Horse trails in Indianapolis? Yeah, I heard that there was a saddle barn at Ft. Benjamin Harrison State Park, along with hiking trails, picnic and play grounds and other things State Parks are known for. But I never really checked it out. When I was near that area on the NE side, on many occasions I saw what I knew had to be the park grounds, and thought about going in to look around, but never saw an entrance inviting me in. Well, it turns out that Ft. Ben State Park may have the most hidden and unadvertised entrance of all the Indiana State Parks. No signs pointing the way there from any major streets.
On this occasion, I was determined to find it! Turns out, if you are on east 56th Street, and you take Post Road north past several intersections, and keep your eyes open, you’ll see a park entrance sign, and the road angles off of Post Road to the northwest. Inside there’s a world that is far removed from what is just outside. There’s about 1,700 acres with lots of mature woods, creeks, hiking trails, a Pete Dye designed golf course with Inn and Conference Center nearby…and yes, a Saddle Barn and a couple horse trails. These horses were busy enjoying the endless hay buffet when I spotted them.
One funny thing I saw there I just have to mention was a sign on the fence of the corral that said “Do Not Hand-Feed the Equines”. Equines? Oh yeah, I get it…equestrians…equines…horses. Uh…Why don’t they just say “Don’t Hand-Feed the Horses” instead? How many people would even know what an Equine is? I can just picture John Wayne coming out of the general store in a small western town with his cowboy hat, six-guns strapped to his side and spurs ringing as walked, saying “Now let’s see…where did I tie up my Equine?” We Hoosiers like to speak plainly.
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Richard! Thanks so much for revealing the hidden entrance to Ft. Ben … and I sure didn’t know of the horse trails! I wonder if they give rides?
Yeah, check it out sometime. Worth the trip. It’s not a huge State Park like some of our other ones, but it’s really close by for those of us from the Indy area. I’m not sure how it works but believe they rent the horses for people to ride. If it’s like other State Parks I’ve been to, it’s a supervised ride on the trail. I mean they just don’t turn people loose in the park with a horse. Some would probably start drinking beers and try to jump picnic tables with them! Let me know how that goes if you do that.