In 1936, coal companies donated more than 3,000 acres of mined-out ground to the state. The flooded pits and rolling spoil hills turned into one of Indiana’s most unusual state forests. Today Greene-Sullivan State Forest covers almost 9,000 acres of woodland in Greene and Sullivan counties, with more than 120 lakes scattered through it.
The lakes are old surface coal mines, flooded after the mining stopped and stocked over the decades. Largemouth bass, bluegill, and redear hold in nearly every pit. Channel catfish, bullheads, crappie, and warmouth show up in others. Bass Lake holds muskellunge from a 1997 stocking, and Airline Lake gets rainbow trout each year through the state’s put-and-take program. The state record bluegill, three pounds four ounces, came out of Reservoir #26 in 1972.
About 60 of the lakes have easy access from county roads with dirt or gravel ramps. Boats are limited to electric trolling motors. Walk-in-only lakes hold the quieter side of the forest for anyone who wants it. Hunting, mushroom foraging, horseback riding, and wildlife watching are all open across the property. An archery range with 15 targets along a woodchipped trail is free to use.
About thirty miles of bridle trails cross the forest on five main routes, gently rolling and never steep, which suits a relaxed day in the saddle. This is bring-your-own-horse country, with no rental barn on the property, and every horse needs a valid annual horse use tag from the DNR. Pack hunter orange for both you and your mount if you ride during hunting season, since the trails stay open then.
Family campsites at Narrow Lake, Wampler Lake, and Reservoir #26 add up to 100, with twenty more sites for horseback campers at the Horseman’s Campground near Ladder Lake, which go first-come, first-served. Rent-a-camp cabins are bookable at Camp.IN.gov. The forest office is at 2551 S. State Road 159 in Dugger.
