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Outdoor Indiana - Summer 2025

About Outdoor Indiana

Outdoor Indiana, the state's premier magazine, delivers the wonders of the Hoosier outdoors to subscribers' homes and offices in 48 pages of vibrant color. For the best of state parks, lakes, wildlife, forests, trails, hunting, fishing, wildflowers and outdoorsy people, plus inside information from DNR experts, subscribe for $15 per year or $28 for two years. Follow the magazine staff on Facebook.

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 These common mussel species were stranded in shallow water during removal of a dam and moved to deeper water. Photo by Brant Fisher.

These common mussel species were stranded in shallow water during removal of a dam and moved to deeper water.
Photo by Brant Fisher.

Featured Stories

  • From the Director

    LARGEST IN 20 YEARS

    DNR Director Alan Morrison

    DNR Director
    Alan Morrison

    When my car hit that gravel road, I knew it was going to be a great day.

    Early this spring, I turned off U.S. 150 in Sullivan County toward Busseron Creek Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA), a nearly 4,000-acre swath of public land that includes forests, woodlands, marshes, swamps, lakes, and open grasslands.

    As I left the paved road and rolled down the windows, I could hear the birds chirping, providing their own celebration for that afternoon’s official opening of the property. After all, it’s DNR’s largest land acquisition project in 20 years.

    Just as on that gravel road, there were a few bumps on our journey to that day. After decades of coal mining, this reclaimed land opened for the public under a lease with the prior owner in 1985 as part of Minnehaha FWA. That lease expired in 2016, but the interest in protecting this land didn’t.

    DNR worked with private, federal, and military partners for years to buy the property to protect it in perpetuity.

    To find out why, I encourage you to follow the gravel road to Busseron Creek FWA this summer. You’ll find a prime spot for wildlife viewing, fishing, and foraging in relative quiet. If you’re a hunter or trapper, your visit will whet your appetite for a later return when your season opens. I hear that turkey, deer, rabbit, squirrel, and waterfowl are abundant.

    The information, photos, and video at on.IN.gov/busseroncreekfwa show and tell more about the great day that awaits you off U.S. 150, as the road gets rough and birds sing.

  • FRESHWATER MUSSELS: ‘THE LIVERS OF THE RIVERS’

    They play a crucial role in Indiana’s waterways
    By Scott Roberts, OI staff

    A Tippecanoe River pink heelsplitter with foot extended. Mussels are bivalve mollusks, meaning they have a hinged shell. Mussels only open their shells slightly, to filter water or extend a lure. Brant Fisher photo.

    A Tippecanoe River pink heelsplitter with foot extended. Mussels are bivalve mollusks, meaning they have a hinged shell. Mussels only open their shells slightly, to filter water or extend a lure. Brant Fisher photo.

    “Fatmucket” may sound like a made-up childhood insult word.

    Instead, it’s among the long list of colorful common names for various freshwater mussel species that populate and benefit Indiana’s rivers and streams.

    Other common names include a series of pocketbook mussels—fat, plain, and rock—and just “pocketbook” itself, with no descriptive. A number of names have been inspired by warts and ridges on the respective shells, such as washboard, wartyback, and pimpleback. Some, like deertoe and pigtoe, are named for parts of other animals some observers thought they resembled.

    Fatmucket, in case you’re wondering, is named for its bloated appearance. An explanation for many mussel names can be hard to find or imagine.

    “Some of the names, I don’t know why they called it that, but moonshine may have been involved,” said Brant Fisher, DNR’s nongame aquatic biologist, who has monitored Indiana’s mussel population for more than 30 years.

    The state has historically been home to about 80 freshwater mussel species, many of them with equally descriptive names as the species mentioned, as well as a long list of quirky attributes.

    To read the rest of this article subscribe to Outdoor Indiana or pick up a copy at one of our state park inns. To subscribe, click here or call (317) 233-3046.

  • BACK & BETTER

    A “slough” of opportunity awaits at renovated J.C. Murphey Lake
    By Marty Benson, OI staff

    J.C. Murphey Lake at Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area slowly fills with water after a two-year renovation. Brent Drinkut photo.

    J.C. Murphey Lake at Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area slowly fills with water after a two-year renovation. Brent Drinkut photo.

    “Sloughgills,” a rhyming pun of bluegills, is a nickname once synonymous with J.C. Murphey Lake, and the prime attraction of many at Willow Slough Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA).

    That’s because of the big bluegills the lake produced for anglers who flocked to what’s affectionately known as “the Slough” to catch them while enjoying the scenery. And after a two-year lake renovation, sloughgills are back in full force.

    Long-term improvement of fishing for bass and panfish is just one of the many factors that motivated the DNR to renovate J.C. Murphey Lake and trade some short-term pain for long-term gain.

    To read the rest of this article subscribe to Outdoor Indiana or pick up a copy at one of our state park inns. To subscribe, click here or call (317) 233-3046.

  • ACCESSING THE OUTDOORS
    Mandie Creed and her son Dylan at Falls of the Ohio. He uses the app she developed to interact with the exhibits at the state park’s interpretive center in Clarksville.

    Mandie Creed and her son Dylan at Falls of the Ohio. He uses the app she developed to interact with the exhibits at the state park’s interpretive center in Clarksville.

    Prophetstown State Park’s greenhouse provides native plants for parks and community
    By Scott Roberts, OI Staff
    Photography by Brent Drinkut

    A granddaughter in a wheelchair with a broken leg hikes with her family.

    A woman with a prosthetic leg can volunteer thanks to specially constructed trails.

    A son with autism can enjoy exhibits at an interpretive center because of a smartphone app.

    And a woman with sore knees can hunt waterfowl with her family thanks to an accessible blind.

    Each of them and many more have found a special place at DNR that welcomes them and suits their needs. Thanks to accessible features at DNR properties, Hoosiers with a broader range of abilities can enjoy Indiana’s natural landscapes.

    To read the rest of this article subscribe to Outdoor Indiana or pick up a copy at one of our state park inns. To subscribe, click here or call (317) 233-3046.

Subscribe to Outdoor Indiana magazine

Visit the Indiana State Parks online store to subscribe. Cost is $15 for a one year subscription or $28 for two years.

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Printing and distribution costs for Outdoor Indiana magazine have increased. One way we’re offsetting these costs is through the Friends of Outdoor Indiana Group administered through the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation. Donations to our friends group helps keep our subscription price low and ensures we’ll be around to bring you the best of Indiana’s outdoors for years to come. Donate at the INRF website and include “Friends of Outdoor Indiana” in the “In Honor Of/In Memory Of” line.

Outdoor Indiana
402 W. Washington St., W255-B
Indianapolis, IN 46204
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