Fall break season has begun at Brown County State Park, one of Indiana’s most popular outdoor destinations, even as the park continues to recover from a tornado that caused extensive damage earlier this year.
The EF-2 tornado struck the park on May 16, destroying much of the horseman’s campground and uprooting hundreds of trees. The damage disrupted one of the park’s key recreation areas just ahead of the busy summer and fall camping seasons.
While parts of the horse campground remain closed, a small electric section and several primitive sites are open.
About 85% of the horse trails have reopened as a result of ITRA’s ongoing cleanup efforts.
Each year, faMcKenzie Walker and her family make several trips to Brown County State Park to camp and ride their horses.
This fall, however, she returned to a landscape that had been dramatically altered by the storm
“I grew up there,” said Walker, as reported by Fox 59 on October 8. “I always say that I was riding in my mom’s belly because she was always riding horses, my grandma grew up with horses, we all grew up with them. Brown County has been like this constant throughout my whole entire life.”
The tornado struck directly through the horseman’s camp. While no people were killed, one horse lost its life.
“You’ve always been told throughout your life to get in low areas when tornadoes hit,” said Scott Crossley, the property manager at Brown County State Park.
“Ironically with this one, any place in the valleys, it’s kind of like the tornado sucked into that area and really destroyed it,” Crossley said. “The horse campground is in a valley and you always think of like, tornadoes skip over those,” said Walker. “So that was just always like, we should be good.”
Crossley described the aftermath as devastating. “It was trees everywhere,” he said. “The roads were not passable. There were trees all over the roads. Campers turned upside down. And you’re like, wow. But instantly we had emergency resources.”
The tornado also destroyed underground electrical wiring and disrupted planned infrastructure upgrades.
He estimated the damage at millions of dollars and said that, as a state agency, the park lacked immediate access to emergency funds.
However, volunteer groups such as the Indiana Trail Riders Association (ITRA) played a key role in the recovery.