Indianapolis, In. — Get outside and get healthy this year at the most beautiful fitness centers in the state — Indiana’s state parks.
The Indiana State Parks Fitness Challenge is a great way to track your progress.
The challenge encourages visitors to walk, run, bike, paddle or swim at least 25 miles inside one or more of Indiana’s state park properties. If you’re a horseback rider, you can participate by riding at least 100 miles on state park or reservoir horse trails.
Those who complete the challenge by Nov. 30 will be entered into a drawing for prizes, including a 2019 Annual Entrance Pass, Outdoor Indiana magazine subscriptions, DNR camping gift cards and State Park Inns gift certificates.
Participants must download and keep a Fitness Challenge log that documents their visits to state parks and get a signature from park staff each time they visit.
The log and additional information on the challenge is at dnr.IN.gov/healthy.
Indiana State Parks director Dan Bortner said state parks offer hundreds of miles of trails that wind past lakes, climb big hills, wander through deep forests and canyons, and explore prairies. Many locations also offer accessible hard-surface trails.
“All of these pathways offer opportunities for exercise,” Bortner said. “They also offer the added benefit of just being outdoors, where it is possible to shed the worries and challenges of daily life for a little while.”
