Get off-road free

[Woody Williams]

Get off-road, free, at Hoosier Outdoor Experience, Sept. 18-19

However you like to get off-road—and especially if you don’t know enough to have a preference—you’ll find options to try at the free Hoosier Outdoor Experience.

The event is Sept. 18-19, at Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis.

During last year’s inaugural Experience, 13,300 children and adults got hands-on opportunities to try more than 50 outdoor activities. Many took participants “off-road” for the first time.

Off-roading this year includes a mountain bike skills trail, UTV riding, rock climbing, hiking, Jeep/ORV rides, even mini dirt bike rides for tots, plus information and staff from the DNR’s Redbird State Recreation Area, an off-roader’s playground.

“Off-roading is a year-round recreational activity that can be done as an individual and/or family depending on the skill level of the operator and type of off-road machine used,” said Nila Armstrong of the DNR Division of Outdoor Recreation. “People return from these rides with smiles on their face.”

Eastgate Chrysler Jeep is the presenting sponsor of the OHV riding area.

The Experience has old-school off-roading, too. On horseback. Free, of course.

Rides of a mile-and-half will be offered, first-come, first-served starting at 9 a.m. each day with the last ride leaving at 5 p.m. Horses suitable for beginners will be available to suit ages 6 to adult.

“These horses need to be calm to be in a state park,” said Tim Hollars, saddle barn owner, manager and operator at the park, explaining why even people with no prior experience can ride.

Hollars said riders should go to the saddle barn early to reserve a spot because they will fill up fast.

Then there’s hiking. Of course you can walk just about anywhere, anytime, but at this event you can learn about backcountry hiking and caving, complete with an inflatable cave. A climbing wall will be available for the vertically minded.

Other activities at this family-friendly event include target shooting, archery, kayaking, fishing and much more. Activities will be organized in six areas—aquatics, cultural, equestrian, outdoors, shooting sports and wildlife. Shuttles will transport participants.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Parking, admission, activities, demonstrations and seminars are free to the public, but advance registration at hoosieroutdoorexperience.IN.gov (click on the orange registration icon) helps assure proper staffing. Watch for event updates at the registration website or at Facebook.com/HoosierOutdoorExperience.

The Hoosier Outdoor Experience is presented by the DNR and the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation. The goal is to introduce people to outdoor activities they may have never tried.

If you already enjoy outdoor sports and recreation and want to help others learn to enjoy them as much as you do, sign up to volunteer at www.in.gov/dnr/5412.htm or call [phone].


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For more information: Marty Benson, DNR assistant director of communications, [phone], [e-mail].

[DEERTRACKS]

If they wanted to get serious about Off-Roading they would open-up the forest properties like other states for nice rides instead of the little bull rings offered here now.

[firstwd]

With the horse barn closed at Versailles and the amount of land they own that is "outside" the Park (Orange and Red zones for the hunts) they could have a nice riding area.

[Ahawkeye]

Aug 31, 2010 11:39:03 GMT -5 DEERTRACKS said:

If they wanted to get serious about Off-Roading they would open-up the forest properties like other states for nice rides instead of the little bull rings offered here now.

Ya! That sounds GREAT! Lets open all of this ground to a bunch of yahoos w/ 4 wheelers and see how long HNF or any other ground for that matter keeps looking good it won't be long before the trails turn to a sloppy messy roads then a sloppy messy highways of old beer and coke cans and so on and so on and so on. I know there are responsable riders out there but there are VERY FEW. My vote is to keep the quads and dirt bikes out of HNF or any DNR hunting property all it does is lead to tearing up more ground if the riders want to put up the $ like the hunters and fisherman do to gain more ground then have at it but allowing them on already owned public ground is not the way to go. I know this will ruffle feathers (especially DEER TRACKS) but it's not ment to. JMO

[mrfixit]

You could open up part of it for four wheelers. They pay fees, taxes and licenses just like hunters and fishermen do. It costs just about as much to license a four wheeler for three years as it does to buy fishing or hunting license for those three years. Then the four wheelers also have to pay property tax on their four wheelers. Hunters and fishermen don't pay property tax on their guns and fishing poles. So they effectively support the state as much if not more than hunters and fishermen. It's only fair they should get to use at least a small part of state properties.

[Ahawkeye]

I live not far from a DNR property wich allows 4- wheelers. If they want to run the tar out of that place that's fine but keep those machines out of the areas that were purchased for hunting and fishing. Why in the world would I walk a mile into a spot just to see 4-wheelers. I've posted these views in the deer hunting forum before and they were moved here so I don't bother posting about this subject there but I'd veture to say that if someone was hunting public ground most wouldn't want a 4-wheeler going by them. I always figured if you're gonna be man enough to shoot it you'd better be man enough to drag it out. Now there are SOME exceptions to this thought, IF you are disabled then I say ok but if you are lazy I say keep the 4- wheeler on the road. I have no problem w/ 4 wheelers on the main road but they rarely stay there. If a guy (or gal) follows the rules I say ok but there are SOOOOO many offenders out there they tear up the ground and leave big ruts when it's wet these guys do the worst dammage by making big mud holes. Again I know there are good riders out there there is just too many bad ones. Buy more property for off road guys but please do not allow them on ground already purchased. JMO

[tenring]