Wander Local
You don’t always need to travel far to access incredible parklands. In Indianapolis, where I live, I chose my neighborhood based upon its proximity to Eagle Creek Park – an Indianapolis municipal park with 3,900 acres of woods, meadows, and ponds adjacent to a 1,300-acre reservoir. One of the more surprising facts about Eagle Creek Park is that it is only celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022! If you are trying to find me, odds are I’m there trekking through the woods.
LILLY POND – EAGLE CREEK PARK (Park Meadows Photography)
As is the case with many of Indianapolis’s treasured places, J.K. Lilly is part of the history. He bought a 12-acre tract of land in 1934 in the area that is now the park, upon which he built Eagle Crest Estate, which included a lodge, watchman’s cabin, and swimming pool. Remnants of this estate can be found today – the Ornithology Center in Eagle Creek Park is the original house of the estate. Over time, he acquired more land in the area, eventually donating the parcels, named Eagle Crest Estate, Eagle Valley Farms, and East Crest Forest to Purdue University in 1958.
I know what you might be wondering – why would one of the most affluent people in Indianapolis post up next to a reservoir in the 1930s? The answer is that he didn’t. Following the 1957 flood, which caused substantial damage to the west side of Indianapolis, a proposal was created to dam Eagle Creek to create a reservoir and park by purchasing land from Purdue University. Through a combination of municipal bond issuances and federal grants, financing was secured and the original master plan of the park included a proposal that the park be self-sufficient via entrance fees and concession sales. In 1966, the city of Indianapolis purchased 2,286 acres from Purdue University and construction of the dam began. Thirty-five years after J.K. Lilly’s initial land purchase in the area, Mayor Richard Lugar officially opened Eagle Creek Park as the 4th largest municipal park in the United States in 1972. Additional land has been acquired over time to grow the park into what it is today, still ranking in the top ten municipal parks in the United States by area.
Open-water birding, fishing, kayaking, cycling, hiking, running, swimming, canoeing, foraging for mushrooms, and cross country skiing are common occurrences in the park. On Wednesday nights in the summer, you can find free concerts (with gate admission) at the swimming beach or marina. At the Ornithology Center, you may get a glimpse of Carson, the newly acquired juvenile bald eagle who became a ward of the park after injury, or Obi, a juvenile barn owl named after Obi Wan Kenobi due to his May 4th adoption date.
As for me, you will most often find me on the red trail hiking, in a kayak on the north end of the reservoir, or on a bike. You are likely to encounter deer, foxes, raccoons, possums, and the loudest squirrels on planet Earth during your visit. As for the namesake bird, there are plenty of eagles to be seen at the park, but you are far more likely to spot them when it’s cloudy rather than when it’s sunny. It is a whole lot easier to fish from above when there aren’t pesky shadows to give away your location to the fish. An additional tip for spotting eagles: bald eagles don’t get their distinctive white cap for YEARS – about five. A juvenile bald eagle will have a brown body with a brown head and white mottling on the wings and tail with a dark band at the tip of the tail. You have likely spotted a juvenile before without realizing it, mistaking it for a hawk.
Wherever you choose to get outdoors, whether it’s far flung national parks, historic state parks that were the site of revolutionary war battles, or municipal parks close to home, I hope you are able to slow down, stop, and look up to spot the eagles.
