Bear Lake and Crooked Creek Lake, also on Forest property, are popular fishing areas. Swimming is not permitted. Yellowwood State Forest is a popular destination for hunters of whitetail deer, ruffed grouse, turkey, squirrel, fox, and raccoon. A valid Indiana hunting license is required. Hikers and horseback riders are advised to wear hunter orange or other bright clothing while on trails during hunting season.
Camping in Yellowwood is a little bit retro— there are only traditional camping sites with no outlets or water hook-ups.
Along the east side of the lake is a campground with a nice old shelter house available for day use. It may be reserved by contacting the property office. There is a playground nearby. Separate camping sites and horsemen’ s camp sites are nearby.
There are 80 primitive( class C) campsites south of the Forest office and a carry-in tent site area north of the office, located picturesquely on an open, grassy meadow overlooking the lake. There are picnic areas with tables and grills. Horseback riding is permitted with an annual horse use tag. Bring your own horse. The class C horsemen’ s campground has 10 sites convenient to the 19 miles of horse trails that meander through the forest. No reservations are taken. Please register at the forest office.
An off-road cycling permit is required for bicyclists who use mountain bike trails with trail ratings above beginner. A permit is not required for property roadways and paved biking trails.
Here’ s a family activity you may not have considered— gold panning! Early settlers discovered that soil deposited here by the glaciers contained some small amounts of the precious gold metal, which tended to wash down into the creeks. Panning for gold is allowed with a free“ permit for panning gold on a hobby basis,” available at the forest office( 812) 988-7945.
The 23,326-acre Yellowwood State Forest is located seven scenic miles west of Nashville and 10 miles east of Bloomington, just north of State Road 46. Turn onto Yellowwood Road at Knights Corner.
Yellowwood State Forest was created during the Great Depression when more than 2,000 abandoned and eroded acres were planted with pine, black locust, walnut, and oak by work crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration.
Those crews built many of the structures still in use today. Yellowwood Lake was completed in 1939. In 1940 the federal government leased the forest land to the state of Indiana, which was deeded the land in 1956. •
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July / August 2019 • Our Brown County 57