JASONVILLE, Ind. (WAWV/WTWO) – According to Indiana State Park officials, visitation numbers have spiked for Memorial Day weekend.
Shakamak State Park is one of the many state parks said to keep fairly busy for Memorial Day weekend. The park has over 250 campsites; all of which are fully booked for the holiday.
Property Manager Kenna Dugay said the park looks to see around 4-7 visitors per campsite, which does not include the 280 the park cabins and group camps hold.
“This time of year we see large groups,” Dugay said. ” We are looking at about 4 to 7 people per campsite and that’s a big crowd.”
Many visitors said camping at Shakamak over the holiday has become a yearly tradition.
“Each Memorial Day we stay at Shakamak and then we route different places for the Fourth of July and Labor Day,” Heather Ogborn said. “We are on our computers at 12 o’clock six months prior to make sure a full campsite is booked for this weekend.”
“There’s about 10-12 of us families camping this weekend and we’ve done this every year,” Julie Ames said. “We’ve done it annually now for at least five-years here.”
For Heather Ogborn camping became a therapeutic outlet during a hard time in her life.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2021 and the week after I got diagnosed we bought our camper,” Ogborn said. “That for us was something that was worth all of our investments to spend as much time as I had or have, I am now officially cancer free for a year.”
Many new amenities such as a shower house facility as well as Wi-Fi have been added to the campsite this year. Camper Julie Ames said she appreciated the updates.
“We love the atmosphere here and it’s a very welcoming park,” Ames said. ” They do little upgrades every year so it’s fun to come back and see what’s been changed here.”
Duguay said she’s hopeful that visitation numbers will continue to increase into the summer.
“We have just absolutely enjoyed seeing the crowds over the years and we look forward to see what this summers going to bring,” Duguay said.
Shakamak State Park Aquatic Center will open to the public May 28th at 11 a.m. Normal operation hours for the park are 11-7 each day.
