Pokagon State Park — Attraction in Angola

Pokagon State Park has a number of trails which can be hiked individually for short distances or combined for something longer. There’s a nice diversity of terrain ranging from a slightly rugged hilly section to a more prairie-like area, wetlands, and flatter forest sections. Some short trail sections follow a paved bike route which people in wheelchairs could enjoy. We encountered light snow, sleet and periods of drizzly rain in late April, but the trails were mostly dry and well maintained. We found ticks on us and our dogs even this early in the year, so bathe your dogs with anti-tick shampoo before you come and treat your clothing with anti-tick spray. The park also offers the Hell’s Point challenge, an 8-mile loop, as part of the statewide parks challenge program.

My beef, and it’s a big one, with the park is that they created a simplified map to guide hikers tackling the Hell’s Point challenge which, combined with poor trail markers, led us to having a much longer hike. We ultimately hiked almost 10 miles due to missing connectors, duplicating parts of some trails and having to backtrack at one point after getting trapped in a maze of paved roads in a campground area that wasn’t identified on our map. Multiple “You Are Here” signs were missing the identification of the “here”! But most importantly, trail markers weren’t complete. Sometimes when trails crossed one another only one trail was identified leaving you to hope/guess the other one was what you wanted. Moreover, some signs were damaged and completely missing identification. On our return home we stopped at Chain O’Lakes State Park which had great trail markers: simple, straight up wooden posts (no cross sign to get knocked off) with the trail number carved into the wood and painted with a to point you in the right direction. I grew up hiking in the Pacific Northwest and have a very good sense of direction, so I got very annoyed when I found that I’d made multiple errors in map-reading, adding more distance to the day than I’d planned. You’ve failed in your marketing if you created an experience that frustrates and annoys your customer.

We’ll return to Pokagon in the future as I imagine it would be gorgeous in the fall, but if you want to do the Hell’s Point Challenge then take the regular, detailed park map and outline the route on it. Don’t rely on the simplified version or you might find yourself, like we did, hiking a lot further than you planned.

May Update: Poor Trail Signage Being Addressed Over Summer

After writing the park manager to ask for better signage, I received a letter from Ted Bohman, the park manager, telling me that they were in the process of doing exactly that. The plan is to place new trail signs over the summer. Future hikers shouldn’t experience the level of frustration we did. I appreciated Ted taking the time to write a response and was even happier to hear that action was being taken. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one who raised the issue which is why it’s always best to contact the person or organization that can solve the problem rather than complain on social media. In this case, I did describe the problem here because I had a solution (use the unmodified park map) and I didn’t hear that there was an effort being made to solve the problem. ...

It was pretty bad this time around. I ended up barely able to walk after the second night 1970 spring mattress. I had to visit the chiropractor. The water in the tub was pretty bad. Very brown. In pictures. The tub drain was broken so I had to plug it with a rag. No trash service or towel service. Missing the TV remote. We were there three days. Very outdated look from 1990's. Paid $210 a night. One queen bed. One sofa. Walls were peeling and dresser had deep holes on the top. Furniture was rough. We ordered a roll away bed five months in advance. It was a blow up mattress that lasted ten minutes upon our arrival. Upon telling the front desk , Kai actually put the blow up mattress on my check out bill. I only knew this because I asked for a receipt and they said it was emailed. I had to ask again for a receipt where I saw the false charge. Kai fought with me about it. Said I ordered it. I said I ordered a roll away not a pool blow up and my daughter ended up flat on the floor into the night. Not paying for that.

The main restaurant was rough. Over charged higher prices than the menu. Kids drinks said a lower price with the kids meal but the waitress charged adult prices of $3 for a drink for the kids. I told her about her mistake and she was so rude. I ordered a grilled cheese and asked if it could be a la carte. She said ok. But ended up charging me $8 for a grilled cheese cuz that was the full meal price with two sides, but I didn't get any sides for my toddler. She fought with me about that as well. I ordered broccoli salad as a side with my BBQ platter. I asked the ingredients for allergies. She didn't know. I asked if she could find out. She said no because the cooks change it up all the time. So poor quality control. The bill was $80 with tip for two adults and two kids, so pretty pricey. The male manager was very friendly and helpful though . My kid took some medicine and needed to eat within the hour. With the wait to get in even though it wasn't packed, but rather short staffed, it was going to be medically bad because my kid wouldn't have eaten in time. The manager grabbed him some food real quick to eat in the lobby while we waited to get seated.

Pizza Cafe The guy at the pizza cafe doesn't seem like he's all with it. Very aloof and doesn't multi task well. The love was five people from for twenty minutes. Need a second person at rush hours to clean tables especially during Covid and run the food and scoop ice cream, so he can take orders The prices in their computer are also higher than the listed menu. We had the medium chicken ranch mushroom pizza.

Gift shop... Super cute. Nice items for the kids. Good quality.

Art/ craft room. Sadly closed on Sunday. But we did it Friday and Saturday and had lots of fun painting.

Pool was fun. Glad there was enough towels. Security door lock was broken. Floors were chipping. But kids had fun.

Lake. The scenery and quietness is what you pay for when you come here. Everyone knows that. The amenities are 2 ⭐ at a 4 star ⭐ price. So that $200 a night room is that price to have the...

As a 90s kid, the "old-rustic-lodge" interior felt nostalgic. It was awesome being able to show our daughter how things looked & worked from when we were kids ourselves. There's so many activities to choose from that keeps any family busy. The scenery was so beautiful. We loved swimming in the lake & playing on the beach all day, we got some good color on us. The arts & crafts room has plenty of options, our daughter painted ceramic piggy banks while listening to classic Disney music. The outdoor patios & courtyard were modern, clean and comfortable. We enjoyed walking around & exploring the decorated halls. The gift shop was super cute & has a little something for everyone, I really loved the idea of the fill-a-bag of the vibrant colored rocks for only $5 bucks. The staff was great. They're all friendly, helpful & professional (except for one).

Cons -The pool was fun but could chill on the amount of chlorine & install or use some A/C, as it's almost impossible to breathe in the extremely muggy-bleachy air when it's 93° outside. -The beds & pillows are not "just firm", they're like a rock. It was nearly impossible to comfortable & woke up with body aches. Our shoulders, necks & hips are so sore from those beds. For the love, get new mattresses. -The deck & patio doors lock from the outside in the evening/night time. You're able to go out but not get back in & are expected to walk allllllll the way back to the Main Entrance to re-enter the hotel. It was super annoying to keep having to call my Husband to come downstairs to let me back when I'd just sit outside or smoke. Huge unfazed raccoons would roam near the patios, so I was not about to walk a mile to the Main Entrance in the dark. Install entrance keycards for the guests to get back in or stop locking us out. -The historic dining room restaurant seemed promising at first but the food was so horrible. We went during the breakfast service time. The potato hash browns were so bland, soggy and cold like they were made a week prior. The scrambled eggs were disgusting & inedible, I had nowhere to spit it out so I chugged my water just to swallow the eggs like a pill & I fought myself to not throw up. The wait staff were very nice & apologetic but the manger on the other hand seemed offended & was only willing to remove one plate off our bill even though all 3 plates were disgusting & untouched. Don't go unless you want to pay for inedible food that ends up in the trash 🤢🤮. Guests who bring their dogs, also bring them to the beach. Some dogs were very well behaved while others would bark non-stop the entire time 🙄. Super hard to relax on the beach with an annoying barking dog. Be sure to watch your step on the grass & the beach, some owners like to leave their dogs poop for you to step in...