By:
Submission
An expansive view and good fishing beckon you to Summit Lake State Park, near New Castle. More than 2,680 acres, including a large lake, await your visit. Facilities include 120 electric campsites, three boat ramps, a beach bathhouse and two large open shelters that can be reserved for family picnics and other events.
Summit Lake has an excellent bird watching and wildlife observation area. The property has always been an important area for waterfowl because of the many low-lying wet meadows and prairies. Migratory species have included rare species like the black tern, bald eagle, sandhill crane, American bittern, least bittern, king rail and osprey.
Located northeast of New Castle and southeast of Muncie. The park is 1 mile north of State Highway 36 on Messick Road, 4 miles east of Highway 3.
The best way to sum up my experience is that it is a nice state park that isn't necessarily spectacular compared to other state parks, which isn't necessarily meant to detract from it being a good place to visit if you come in with reasonable expectations. The main attraction is certainly the lake and I was impressed with the clarity and cleanliness of the water. It's also a good size lake that can easily provide hours of paddle time on a kayak. There didn't seem to be a lot of hiking trails/mileage and none of the descriptions caught my eye to make me want to try a trail. There were some nice shelter houses and plenty of picnic tables making it a great location for a picnic.
Great place to take the kids! The beach was a little overcrowded but it's summer I get it not everyone can afford a pool or to go to one and you can pile everyone in your vehicle and go swimming for $7 cheap. And with cheap comes all kids of characters. Other than that loved the trails and the new signs up for education.
This a great place to camp, fish, kayak and just enjoy nature in a relaxed environment. Trails along lake are a nice walking experience. This is not the place for challenging hiking experiences like Turkey Run might have.
Wonderful, laid back park. We got one of the sites that had a short trail to the water, which was perfect because we did a lot of kayaking. The boat launch in the campground was nice too, though, instead of having to drive elsewhere to launch.
Loved that the big lake is trolling speed only. Nice for us folks with young kids who like calm water. The kids loved the beach. Still amazed by how clear the water was! We had fun looking through the rocks. We do wish the beach wasn't quite so rocky.
The fishing was pretty good. We didn't catch as many as we had hoped, but we got plenty of bites to keep things interesting. The kids thought it was super cool that we paddled out to one of the islands to fish.
My biggest complaint is the "potable" water. What is up with it being orange and smelling like bleach? It was the same for the bathrooms and the water at the campsites. Ew.
