Country Roads of Indiana

Country Roads of Indiana
Sally McKinney
1999

This small guidebook describes a dozen drives throughout the state of Indiana.  Each chapter gives driving directions and discusses the villages, shops, and vistas along the way.  A few pen and ink drawings illustrate every chapter and a list of phone contacts is included.

Four of the excursions in northern Indiana are reasonably close to Kalamazoo.

1. Meander through Amish Country: Elkhart to Lagrange
Elkhart, Bristol, Goshen, Nappanee, Middlebury, Shipshewana, Lagrange
"For a drive in the slow lane, travel through Indiana's Amish country with its tidy farms, clanging school bells, and horse-drawn buggies.  In two northern counties, Elkhart and Lagrange, about 17,000 Amish live in one of the three major communities in rural America."
Selected highlights:
Elkhart riverside parks and bike routes
Bonneyville Mill County Park
Amish Acres
Deutsch Kase Hause
Shipshewana Auctions and Flea Market
Menno-Hof


2. From Courthouse to Lakeshore: Crown Point to La Porte
Crown Point, Hebron, Valparaiso, Chesterton, Michigan City, La Porte
"A leisurely drive through northwestern Indiana from Crown Point to La Porte lets you cruise through small-town America, beside small farms, through suburbs, along Lake Michigan's southern shore, and inland to Indiana's small-lake country."
Selected highlights:
Stoney Run County Park
Indiana Dunes State Park
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore


3. Wildflowers & Lake Country: Pokagon State Park to Gene Stratton Porter House
 Pokagon State Park, Angola, Orland, Greenfield Mills, Brighton, Mongo,  Ontario, Lagrange, Gene Stratton Porter House
"Northeastern Indiana has long been known for glacial lakes, forests, streams, and patches of wildflowers.  You can come by interstate, but once you arrive, follow the country roads to find nature preserves, hiking trails, boat rentals, small villages, antique shops, family resorts, and scenic waterways."
Selected highlights:
Pokagon State Park
Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area  (Trading Post canoe outfitters]
Gene Stratton Porter State Historical Site



4. Wings across the Plains: Jasper Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area to Plymouth
Jasper Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area, Bass Lake, Culver, Twin Lakes,  Plymouth
"Sandhill cranes, the Jasper-Pulaski area's star visitors, stand up to three and a half feet tall, weigh 10 to 12 pounds, and fly on wingspreads up to seven feet.  During the autumn, they leave nesting grounds in the wetlands of southern Canada and the upper Midwest, using the Jasper-Pulaski area as a refuge before flying to marshlands in southern Georgia and Florida for the winter."
Selected highlights:
Jasper Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area
Tippecanoe River State Park


Apparently this book is out of print.  Amazon will let you "look inside" and Barnes and Noble may have used copies.  I got this from my public library.