Well...It all depends on what you're after. There are four off-road parks in my area:
Badlands is really tough to beat. Its a privately owned top-notch facility with every sort of terrain you can imagine. They hold national sanctioned events and get-togethers almost every weekend. Its four times the size of Redbird....but it usually has 10 times the crowd (especially during an event). However they do a good job at keeping events contained in certain areas, so the rest of the park is always open to visitors. Badlands is the premier park here in the midwest...if not the country. It has dunes, mud, rivers, forests, rock-garden, river-bottoms, rocks....pretty amazing how diverse it is. It can get crowded on the weekends, but its always a good time. Admission is $20, and a flag is required.
Redbird is actually an Indiana State Recreational Area (or SRA). It is owned and operated by the state and therefore has some tighter regulations. Its very clean and pretty much all steep forest trails, with some mud. Lots of wildlife running around and you can expect to see deer, eagles, coons, and such. They have a small rock garden with a really cool observation deck built along side it. Redbird is definitely a more natural setting, and it feels more like a camping/hiking area than a off-road park. I'm sure it can get crowded but last Saturday there was a total of four trailers in the parking lot. We saw only one other vehicle the entire morning...a lone side-by-side. Admission is $10 to Indiana residents...not sure about out-of-staters.
Haspin Acres has long been considered the "hill-billy" park of the bunch. I have not been there in years but, the last time I went...it was pretty crazy. They allow camping inside the park...and that adds its own unique (alcoholic) flavor. Expect to hear war-hooping, and revving motors at 3am. You might want to leave the wife & kids at home for this one. Its very muddy, and your rig will look out of place if it has not been in a previous roll-over. I'm trying to get the courage up to visit again....but I need to grow a beard and download some more Lynard Skyard first. Maybe knock out a front tooth so I fit in.
Interlake - doesn't really exist.
All of these parks are shared with motorcycles, quads, and side-by-sides but, most of them have areas reserved for each type of ORV. The state-run parks require a either a licensed vehicle, or a ORV permit (for mc/quads/etc.). These permits can be purchased from the Indiana DNR, or DMV. Indiana is heavily wooded so, the wheeling is low-speed and flag-less. The only exception to this is the Badlands, and you will need a flag to enter. The dunes area of the Badlands can get very busy, and I have seen motorcycles & quads blindly launching 40-50 feet over the top of the dunes at 60+ mph....so the flag is a good idea.
