Hoosier National Forest covers about 200,000 acres of southern Indiana, wrapping around Bloomington to the south and west in a patchwork of public land mixed with private farms and small towns. The terrain is hillier and more forested than most people expect from Indiana — the landscape here was carved by erosion rather than glaciated flat, producing rugged ridges, limestone bluffs, and narrow hollows that feel more like eastern Kentucky than the rest of the state.
The forest has several good hiking trails, including sections of the Hemlock Cliffs area near English (northwest of Bloomington), where sandstone arches and overhangs create a canyon landscape unique in Indiana. Nebo Ridge and the German Ridge trails are popular with mountain bikers. In autumn the oak-hickory forest colours dramatically, and the forest edges are good for deer and wild turkey.
The nearest trailheads to Bloomington are 30 to 45 minutes south by car. The US Forest Service maintains a ranger station in Bedford, about 25 miles south, where maps and permits are available.