Hawthorn Park's campground closes for the season on October 15. On October 16, Vigo County parkland goes from a 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. schedule to dawn-to-dusk hours. That can read like the park winding down for the year. The eastern half of Hawthorn works the other way. Its 50.3-acre lake was built to manage waterfowl, and the county says it draws migratory birds in the fall. From Wyndham, the park sits just past Rose-Hulman, and the next ten weeks are when its main purpose is easiest to see.
Two Parks Under One Name
The county park department describes Hawthorn as two separate pieces of land. Hawthorn Park is on the west side and the J.I. Case Wetland Wildlife Refuge is on the east. Together they cover 256.72 acres, and 68.6 of those acres are water. The entrance is at 6067 E. Old Maple Avenue, six-tenths of a mile north of U.S. 40 off Hunt Road. The park's southern edge runs along Rose-Hulman and the National Road Heritage Trail.
The two halves were built for different jobs. The west side holds most of what draws summer crowds. Burns Lake covers 18.3 acres and has a boat launch and fishing docks. The campground has about 70 modern sites with electricity and about 15 primitive sites, along with picnic shelters, playgrounds and an archery range. The county bought most of that land in 1980, and 206.55 acres of it had once belonged to Anton Hulman.
The east side came a few years later and was built for one purpose. The levee for the J.I. Case refuge went up in 1984, and the lake filled in early 1985. The park department says plainly that the lake's main purpose is waterfowl management, with fishing as a secondary use. Across Hunt Road, another 23.5 acres have been left in their natural state as a wildlife nesting area. In summer, the west side is the busier half of the park. Once the campground closes, the east side carries more of the park.
What the Wetland Is Showing Right Now
The best record of the refuge comes from birders who log their sightings on eBird. The site's "JI Case Wetland" hotspot lists 217 species recorded across all years. So far in 2026 the count is 152, and 54 species have been logged in the first days of October 2026 alone. That means a quarter of everything ever recorded at the site has already shown up this month, and the month has barely started.
A checklist submitted on October 4, 2026 gives a sense of a typical early-fall visit:
- 50 Canada geese
- 15 blue-winged teal
- Wood duck
- Pied-billed grebe
- Double-crested cormorant
- Great blue heron
You can see most of this without hiking. A fully accessible trail runs 1,850 feet from the Dogwood Shelter area to a wildlife observation shelter that looks out over the refuge. The short distance matters more after October 16. Under dawn-to-dusk hours, a weekday visit after work has to fit into the daylight that's left, and a walk of a few minutes to a covered overlook fits easily. County policy says no one may be on parkland outside posted hours unless they have a rental, campsite or program arrangement. The hours come from a county policy document that has been posted for several years, so check them with the park office at 812-462-3225 before planning around a close time.
The fishing calendar runs on a different schedule. The park department says the refuge lake fishes best in spring, and the stocked list includes bluegill, redear sunfish, largemouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, yellow bullheads and warmouth. In fall, the lake is mostly busy with birds.
The Calendar From Here
Between now and the end of the year, a handful of dates change how the park works:
- Thursday, October 15: The Hawthorn campground season ends.
- Friday, October 16: County parkland switches to dawn-to-dusk hours, which last through April 30.
- Saturday, October 17: The Wabash Valley Road Runners' Do the Parks Challenge opens, and Hawthorn is one of its courses.
- Saturday, November 14: The Indiana Fall Classic 10K and 1-mile run/walk take over the park in the morning.
- Sunday, December 13: Last day to register for Do the Parks and still get the hoodie.
- Sunday, December 20: Do the Parks closes.
The two running events land in the stretch after the campers leave. The road runners hold both of them during the months when the park department's own schedule is lightest.
Hawthorn's Place in Do the Parks
Do the Parks is a self-paced challenge. Participants have from October 17 to December 20 to finish five of the seven park courses, in any order, and log their times on RunSignup. The club runs it with the City of Terre Haute and the Vigo County Parks departments. Fowler Park has no course this year because of construction.
| Park course | Long course | Short course |
|---|---|---|
| Wabashiki Wetlands | 6 mi | 1.75 mi |
| Prairie Creek Park | 6 mi | 1 mi |
| Ruble Park East | 4.8 mi | 2.2 mi |
| Deming Park/Dobbs Park | 4.6 mi | 1.2 mi |
| Hawthorn Park | 4.5 mi | 1.5 mi |
| Collett Park/Maple Lake | 4 mi | 1.3 mi |
| Griffin Bike Park | 2.5 mi | 1.65 mi |
Hawthorn's 4.5-mile long course falls in the middle of the group, between Griffin's 2.5 miles and the 6-mile routes at Wabashiki and Prairie Creek. Since participants only need five of the seven, Hawthorn is an easy pick for anyone living near Rose-Hulman. The challenge requires one finished course per park, so a park close to home can be done on a weekday instead of using up a Saturday.
When you register, you pick the Lite Challenge, which uses short courses of 1 to 3 miles, or the full Challenge, with courses of 3 to 6 miles that are often on trails. You have to stay with that choice for the whole event. Registration is $60 plus a $4.60 RunSignup fee. There's a $2 discount for WVRR club members and a lower price for participants 15 and under. Finishers get a hoodie and a medal. Anyone who completes the courses with a dog and sends in photos also gets a "Do the Parks" bandana. The club says the course signs are checked several times a week but may not always be visible, and knowing the route is each runner's responsibility.
November 14 Is the One Crowded Saturday
The Indiana Fall Classic, presented by Graphic FX, is the only scheduled event this fall that fills Hawthorn the way summer weekends do. Packet pickup runs from 8 to 9:20 a.m. The 1-mile run/walk starts at 9:30 a.m. just west of Dogwood Shelter, and the 10K starts around 10:10 a.m. west of the main entrance. After the race, there's chili at Dogwood Shelter, with a vegetarian option.
Parking is the issue that morning. The race organizers say parking inside the park is limited and the Dogwood lot is closed because the finish line is set up there. Drivers are sent to the first lot north of Dogwood Shelter. There's more parking on the west side of the entrance, but that stretch is part of the 10K course until after 11 a.m. Most race parking is on the grass across the road from the entrance. If you're heading out for a quiet morning at the wetland overlook that Saturday, plan around a mid-morning crowd at the Dogwood end of the park, or come after the 10K clears. Race questions go to race director Jade Scott.
What Stays Available Through Winter
Plenty keeps running after the campground closes. All three Hawthorn shelters, Dogwood, Tupelo and Burkeybyle, can be rented year-round. Rates are $28 Monday through Thursday and $53 Friday through Sunday and on holidays. A rental counts as special permission under county policy, so a shelter is the way to use the park outside the shorter winter hours.
Next to Dogwood Shelter is the Kenneth E. Smith Memorial Labyrinth, finished in 2003. It's an 80-foot concrete circle modeled on the labyrinth laid into the floor of Chartres Cathedral around 1220 A.D. The single path makes 34 turns on the way to the center and is wide enough for wheelchairs and walkers. The meditation garden around it has a swing, benches and a water fountain, and the Wabash Valley Master Gardeners have looked after it since 2010. With the playground quieter in late fall, the labyrinth and the wetland overlook are the two spots on the Dogwood end that work well for a short visit.
Along the park's southern edge, the National Road Heritage Trail runs west toward downtown. The city describes the route as about 6.5 miles from the Twigg Rest Area on U.S. 40 to the Indiana State University campus. On its own site, the trail organization says a possible extension east toward Seelyville is "currently under investigation." That is the latest status available, and it doesn't include a funded project or a construction date. For now, the Hawthorn Park entrance on E. Old Maple Avenue is how Wyndham reaches the wetland, the labyrinth and the trail.
If you'd like to know how being close to Hawthorn Park, Rose-Hulman and I-70 shows up in what your Wyndham home is worth this fall, Andrew Southard can walk you through the numbers. Get Your Free Instant Home Valuation to start with a clear figure.
