they’d like to go on their own, there are things they can do to prepare — watching the weather, the temperature, the snowfall, the iciness — and they can prepare with good footwear and jackets and hats and things like that. Or if they’re not a hundred percent sure, look up the DNR’s calendar for those state park programs. Maybe that’s a way to join others on a winter walk or a nature hike. We still do those in the winter. Sometimes they’re indoors, but a lot of times they’re outdoors — because as you said, winter can be really beautiful. There’s a stillness and a beauty out there. And even if it is cold or crazy, you can commiserate with your fellow hikers and just have a really great time.
Missy: And you and I, before we started recording, were talking and you mentioned something I think is so important — you don’t have to go out for an eight-hour day. You can have quick visits to the parks.
Angie: Absolutely. And a lot of times people forget that. Being outdoors in the winter — the brisk wind on your face, the warmth of the sunshine — those rays from the sun really help with your mental wellbeing in the winter when people do get closed up inside or they are a little bit less social. If they have seasonal deficiencies, just getting outdoors for 30 minutes can really boost their spirits. So outdoors in the winter is just as important as outdoors in the summer.
The Annual Pass and First Day Hikes
Missy: And I think that’s one of the benefits of having a state park pass — it’s just really easy to visit. And most states now have parks very close to almost everybody within the state. Indiana is the same way.
Angie: Yeah, the annual pass you mentioned is a great gift for yourself, but also a great gift for a friend or family member. That pass gets your vehicle in — whether there’s just one person in that vehicle or five people in that vehicle — it gets you into all 36 of our state parks for an entire calendar year. So that is a lot of adventure packed into one annual pass.
Missy: It is a really great gift. It was definitely one of the top on my gift guide this year because gifting experiences is so meaningful to people. One of the big events taking place in Indiana and throughout the country is First Day Hikes. Indiana is a big supporter of the First Day Hikes program. What’s happening on January 1st in your parks?
Angie: So Indiana State Parks has participated in the nationwide initiative called First Day Hikes for as long as it’s been in existence, and it has become such a tradition. All 36 of our properties do something — it may be a naturalist-led hike, it may be a climb up a fire tower, it may be a horseback riding group. We even have a couple of off-road vehicle properties who do activities. So every single one of our properties offers something. And it’s typically followed up with some hot chocolate or coffee and some cookies just to get you warmed up afterwards. But boy, like I said, it has become a tradition and people come every single year — often with their family. Because again, get outdoors. Maybe you’ve indulged in so much food from Thanksgiving to Christmas and then into New Year’s that getting outside for a walk is a really great thing.
Missy: It really is. And you can approach First Day Hikes in multiple ways. If you’re an avid outdoor person, it’s just fun to be outside. But if you are new to parks, the guided programs are a really great way to have your hand held and be introduced to the parks. I’ve been on guided hikes where I learned so much more about how to enjoy a hike — about the birds you’re hearing or the animals you’re seeing or tracks. So it’s a great entry point for outdoor people or would-be outdoor people.
Angie: It sure is. And that’s something that our interpretive naturalists are trained to understand — when folks come to a program, they’re not just there for the information. They could look that up online if they wanted to. Sometimes they’re looking for a group experience. Sometimes they’re looking for extra help as a first-timer. So our professional interpretive naturalists are trained to make it a really positive experience if you’re a first-timer — so that experience leads you to the next experience, which then leads you to the next. We always want you to have a good time on that hike, a comfortable time. Because if you’re not comfortable, you can’t learn and you can’t have a positive experience.
Missy: Yeah. Angie, I am so grateful to you for introducing us to Indiana State Parks. I can’t wait to get out and explore them. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Angie: You’re very welcome. I appreciate the opportunity to share with folks what they can do around the holidays and after the holidays. Don’t forget — winter doesn’t end until March 21st. Keep coming back in January and February and March, and the next thing you know, it’s spring.
Missy: Exactly. Thank you, and have a very happy holiday to you and your family — and a happy holiday to listeners. Until next time, we’ll see you in the parks.
Music for The Parks Podcast is performed and produced by Porter Hardy. Follow us @TheParksPodcast or visit TheParksPodcast.com.