For immediate release: Jan. 6, 2009

Brown County Winter Hike, Jan. 17

Brown County State Park is hosting a winter hike to highlight the experience of nature during the quiet month of January.

Hikers may choose between two routes in the park. The Southern Loop begins at the Nature Center and offers a leisurely 3.5-mile hike along a limited access road into Strahl Valley, and around Lake Strahl. The Woodland Hike begins at the park’s recreation building and offers a 2.75- mile hike through Ogle Hollow Nature Preserve, and around Lake Ogle. 

Both hikes begin at 9 a.m. Boy Scouts will be on hand to provide s’mores at Strahl and Lake Ogle shelters during the hikes.

A hiker’s buffet breakfast, featuring naturalists who will discuss what to expect and what to look for along either trail, begins at 7 a.m. in Abe Martin Lodge. The price for the buffet is $8.99.

A Hiker’s Buffet luncheon will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The price of the lunch buffet is $9.99.

Winter Hike patches and yearly chevrons will be sold by the Friends of Brown County State Park at the lodge, starting at 11 a.m. 

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Media Contact: Jim Eagleman, interpretive naturalist, (812) 988-5240

Potato Creek and Summit Lake state parks will temporarily close for controlled goose reductions, Dec. 6-7 and Dec. 13-14.

The parks will close to the general public the evening before each of the two efforts and re-open the morning after each two-day reduction ends.

Having attempted numerous non-lethal methods of managing the Canada goose populations at the two parks with little success, the DNR will conduct the two controlled reductions in an attempt to manage issues such as severe erosion and degraded water quality brought about by dense populations of Canada geese.

Participants already have been drawn from a pool of eligible applicants. Only hunters drawn last October, along with the partners indicated on that application, may participate. Information regarding future goose reductions will be available at the parks after June 2009.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Division of State Parks & Reservoirs

402 W. Washington St., W298

Indianapolis, IN 46204