I had previously been to Spring Mill State Park about 10 years ago and decided to go back. Indiana state parks are top-notch, and this park did not disappoint. You can see my previous post here, so in this post, I will add to my previous post.
This time, I was in site 164, which was close to the shower house and was open and grassy. There was afternoon shade as well, and the other campsites were not too close.
We were experiencing temperatures reaching record highs, so while I wanted to hike all the trails again, I also knew my limits. I did the following hikes:
Hamer Cave – this is one of the best short trails in the park, but you have to go through the Pioneer Village to access it. For those of us with dogs, dogs are not allowed in Pioneer Village, so plan accordingly. I did, however, find a way to visit Hamer Cave with a dog. After parking in the Pioneer Village parking lot, head towards the large pavilion on the left.
Trail 4 begins right behind this and quickly climbs uphill. The trail will descend behind one of the Pioneer Village buildings but stay straight on the trail.
The trail will come to what looks like an intersection, and you can hear the creek rushing below. To the right is a rocky trail that leads down to the trail to Hamer Cave. The flume to the mill starts here from the ice-cold waters of the cave. A nice lookout gives a good view of the cave.
If you have a dog with you, hike back the way you came. If not, head back through the Pioneer Village!
The other thing that had changed was that there is now an amazing boardwalk to Donnelson Cave! Previously, there was just a trail, but now a boardwalk follows the creek and leads to the upper part of the cave. I thought this was pretty neat!
We also walked down to the Twin Caves area where the park rangers were giving guided tours for $3. No pets allowed so we sat this tour out but I remember it being pretty neat the last time I did it!
We also hiked Trail 6 which is a short paved trail near the Grissom Memorial!
Overall I highly recommend Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana. Be sure to check it out or leave a comment if you have a question
Planned Spontaneity 
That boardwalk to the cave looks fun!
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Yes! A really neat addition!
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lived in Indiana all my life love spring miill , camp there ,picknic there,even work there in lodge as a contractor,my mother work there as a young girl for it became a park sign joe jackson
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I visited Spring Mill many years ago and the park was filled with feral starving cats. We found a place to purchase some cat food, but it was a sad situation. Is this still the case?
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I did not see any cats! Maybe they are gone now 🙂
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Thanks! Next time you are in that area of Indiana, go to the little town of Nashville, Indiana – very close to beautiful Brown County State Park. Check it out on the internet!
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