Backyard Adventures
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of trails on public lands in Indiana, and probably all of the Midwest, is located on the Pike-Warrick County Line east of Highway 61. "It is the largest off-roading area by far and has the n By Andy Heuring The largest off-roading area with the widest variety property. It has hills, drops, twisting double and single tracks through open areas. Tight double and single tracks through wooded areas, dry hard pack areas, wet muddy bogs, smooth unrutted trails, rutted, rug- ged and rocky trails. Trails you could take your kid on his first off-road ride or trails that will make you weak kneed. Rock crawl obstacles that you can brag about conquering and ones that have yet to be conquered. Interlake reopened in 2008 after a two-year long widest range of terrain and soils and definitely more variety of experience levels," said Carman Jackson, Outdoor Recreation Planner, with the Indiana Depart- ment of Natural Resources. Interlake sits on 3,550 acres of former strip mine The expert trail will probably not open until the sum- mer of 2012. "It is going to be extreme. More than my little Jeep can handle," said Reitz. He said most of their club members have dual from BF Goodrich. The Boonie Riders a club that utilizes the area designed the trails. A short beginner trail is already open but the intermediate and expert trails are still under construction. "They are going to be awesome," said Jackson. Reitz said the intermediate trail will open on June 2. purpose vehicles they drive on the road during the week and then off-road on the weekends. A few have specialized vehicles modified for use in the rock crawls and more extreme trails. In April, The Black Coal Riders had an enduro race and cut new trails for the event that had 175 partici- pants on motorcycles. "We have a lot of trails that go from point A to enthusiasts of all persuasions are praising. "Interlake is a lot more diversified than any where reclamation project was completed. It has been ridden by all types of ATVs and motorcycles for decades, but in 2008 when it reopened it was set up as an off-road- ing paradise. It is an area whose reputation among off-roading else. It has something for everyone," said Boonie Rid- ers President Rich Reitz. Jackson said on any given Saturday there are be- tween 150 to 175 people taking advantage of the trail system and terrain parks. On Sundays there is be- tween 75 to 100 people on the trails. It features 50 miles of trails from easy to extremely so the riding groups can learn from experts some of the finer points of trail design. "We want to have trail sustainability," said Jackson. point B. I'm hoping we can develop more of a mean- dering system," said Jackson. She said the DNR has a trail design seminar planned She explained she wanted the new trails to be routed in a way that they won't constantly be under water or quickly rut out. Jackson said Interlake is unique in this part of difficult. The area had a terrain park known as a rock crawl when it first opened. That feature is still there, but a second more extreme rock crawl was just completed. Jackson said the 181st Operating Engineers built the course that has four areas that get increasingly dif- ficult. It starts with the "Grade School" area which features smaller rocks and a couple log crossings. It increases to bigger rocks with a water hole about four feet deep, but with less than a foot of water in it, which is the "High School" areas. Then it proceeds to much bigger rocks more like boulders in the three and four feet long and wide range. This is the "College" area. Jackson said she has only seen one vehicle make it so far. Then it gets extreme. Big rocks six to eight feet in size in piles with dramatic elevation changes makes up the "School of Hard Knocks." Jackson said as far as she knows no one has been able to complete this section. "The 181st did a great job on this. They really took a lot of pride in putting this together," said Jackson. A nice feature of this area is its location. It is only ger car can get to the shelterhouse, which is accessed by a smoothly graded rock road. From there people can picnic and watch those with specialized vehicles, bounce, hop, slam and gracefully or sometimes not so gracefully try to negotiate the various rock obstacles. Interlake is an area that just keeps getting better. about 100 feet from the just completed shelterhouse off the main parking area, which also features male and female bathrooms. The shelterhouse was opened the first week of May, 2012. The beauty of the location is anyone even in a passen- lake is one of the few anywhere in the United States that allow, motorcycles, ATVs, trucks and bicycles all on the same trails. Some trails are bet- types of off-roaders, 'where else could we go.'" She said she keeps hear- ing stories of other areas where people rode in the past have been closed to the public. Interlake is one of two public off-road areas in Indiana. The other is Redbird at Dugger. She said Inter- the country in that it is open to so many dif- ferent types of use. "I just keep hearing from different great feature is the area is family friendly. "It is a very family friendly area. A family can come here and do five differ- ent things the same day," said Jackson. Interlake is open seven ter for a particular vehicle, but the area is so big they all have plenty of room to enjoy themselves. Jackson said another Jackson explained they are continuing to cut new trails and develop the area. A new set of trails is being is scheduled to open this June 2nd. It was developed through a $4,500 grant days a week and is always buzzing with people ex- periencing the outdoors in an extreme way, mostly extremely fun way. n 24 n PIKE PUBLISHING n backyard advEntuRES: Summer and Fall 2012 RuttEd n RuGGEd n &RoCKY An Afternoon at Interlake