Are you looking for a day hiking trip near Chicago? Shades State Park in Indiana is a great choice. It’s about two hours from Chicago and filled with some great hiking trails.
Check out our Visit Turkey Run Post about Turkey Run State Park that’s not too far from Shades State Park – perfect to pair together for a weekend trip!
Itinerary – Shades State Park
- Parked at Trails Dell Shelter, marked B on the map
- Arrived at Devil’s Punch Bowl and looked out from the overlook
- Took trail 6 to trail 9
- Followed the signs for trail 9 back to parking area with signs of trails 4-5-7-8
- Took trail 4 and rested at Sugar Creek
- We took 4 rugged/moderate trail up as far as we could go (we had dogs and there were two ladders to finish out the trail)
- Turned around and took trail 4 back to parking area.
- Took trail 9 to find were we originally parked
Parking
The weather was beautiful and were so happy with that as we went late March. This was trip #2 of our Indiana hiking weekend trip – click here for our first stop at Turkey Run!
Started the morning off by driving around to see the parking options. Ideally, we would have loved to park at trails 4-5-7-8, but that lot was full. We went late morning on Saturday and some of the parking lots were filled, but the trails were not! There was another lot very close to trails 4-5-7-8 that we found a spot at, marked B on the map.
Trail 6: Easy
Trail 6 was our first trail at Shades State Park. This trail was a fun, energizing trail with the path through a creek. We really enjoyed this trail because it started our day off with a challenge.
Important detail! Trail 6 had us hiking through a creek, some parts had lots of water and some parts were dry. Be prepared to get your shoes wet.
Trail 9: Easy
Next, we switched to trail 9 which was a nice leisurely trail.
Note: This is a perfect trail for children and elderly folks. The scenery is beautiful, but the trail is flat.
Trail 9 led us to a road and our option was to jump on backpack trail or take 9 back to a different parking area. We continued on trail 9 back to parking area 4-5-7-8.
Trail 4: Easy
Time for a new hiking trail. We chose trail 4, a steady decline hike that leads to Sugar Creek.
Don’t be fooled by the easy label, trail 4 was indeed easy going down hill, but it is much harder to climb that incline up hill!
Naturally, we adventured down to the sand area by the creek for a quick resting stop. It was a beautiful view and our dogs loved the break.
Next time, we will definitely prepare for a picnic lunch for this spot.
Once we got back on the trail, there were three options –
- Trail 4 – Rugged/Moderate
- Trail 5- Stairs
- Trail 5- Rugged Moderate
Trail 4: Rugged
In short, we decided on trail 4 that was labeled Rugged/Moderate, another creek path. We learned quickly that this one was a bit more challenging than 6 due to the steady incline.
Ultimately, trail 4 was super fun! It was challenging for both us and our pups. We were jumping from log to log, climbing over rocks, and dodging big puddles of water.
To sum up, is a good amount of water and mud, so if you choose this route be prepared. We highly suggests taking a walking stick on this trail. Fern found her own walking stick along the route, but she gave in and finally bought one after this hike.
Despite trail 4 being rugged, our dogs handled it pretty well and this was our favorite part of the day until….
Unexpected Surprise
Surprise! We could not finish the loop. We got to a set of stairs that was no problem, but then we hit a major roadblock: a vertical ladder!
Nothing like finding out the hard way that this loop trail is not particularly dog friendly to finish out the loop.
At first, we were super disappointed. Even a little defeated. And very thirsty.
Bonus was that the unanticipated ladder was in the center of a cool canyon area, so it was a great resting point. We had some water and rested our feet before making the hike back down.
Regardless, we came to the conclusion that we would have taken this trail no matter what. It was doable, yet a challenging terrain. Our dogs agreed. We just wish we had read a blog post before we started warning us of this unanticipated dead end instead of a loop.
Trail 4: Easy (again)
At the bottom of trail 4, we chatted with some other hikers who confirmed that both Trail 5 stairs and Trail 5 moderate/rugged also had ladders.
So our only option was to hike up trail 4 the same way we came. The steady incline up was pretty tiring after a morning filled with rugged hikes, but we made it!
Since we were wiped out, we decided to call it a day and head back to our Airbnb. This meant walking up trail 4 and then taking trail 9 back to the parking lot.
ROSE + THORN
ROSE
Fern – It was not too crowded, perfect for my bigger dog!
Olive – The signage was great! Always knew what trail we were on and/or our options
THORN
Fern – Not finishing the loop was a bummer, those are my favorite type of trails
Olive – Couldn’t finish the loop because of the ladder + dogs
Overview of the Park
Check out pictures from the day!
Thanks for Reading
Thanks for joining us on our nature escape at Shade’s State Park. Want more ideas on where to hike in Indiana? Check out this blog post from Turkey Run State Park.
