Spring Mill State Park: Trail #4 (Blog Hike #1017)

Trail: Trail #4
Hike Location: Spring Mill State Park
Geographic Location: east of Mitchell, IN (38.73136, -86.41836)
Length: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: 7/10 (Moderate/Difficult)
Date Hiked: May 2024
Overview: A loop hike past a pioneer village, 2 caves, a pioneer cemetery, and an old quarry.
Park Information: https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/parks-lakes/spring-mill-state-park/
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=962225
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming October 17, 2025)

Directions to the trailhead: From Mitchell, take SR 60 east 3 miles to the park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, pay the entrance fee, then bear left at the next intersection.  Where the road becomes one way (against you), turn right and park in the Donaldson Picnic Shelter parking lot.

The hike: Established in 1927 as Indiana's 6th state park, 1358-acre Spring Mill State Park offers a little something for everyone.  The park lies in the Mitchell karst plain, which accounts for the large number of caves in the park.  The park's most famous attraction is its boat tour at Twin Caves; visitors ride park boats across the water and into the flooded cave.  The park also contains Donaldson's Woods Nature Preserve, which protects a rare stand of virgin timber.

            In addition to the natural features, the park contains interesting human history.  A pioneer village with a large flume and grist mill depicts what life was like here in the early 1800's.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to repair and reconstruct that village in the 1930's, and they built many of the park's roads, trails, and buildings as well.  In terms of more recent history, the park also contains the Grissom Memorial that honors Gus Grissom, an astronaut from nearby Mitchell who died in the Apollo 1 accident in 1967.

            To top things off, Spring Mill State Park has excellent amenities.  The park has a 188-site developed campground, hotel-style lodging at Spring Mill Inn, the usual aquatic recreation on Spring Mill Lake, several picnic shelters, and 7 hiking trails totaling over 8 miles.  All of the park's trails are worth exploring, but I only had time to hike one of them on my visit.  I chose to hike Trail #4, which passes the pioneer village, a pioneer cemetery, and 2 caves, thus sampling both this park's human history and natural scenery.

Trailhead at Donaldson Picnic Shelter parking lot

            Trail #4 is a true loop, so it leaves in 2 directions from the Donaldson Picnic Shelter parking area.  I hiked the loop clockwise by starting on the signed gravel trail heading northwest into the forest and using the trail that heads down the stairs to the east as my return route.  The fairly flat trail heads into a beautiful mature forest that is dominated by oak and hickory trees.  At 0.25 miles, you pass the Hamer Pioneer Cemetery, which has some surprisingly recent headstones among the older headstones.

Hamer Pioneer Cemetery

            After Trail #7 exits left, you begin the steep descent toward the pioneer village.  An interpretive sign tells you that this area used to be a quarry, and some starkly cut rocks testify to this history.  0.75 miles into the hike, you reach the bottom of the hill, the edge of the pioneer village, and a major trail intersection.  We will eventually turn right to walk through the pioneer village, but first turn left to head for Hamer Cave.

Descending into the quarry

            A short, steep, and slightly muddy climb brings you to the Hamer Cave overlook.  Hamer Cave is the main source of Mill Creek, and water rushes out of the cave into a pond before spilling over a dam.  A long flume diverts water to the pioneer village's mill, and the Lehigh Cement Company still diverts water from the creek for industrial cooling purposes.  Take some time to admire the odd mix of industry and natural scenery here.

Hamer Cave

Pond at Hamer Cave's mouth

            Next retrace your steps to the pioneer village and take a walking tour of the village.  The village's centerpiece is its huge grist mill, which was built in 1817.  Numerous smaller log buildings include a leather shop, distillery, spring house, and meeting house.  Some benches beckon you to sit, have a snack, and think about what life was like in this village 200 years ago.

Grist mill

Pioneer village

            Exit the village by walking northeast on a wide trail toward the main village parking area.  Where bridges take you left across Mill Creek to the parking lot, stay right to remain on the south side of the creek and continue Trail #4.  The trail stays near the creek for the next 0.6 miles, and this section of trail is rather narrow, primitive, and muddy.  On the bright side, I saw lots of birds in this area including goldfinches, cardinals, and robins.

Wilson Monument

            At 1.7 miles, Trail #1 exits left to cross the creek and head for Spring Mill Inn.  A couple hundred feet later, you reach the Wilson Monument, an odd wedge of stone placed here by former landowner George Donaldson in honor of fellow Scotsman Alexander Wilson.  Wilson is best known as the father of ornithology; he has several birds named after him.

Donaldson Cave

            Just shy of 2 miles, you reach another trail intersection.  The wooden stairs leading uphill to the right will eventually take us back to the parking area to complete the loop, but first take the elevated walkway going straight to quickly arrive at Donaldson Cave.  The walkway actually enters Donaldson Cave, which has a much larger entrance than Hamer Cave, thus allowing you to experience the cave for yourself.  After seeing the cave, head up the 150 wooden stairs to return to the parking area and complete this hike.