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Hickory ridge fire tower is located in Hoosier national forest, Indiana (close to Bloomington, IN). The tower, built in 1936,  has been manned and used as a lookout tower to protect the forest from wildfire. It is the last lookout tower remaining in the Hoosier national forest.

Though the tower is not used for fire tracking purpose now, it is used by visitors to experience a wonderful panoramic view of the Hoosier forest. We visited there in early Fall 2010 and here are some pictures....

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Lake Patoka, which is located in southern Indiana, is the second largest reservoir in Indiana state. This is a man made reservoir, mainly built for flood controlling purpose. It has been created by damming the Patoka river. 

We visited there last summer (2010) and enjoyed the evening. The lake shores were beautiful and there was a swimming area with a safe margin. Many people and kids were playing in the water. It was worth watching the sunset from the shore. It offers camping / biking and hiking areas too (Map of Patoka lake).  

The lake is about 70 miles south from Bloomington, IN. So it took about 1 1/2 hours for us for the trip.  I am posting some sceneries we captured.