Spring Mill Walking Week

Spring Mill State Park in southern Indiana is running a week of guided walks through April 18, with routes built for both casual visitors and regular hikers. (wbiw.com) The program is being organized by Spring Mill State Park, the Friends of Spring Mill State Park, and the Bedford Hiking Club. Organizers scheduled a different hike each day from April 12 through April 18. (wbiw.com) The lineup ranges from a quarter-mile walk on Trail 6 to a Saturday volkswalk with 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer options through Trails 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Other outings listed this week include 1-mile, 2-mile, 2.25-mile, 2.5-mile and 2.6-mile hikes. (wbiw.com) A volkswalk is a non-competitive social hike, a format organizers said came to the United States with returning soldiers from Germany. Teena Ligman, president of the Friends group, said the goal is to get people walking now and keep them walking through the year. (wbiw.com) The walks use a park that combines hiking with historic sites, including a restored pioneer village founded in 1814, a working 1817 gristmill and the Grissom Memorial. Indiana says visitors can also reach four interpretive facilities and cave-related landscapes from the trail system. (in.gov) Indiana lists Spring Mill as open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the park’s activity center is open daily in April from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The state parks department also says visitors should check the property calendar or call ahead for the most current event details. (in.gov, in.gov, in.gov) The walking week also doubles as an early start on the Spring Mill Trail Challenge, a yearlong push to complete every trail in the park. Ligman said even people who only join one or two hikes can use the week as a start toward finishing the full system later. (wbiw.com) For visitors deciding whether to go, the pitch is simple: one week, one park, and routes that start at 0.25 mile and stretch to 10 kilometers. (wbiw.com)