The Indian Lake bike path provides an open 3 mile path on the southwest corner of the lake. The path is asphalt and has a great surface for biking, skating or walking. It provides a full waterfront trip and the area is open and on most days the breeze is terrific. At the half way point of the oath is a small playground area for children and a pretty clean rest room facility. There is also a second restroom building towards the end of the path. The path ends at the entrance to Oldfield beach which is the large state owned beach facility which is a very nice park area. The path’s beginning has a parking lot (there is parking at the end and the halfway point also) and spaces are always available. The path is great for a family of rides because it is very flat so there is no major physical challenge for the small riders. There are no bike rentals in the area so you have to bring your own, if you can’t bring bikes just take the walk. It is very relaxing and you just can’t beat the view!

Indian Lake has a big draw of the state campgrounds. It is a very nice facility where there are 441 campsites suitable for tents or trailers. The campground offers electric hookups for most sites, heated shower houses, flush toilets, laundry facility and camp commissary. A beach, boat ramp and boat docks are provided for exclusive camper use. One section of the park allows campers with pets. There are a few cabin fixture sites which are available for rent. There are a few limited nature paths which are completed in a pretty short time.

We aren’t campers but find ourselves there annually for the big Halloween week-end. The date can be found by contacting the park their site is http://www.ohiodnr.com/parks/parks/indianlk.htm.
This is really a big deal and sites sell out weeks and weeks before. Most people make their reservations as much as a year in advance. Most do some sort of decorating of their site and there is a contest for the best decorated. There is a tick or treat time where the kids go from site to site for goodies, the day culminates in a costume contest , and there are a substantial number of true competitors in that event, as there are in the site decorating contest. It is a very fun time for a family.

Fourth of July without a doubt is my favorite time at the lake. The summer is in full swing and they have events planned around the area like a large beach party at the state beach—the scheduled events can be found at http://www.logancountyohio.com/index.html, http://www.peakofohio.com/ or http://www.indianlake.com/news.htm. But what makes it the best is the fireworks display. Indian Lake does a stellar job of putting on a terrific fireworks display. They collect corporate and individual donations for the presentation and each year it just seems to get better and better. What makes the display really terrific is watching it from the lake on a boat. This is something which is really worth doing . Boats fill up the area to get to see the fireworks. Boats anchor and wait for the fireworks. . .the boats are usually filled to the brim with people and the show starts on your trip to the area you choose to anchor. The local radio station WPKO 98.6 broadcasts live and then play music during the show, which a lot of the boats have on their radios.

After the show the adventure begins. The boats themselves have their lights on which creates a nice light show when everyone then moves, this in conjunction to the droves of cars on the shoreline with their headlights and taillights. The first time you do this you realize that the lake looks very different in the dark than it did during the day. Thanks to cell phone towers it is now far easier to get around, just make sure before it gets dark look around for the lighted landmarks and watch where they are when it is dark so you can find your way back to where you are going. Don’t be in a hurry getting out because it is a free for all getting out, boats are going in all directions around you so just take your time and enjoy the adventure!

Watching the fireworks from the land is as equally fun because after the show all the boat lights tring to return home is also a great event to watch!

Tubing is great, tubing is simple. Most tubes have a nylon/canvas around them and so getting into a comfortable position is very possible. Usually you won’t want you knees on the floor of the tube because feeling the bumps in that position is not very comfortable (kids won’t usually mind, but adults really get uncomfortable fast.. Each type of tube has it’s own pros and cons. Smaller tubes are less stable, so the chance of flipping is higher, but sometimes the flip is the most fun—mainly for those watching from the boat. The smaller tubes take on water at the take off point when they are towed when a large (more than about 130 pounds) is riding. As the speed increases they then get higher in the front. The ride is more ‘adventurous’ in feeling and the rider can have a lot of influence on the swing of the tube by throwing their weight left or right, we have found we enjoy the bigger tubes which hold at least two people, and even more is more fun. Tubes are not rented anywhere so you need your own.

One point on tubing, since the tube just goes as long as the boat is moving, make sure you have a signal for your tuber to give if they want the boat stopped. And also choose a signal to indicate if they are OK.

Indian Lake offers unlimited horsepower boating (which is unique for small inland lakes) and has a number of boat ramp areas (the two most popular. Moundwood state park at the south of the lake and Chippewa State Park at the north. There are also private ramp areas but some pay a fee, so put the boat in for free and park without fee in the state lots which have ample parking).

If you are looking to rent a boat. Spend a day marina is the best (and just about the only) choice, they rent v-hull speed boats and pontoon boats. Their web site is
http://www.spendaday.com/ where they list prices. Their boats are well maintained and people are pleased with the experience. Pontoon boats and speed boats are totally different experiences, if you are more the 'yahoo' type, a speed boat will probably be more to your liking. If you have a group looking to enjoy the views and channels, a pontoon is what you will enjoy. If I had smaller children with me, plan on being on the water for more than an hour or two or have a group of 5 or more. I would go with the pontoon, particularly if you are a verbal group. It's tough to hear one another at half or open throttle on a speed boat.

Skiing is probably the most popular activities and the main body of water is a full open zone skiing area. One of the interesting facts of Indian Lake is that it is the only inland lake in Ohio with lighted buoys for night navigation.

Water skiing is great. Having taken lots of people of the years here’s my advice. If you don’t get up in 20 or so pulls, you can’t water ski so give someone else a turn. If you are teaching a child, invest in training skis (which have the skis tied together), and have an adult in the water for the set up of the child. As the child catches on, make sure that adult has a set of fins because there are lots of times they will need to go some distance with a life vest on, which is extremely tiring without the fins. Believe me the fins will make that individual a lot happier!

The lake is shallow in a lot of places, and there are non-visible stumps in the water—so you need to cautious and alert to the area.