Harrison–Crawford State Forest
state forest in Indiana, U.S
Harrison–Crawford State Forest is a large tract of protected forests in the far southern portion of the U.S. state of Indiana, straddling the border between Harrison and Crawford counties.
History
Harrison–Crawford State Forest was established in 1932 when the state purchased a few hundred acres of badly eroded farmland from cash-strapped landowners during the depression. The total acreage has been expanded over the years to now include 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) in western Harrison County as well as parts of Crawford County and a little in Orange County. The state forest surrounds O'Bannon Woods State Park (created in 2005) and the Wyandotte Caves.
Geography
The forest has large public-access areas, including C-class camping sites. There are 25 miles (40 km) of hiking trails ranging from beginner to advanced trails. In the state forest and O'Bannon Woods State Park combined, there are about 80 miles (130 km) of looped horse trails that run through two properties. There is fishing in the scenic Blue River, and limited picnicking at Stage Stop campground. The state forest also permits hunting to anyone with a hunting license. The forest is rich in wild game including white tail deer, wild turkey, and squirrel.
The public source identifies “Harrison–Crawford State Forest” as state forest in Indiana, U.S. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Harrison, Crawford and State.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14688390. Authority coordinates are 38.200, -86.300. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1932 and 2005.
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This entry incorporates text from “Harrison–Crawford State Forest” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.