Whitewater Memorial State Park: Cattail Alley Trail (Blog Hike #30)

Trail: Cattail Alley Trail (Trail #13)

Hike Location: Whitewater Memorial State Park

Geographic Location: south of Liberty, IN (39.61598, -84.96481)

Length: 2 miles round trip (but see the update comment at the end of this post)
Difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)

Dates Hiked: November 1998, November 2001, June 2013

Overview: An out-and-back along the east side of the backwaters of Whitewater Lake.

Park Information: https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/parks-lakes/whitewater-memorial-state-park/

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=117074
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Liberty, take SR 101 south to the park entrance road, which is located just past Wally's World amusement park on the right.  Turn right onto the park road.  Note that a small fee may be required to enter the park:  Indiana charges admission to their state parks during peak times of the year.  Continue along the main park road to where an access road taking you to the beach goes off to the right.  Turn right here and follow this road to the parking lot at the end.  The trailhead is at the far end of the parking lot.

The hike: Whitewater Memorial State Park surrounds Whitewater Lake, a small lake created by damming Silver Creek 1.5 miles south of this trailhead.  The park also borders on Brookville Reservoir, a very large lake created by a dam 20 miles south of the park.  The big lake is featured in the next hike.  The park derives its name from its founding in 1949 as a memorial to the soldiers of World War II. 

            6 trails covering 10.5 miles form a trail system within the state park.  In the park's early days, the trails were simply designated by a number, ranging from one to six.  In late 1998, new signs were erected giving each trail a name.  Older park maps do not reflect this change.

            This particular trail takes you through some nice forest along the east side of the small lake.   The trail starts at the park beach and ends at an intersection with the bridle trail one mile to the north.  Thus, it must be hiked both directions.  The park maps and the black posts marking this trail refer to it as Trail #13, but the new sign at the trailhead calls it the Cattail Alley Trail.  Both names are used for the trail, an example of the confusion mentioned in the preceding paragraph.           

Trailhead: Cattail Alley Trail

            From the parking lot, the trail immediately enters the mixed mesophytic forest with the small lake on the left and a steep incline on the right.  After climbing a small rise, the trail takes a right turn, hanging onto the side of the hill.  In years past the trail was right down by the lake at this point, but trouble with erosion and windfalls have forced park officials to move it up higher on the hill.            

Hiking along the hillside

            The trail descends into a small ravine, then rises with the help of some steps.  At this and numerous other points along the trail, side trails exit to the right and up the hill.  They are spurs into the campground and should be ignored.  The trail then descends the other side of this rise, and the northern end of the lake comes into view.           

Whitewater Lake

            The trail remains near lake-level from here.  Notice on the northern end of the lake where steel cable has been tied around a tree to stabilize a platform located in the lake.  This was probably done about 20 years ago, judging from how much the tree has grown into the cable.  Just past this platform the lake turns into the cattail marsh for which this trail is named.  I hiked this trail in the late fall when the cattails were all a dead brown and the water level was very low.  I imagine this area would be very pretty in the spring or summer, and I endeavor to return at that time of year.           

Cattail marsh

            Beyond the marsh the trail continues north through mature forest with the hill on the right and the creek on the left.  This section of the trail can become very wet and muddy on a seasonal basis. Continuing straight, the trail stays creek-side in young floodplain forest and eventually terminates at the bridle trail, a wide, graveled 9 mile loop.  To return to the trailhead and complete the hike, turn around and retrace your steps one mile back to the parking lot at the beach.