Lake County Parks promotes holistic health among county residents

From Gibson Woods Nature Protect in Hammond to Deep River County Park in Hobart to Stoney Run County Park in Hebron, Lake County Parks and Recreation cares for a few of the county’s most important pure and historic areas. Though every of Lake County’s parks provides one thing totally different and has its personal distinctive ambiance, every one advantages guests’ bodily, psychological, and emotional well being in quite a lot of methods. 

Emily Trisler, communications director at Lake County Parks and Rec, feels that the county’s parks provide a welcoming area the place guests can enhance their holistic well being.

“It’s vital for individuals to have a spot the place they’ll go when the world will get a bit too loud,” Trisler stated. “Our parks are accessible to everybody and there is not any added strain of getting to decorate a sure approach. They’re areas that invite individuals to come back as they’re. Everybody appears to really feel that they need to be ‘on’ the entire time today, however a visit to one in every of our parks will help quiet issues down and allow them to be in their very own head for some time. Even a 10-minute stroll alongside one in every of our parks’ trails can enormously profit their psychological, bodily, and emotional well being and well-being.”  

Virtually the entire county parks affiliated with Lake County Parks and Rec parks are open 12 months a 12 months, and provide quite a lot of seasonal actions. As an illustration, throughout the winter months, Stoney Run County Park and Oak Ridge Prairie each provide ski leases. The biking and climbing trails at Lake County Parks and Rec’s parks are saved away from snow, permitting guests to remain energetic even throughout the colder seasons. Based on Trisler, anybody can get a very good exercise at one in every of Lake County’s parks, whether or not they’re on the lookout for a difficult mountain bike journey or an informal stroll by means of the woods.  

“Lake County Parks and Rec has loads of choices to select from should you’re on the lookout for a spot to get some train,” Trisler stated. “We have now a number of canine parks, some nice golf programs, and lots of climbing trails. You’ll positively get some train on the steps at Deep River Water Park, too! Your expertise at a Lake County Park will be no matter fits you, it doesn’t need to be conventional or by-the-book. You don’t need to be a skilled hiker with a number of costly gear to take pleasure in our trails. I imagine the flexibility of our parks and the truth that they’ve one thing for everybody is one in every of Lake County Parks and Rec’s best strengths.”

Trisler herself has attended the group occasions held at Lake County parks, such because the Fall Fest that’s held at Buckley Homestead County Park each October. Every time she attends this occasion, Trisler runs into a number of of her neighbors and even some members of the family. She enjoys the chance to interact along with her neighbors in a extra in-depth method than normal. Trisler has additionally seen for herself how related social interactions that happen between Lake County park guests have benefited their psychological well being.

“Being disconnected from others can have an especially unfavorable influence on one’s psychological well being,” Trisler stated. “It’s nice for people to work together with the individuals of their lives, however it’s vital to work together with strangers, too. I’ve seen individuals sitting subsequent to at least one one other at an artwork program, on a biking path, and even at a classic baseball recreation at one in every of our parks make a connection over their widespread pursuits. They change cellphone numbers and ultimately grow to be buddies. That’s an natural technique to meet somebody who enjoys the identical belongings you do. Connecting with these round us is a big a part of sustaining our psychological well being, and Lake County parks provide an abundance of alternatives to make these new connections.”

Trisler feels that guests’ encounters with nature at Lake County parks considerably enhance their emotional well being. 

“Spending time in nature helps you mirror on the world round you and your home in it,” Trisler stated. “An act so simple as considering a tree that’s been rising for a whole bunch of years can shift your mindset and assist put issues in perspective. Experiencing nature at a Lake County park may also assist remind folks that we, as members of the Lake County group, are stewards of this land and have a duty to maintain it. It encourages us to consider one thing past ourselves and what’s happening in our lives, which I think about a big  a part of emotional development and emotional well being.”

Wish to go to a Lake County Park? Here’s a checklist of areas which might be affiliated with Lake County Parks and Rec, together with their addresses:

Buckley Homestead County Park: 3606 Belshaw Street, Lowell, IN 46356

Deep River County Park: 9410 Outdated Lincoln Freeway, Hobart, IN 46342

Deep River Water Park: 9001 East Lincoln Freeway, Crown Level, IN 46307 

Gibson Woods Nature Protect: 6201 Parrish Avenue, Hammond, IN 46323

Grand Kankakee Marsh County Park: 21690 Vary Line Street, Hebron, IN 46341

Lake Etta County Park: 4801 West twenty ninth Avenue, Gary, IN 46406 

Lemon Lake County Park: 6322 West 133rd Avenue, Crown Level, IN 46307 

Stoney Run County Park: 9230 East 142nd Avenue, Hebron, IN 46341 

Three Rivers County Park: 2800 Colorado Road, Lake Station, IN 46405

Turkey Creek Golf Course: 6400 Harrison Road, Merrillville, IN 46410

Oak Ridge Prairie: 301 South Colfax Road, Griffith, IN 46319

Take a look at lakecountyparks.com to be taught extra about Lake County Parks and Rec’s providers and upcoming occasions.