Indiana hides a secret paradise just outside Bloomington where the crowds thin out and the shoreline beckons—Fairfax State Recreation Area, the lakeside retreat that makes you question why you ever bothered with crowded coastal beaches in the first place.
Let me tell you something about Midwesterners—we’re secretly beach people trapped in landlocked states, which is why finding a pristine stretch of sand without fighting thousands of tourists feels like discovering buried treasure.
The great irony of life in Indiana is that we’re surrounded by some of the most beautiful waterfront property in America, yet most of us spend our summer vacations driving 14 hours to overcrowded coastal beaches where we’ll pay $25 to park and $7 for a bottle of water that tastes like it was filtered through someone’s swimsuit.
Meanwhile, right here at Lake Monroe, Mother Nature has been quietly perfecting her beach game for decades…