The Sampler Takes a
in Brown County
T
Spring Break
here comes a time in the course of a protracted Midwestern winter when cabin fever and seasonal anticipation combine to revive an irresistible and ancient urge for the quick getaway commonly known as “spring break.” Now, you could climb inside your little metal box for 12 to 14 hours driving—each way. You could fight the full-on spawning traffic, and, once there, the teeming hordes with whom you will be competing for limited resources, rooms, amenities, and entertainment. OR—you could do the smart thing this year and take your spring break in Brown County! A little spring adventure in a peaceful, wooded corner of the world—a nice hotel, some outdoor activities, the pool, the restaurants, the entertainment opportunities, and all surrounded by the rugged scenic beauty of the state’s most visited destination. I know, I know, some people just can’t be happy about a Spring Break trip unless the ocean is involved. But here’s a word to the wise—the ocean is a long way away from here and that long, grueling trip is going to end at a beach completely clogged with public drunkenness, objectionable mating displays, and much annoying bad behavior. Let me tell you something about Brown County. Here, the forest is our ocean. It’s a cluster of little villages snuggled up to the edge of the great Midwestern forest; a string of little civilized Islands in and around our unique patrimony of hardwood forests.
26 Our Brown County • March/April 2013
As with the ocean, we tend to stay around the edges of the forest, perhaps strolling in a few hundred yards at the most. But if you will take the time to consciously get out into the great woods that are all around Brown County, to spend some time there, I guarantee you will see stunning beauty, majestic views, tiny wonders, and come away with a heightened sense of what it means to be an earthling. For the novice, the clearly-marked and well-maintained trails of Brown County State Park are the perfect introductory. I can highly recommend taking a stroll around either Strahl Lake or Ogle Lake, or any of ten other trails of various degrees of difficulty. But there’s good hiking everywhere—a couple of nice trails around Yellowwood Lake in the Yellowwood State Forest near Belmont, a number of Department of Natural Resourcesmaintained trails such as the Nebo Ridge Trail south of Story, or, coming soon, a loop trail around Nashville itself. Brown County has also become something of a mountain-bike mecca, with some of the most varied terrain east of the Mississippi, from tight berms to steep switchbacks, tree roots, rock gardens, steep climbs, and natural beauty to spare. Continued on 28