DEBATE: Indiana Is More Beautiful Than Colorado?

Everyone thinks that Indiana is just one big corn field, but they're flatout wrong. In this episode of the Roots Podcast, we're diving into why Indiana is one of the best nature states in America. If you haven't seen us before, we are Roots Real Go, a real estate team that cares deeply about this state. So, today we're breaking down the hidden nature spots that most locals miss and breaking the myth that it's all just corn fields in Indiana. I have a super controversial take that I've been thinking about, which is that Indiana is a more beautiful state than Colorado. The reason I'm asking you this and why you're on the show is you're a transplant from Colorado. You've also lived in another gorgeous state which is South Carolina. What is your thoughts on my take? [snorts] Can I say this? You pay my salary. Um I think it's an egregious take personally. Uh again, growing up in Colorado, I was there for 20 years and I do think it's one of the most beautiful states in the entire country. Once you get into the Rocky Mountains, it's so apparent that like everything around you is just pure beauty and glory. And I haven't found that here in Indiana. There hasn't been one place that I visited that I was just like astounded with its beauty. But I'm curious, why do you say that? As a native Hooser, you've traveled to Colorado. Do you really believe that with your whole heart? We are beauty at discount and accessibility and year round beauty and subtle beauty. Mh. And so kind of breaking it down at super super high level, not to give a geography lesson, but there's three different areas of Indie. You have the top by Lake Michigan, which is like crystal clear Caribbean waters. Literally clearer than like the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. It's massive dunes. One of the best national parks. Did I hear you right? Caribbean waters. It looks like Caribbean. Okay. Caribbean. Caribbean. Come on, guys. This isn't a spelling be here. No, I just I just mean [laughter] like Do you really think it's that clear? Oh, it is. Wow. Literally, I think they've tested it. Like you can drink out of the center of it. Don't drink, guys. We're not giving health advice here, but I'm pretty sure I heard that. Uh, then we have where Indianapolis is, which is the most boring part of Indiana. So, if you just fly in, go to a Colts game or a convention, you're going like Indiana's kind of boring, right? You never got out and actually saw the beauty of the entire state. But, it's like the glaciers came down, they flattened it all in a pancake. And that's the farmland where we live in the biggest city. It's just easy to build on and abounding. You can see for miles. It's gorgeous. And then you get to southern Indiana, which is like called the southern uplands. Um, and it's beautiful. Literally, it's like Kentucky, Tennessee, like Lake Monroe, Lake Lemon, down to Cliffy Clifty Falls State Park, down by Madison. Like, these are literally pound-for-pound some of the best hiking trails, mountain biking trails, and views that you could get anywhere. Yeah. And without the lines and without the cost of getting there. Fair. And to be fair, I've only lived here for almost a year now and the farthest north I've been is like Caramel and the farthest south I've been is Greenwood. So, um I that says something for sure. I used to live in Nashville and when I would drive back and forth between the city, I never stopped, but I would always drive through southern Indiana and it was truly gorgeous. And I will give you that. It was very lush, very green, and that's not something you get in Colorado. It's very dry this time of year. That's what I want to ask you. It's like I have a friend who's in Colorado who said he's like I go to the restaurant to get water and he's like they they literally have a um like a shortage of water and like they have rations on water and like you know there's wildfires like every summer apparently this is going to be a really bad one cuz a lot of Nino do you think that that impacts your perception of how beautiful you perceive it with just kind of the the climate direction in in Colorado? It should. There's an absolute caveat that's necessary because lifestyle is most important. When I think of Colorado, my mind goes straight to snowboarding, being on the slopes, but that is not the reality 99. 9% of the year. And the reality is my mom just had to kill her garden for the summer because she's not allowed to use the hose water and she's following the restrictions. And that sucks cuz that's like I grew up watering plants with her and growing tomatoes. We are next to one of the largest freshwater bodies of water like the Great Lakes. Yeah. It's like when if everything goes to crap in the US, they're coming to the Midwest. Yeah. Is the truth. So, and I agree like I love to fly out and ski, snowboard, but that's the beauty of Indiana. Cheap flights. Indianapolis airport, one of the best. Absolutely. So, it's like, ironically, if you want to experience the nation's beauty, live in the center where it's cheap. And one important thing that you said there was uh beauty at a discount. And point blank period, the cost of living here is wildly attractive. I moved here and bought a duplex. My mortgage for two units is comparable to what my buddy's paying rent for a crappy four-bedroom college apartment with a bunch of guys in Boulder. Is that more nice to visit or nice to live in? Which is it is the question. When you ask it like that, I think it is nice to visit. And I've seen that I have my comfortable life here in Indiana and I just get to fly home for pretty cheap to see my family and then I come right back here. A quick aside, most people overpay for insurance or worse, they're undercovered and they don't realize it. We partner with Jackson Blevens at Core Insurance Solutions. He's a full-ervice broker here locally in Indianapolis who handles everything from home, auto, boat, he can do it all, and he understands the retail side and investor side of the game. If you want someone who can shop the market for you and tailor correct coverage for your property, connect with Jackson in the description below. But I'm ready to be proved wrong, so give me some spots that I should go visit. Absolutely. We got five spots. So, we're going to start in the nucleus. First, we have Broaderbolt. I know what you might thinking. Isn't that like a village in like a college bar area, not like nature? Uh, it has some of the most accessible to nature points in the city. Starting with the Monon Trail, uh, amazing greenway, the White River, awesome access points for kayaking, for canoeing, all that sort of stuff. And then Merritt Park with Williams Creek. So what kind of why Broadripple became like a hub of nature is because it's where Williams Creek, one of the biggest creeks, runs into the White River, and also where the central canal breaks off, which was a huge project back in the day where they were trying to make a canal across the whole city and now it's just like a canal, but it has like a cool walking trail, amazing running trail. Literally my favorite running trail in the city. It's called the tow path. I can vouch for this. I can vouch for this because our office is right off the Monan and I walk and bike there every single day and that is the one slice of life in Indie that makes me feel like home is being on the Monan, putting my running shoes on. It also is comparable to where I lived in Greenville, South Carolina. We had the Swamp Rabbit Trail there and it just gives me that peace of getting out in nature, the silence, the birds. So, I can vouch for that and I do appreciate you saying that because the Monan and Broadripple and the White River absolutely raw. Absolutely. undiscovered. Merritt Park, which is connected, has amazing little like beaches by a creek. Just a great place for kids to play and it's like you can get right off the Mon on down there in those trails. Okay, it's amazing. Good to know. All right, our next one. Southwest way Park. Southway Park is honestly the one I know the least about. I'm just going to name it. I've not been to Southwest Way Park. However, the amount of friends I know that love mountain biking and hiking and golfing, it checks all these boxes. It's not even 30 minutes from the city. It's right by 465 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. Sits on the White River, just kind of the main river where there's a lot of beautiful nature. And it has like 7. 3 miles of mountain biking trails literally in the city. Wow. I need to check that out cuz mountain biking is one of my favorite things and I haven't been in a long time obviously. So that's important. Do you know if you can rent mountain bikes there? I don't know. I we'll have to we'll have to find Yeah, I I have no clue if you can rent mountain bikes. I I think probably you got to bring your own. Okay. [snorts] Uh we're not really known as a mountain biking hub yet, so [laughter] I wouldn't maybe someday we'll we'll get there. Okay, what's next? What else you got for me? Yeah, number three. We're getting into some bigger, more well-known ones. Fort Ben, so Fort Harrison State Park. I used to think I went on like a picnic there every year as a family reunion and I was like, "This place sucks. It's like [laughter] just got like this like shelter and it's like some woods and it's like cool. It's like essentially a glorified like yard with a playground. I I was absolutely dead wrong. Fort Ben is immaculate. What's cool about Fort W is it has um an it was an active army base and has like these like military like barracks um an old military housing and um literally a fort there. Um, and now it's been converted into a state park. Wow. Right on the Fall Creek, which runs into the White River. Fall Creek, like anytime you're driving on like Fall Creek Parkway or around there, it's like winding. There's little bluffs and this just like encapsulates it all. Yeah. So, it's got like some of the best trails that actually have elevation and viewpoints over Fall Creek. It's got um the Fort Golf Course, which I've not played. I've heard it's absolutely gorgeous. I've heard from every single person like you're you don't feel like you're in Indiana. Yeah. And I do know the fort well even though I've never played it. I've looked at it on Google for hours before because I do miss the golf in South Carolina. So pure you got to get out there. I think it would remind you okay of the just the crisp greens and fairways mixed in with the tall trees. Yes. That's my favorite thing in the world. The fort. Okay. It's got a lot undulation too in the terrain. So it's a Pete die golf course. I mean uh that's kind of like a big deal around here. Pause. A quick break from the episode. The lender you choose will make or break your experience. That's why our team at Roots consistently works with Rnado Lima from Approved Mortgage. He communicates clearly, moves quickly, and understands both retail and investment loans at a high level. When my guy Renado's on the deal, things move steady. When you get serious about buying, click the link in the description and contact RNA today. Have you been to Central Park in New York City? Yes, and I freaking love Central Park. It It's incredible. I have a better one for you. Okay. better. Controversial, but bigger. Okay. Eagle Creek, which is just 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, is 6. 3 times larger than Central Park. No way. Imagine that. Are you serious? I I am dead serious. What? The little known secret is just how much of a gym we have sitting adjacent to 465. So, Eagle Creek, super super high level. You have to get there to see it. But uh hiking trails, massive reservoir that you can have motorized boats or kayaking and um bird watching, bird sanctuary. Do you know what an oranthology center is? [laughter] No, absolutely not. That's a tough word. I probably butchered it. This is a nationally recognized wildlife bird sanctuary. Have you thousands of species of birds? Wow. in Indiana. Literally like coming from Canada down to Florida, wherever they hibernate and vice versa when they go in the winter, this is uh one of the best spots to do bird watching. It is immaculate. Massive bluffs right on the reservoir. It's one of those places where you actually get a beautiful like horizon view of like the sunset across water. Okay. So, like if you want some like lake type views Yeah. next to the city, this is exactly where you need to to go. Okay. Colorado has Rocky Mountain National Park and Garden of the Gods. Do you have anything in Indiana that compares to this? Been there, seen that. Tons of crowds. Overpriced. Forget the gardens. Forget the gods. Canyon Country Indiana, baby. Off the beaten path. Okay. Have you heard of Turkey Run or Shade State Park? I have not. You You need to go book a trip this weekend. It's an hour and 20 minutes from Indianapolis. We have sandstone cliffs carved out by ice age glacial meltwater with like ladders bolted to cliffs you can go up down up down waterfalls. The punch bowl uh beautiful amazing creek that everyone kayaks sugar creek with like they call it like Indian beads. They're just like a certain type of shell that you can find there everyone's searching for. This place is incredible. Wow. uh right outside of Indianapolis in half the not even half, a fourth of the crowd that you're going to see in those places in Colorado. This is all fine and dandy, but I still feel like Indiana's a Walmart version of Colorado. So, I need you to change my mind with this last pick. All right, we're going to break out the Gucci, the big the big kahuna in terms of Indiana nature, which is Brown County, a whole county, but specifically around Nashville, which used to be an artist colony, now has tons of cute beds and breakfastes, right next to the hills that pop into Brown County State Park, which is 16,000 acres. It is the largest state park in Indiana, probably the most wellknown. And the what's crazy about Brown County is it's 90% still forested. M just like tall ancient trees mixed in with rolling topography. It it really feels like you're in the Smoky Mountains. They actually call it Little Smoky Mountains. Okay. But it is nationally acclaimed for its mountain biking. So people come from all over the nation to mountain bike in Brown County. Okay. They have races there. They even have like an ultramarathon I saw there recently. I wanted to do it. Didn't do it. Brown County has become the premier Midwest mountain biking destination. Not Kentucky, not Michigan. It is the premier mountain biking destination. So, people travel from thousands of miles away to mountain bike in Brown County. Brown County has more than a million visitors a year. Really? Yeah. I mean, this is pulling from all across the Midwest. Yeah. So, Brown County, Indiana's very own mountains. They're the Little Smokies. You got to get there. Get your Colorado house to Browen County this weekend. I want [snorts] to see you there. Take me there, bro. I'll go. This cornfield myth will be erased forever. Indian Indiana is just cornfields and pancake. All right, those are just five places. We spent like a half a day putting together this list. Like we could have named literally thousands of other places. Do you still think Indiana is the great value of nature in the nation? I will admit my mind has changed a little bit. I didn't know there was mountain biking here, let alone critically acclaimed mountain biking. I didn't know there was easily accessible lakes and reservoirs that I could go swim or go boating on. And I think what I didn't really realize was how accessible most of it is to downtown Indianapolis. I feel like I've been in my little bubble and I don't have to go very far to access nature. And that's something that you truly don't get in Colorado. Again, I was driving 2, three hours just to get to the mountains and then you got to drive back. And so this is really, really good to hear. and I'm going to go try out every single one of these places and I'll report back to you and let you know if you change my mind. We will see you out there. I'm posted up in Indiana this summer. Not going to Colorado, not going to California. I'm posted up in Indiana cuz it is beautiful. And if you want to find out more hidden things about Indiana, we are unpacking all of it. Indiana's beauty, Indiana's nature, but also Indiana's real estate um and how to win. So follow along, subscribe rootsreal. co. Follow me on Instagram as I dive into more fun adventures in Indiana's nature. Tyler_ingal. [music] Bang. Peace.