Gov. Holcomb establishes two new state forests in Morgan, Brown counties, Lydia Gerike Indianapolis Star, Aug 15, 2020.

• • Mountain Tea State Forest is a 1,153-acre area in Brown County, Indiana. It was previously part of Yellowwood State Forest. The forest is used for recreation such as hiking, hunting, wildlife viewing and mushrooming. The majority of the property was previously owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy. The DNR is planting 60,000 to 70,000 trees in Mountain Tea and Ravinia as part of its program to plant 1 million trees by 2025.

DNR: Mountain Tea State Forest, Pumpkin Ridge Road, Nashville, IN 47448

Mountain Tea State Forest currently encompasses more than 1,153 acres, 705 acres of which was deeded to the State of Indiana in 2013. The deeded portion was locally known as a part of the Mountain Tea property and was previously managed by The Nature Conservancy. The land was acquired by the State of Indiana with the assistance of the U.S. Forest Service through the Food, Agriculture Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, aka the Forest Legacy Program. The Forest Legacy Program was developed to help protect intact forest lands from conversion to non-forest uses while still allowing for sustainable timber management and recreational use. An additional 490 acres was acquired by the state in 2009 through purchases from private landowners.

Historical aerial photography suggests that, before government acquisition, the valleys and ridgetops were farmed and the side slopes were grazed. The ridgetops are composed of old field mixed hardwoods. The side slopes are mostly composed of mixed hardwoods and oak-hickory communities known to occur within the Brown County Hills natural region.

The city of Nashville lies roughly 6.4 miles west, and Columbus is roughly 10 miles east.

Mountain Tea State Forest is one planting location for the Division of Forestry’s ForestIN program, an effort to plant a million trees by 2025.

Activities

Although no permanently established recreation areas are present, there are still several recreational opportunities.

Hunting is permitted on State Forest property, and this area also offers opportunities for off-trail hiking, mushrooming, and wildlife viewing.