Robinson Lake: Northwest Indiana’s Next Eco-Oasis

Just off I-65, minutes from the interstate but worlds away from the noise, sits quiet little Robinson Lake — 28 acres of water surrounded by woods, wetlands, and Erin’s Farm, the amazing animal rescue next door. For years it’s been a hidden fishing hole that slowly filled with silt and farm runoff. Most drivers zooming past on the highway never even know it’s there. But that could change — in the best possible way. A community-driven restoration could turn Robinson Lake into a sparkling, eco-oasis that proves beauty, community, and cleanup can go hand-in-hand. Routine travelers will be able to visibly watch the transformation from cute, local park, to a flourishing food forest eco-oasis, and sharing resources between the farm and the park is a win-win for all.

What is possible (2026–2029)

• Crystal-clear water you can see ten feet down again

  • Gentle late-summer drawdown + natural bio-dredging (the same recipe that’s worked on hundreds of local lakes, described in Big Maple Lake Plan)

  • A sweeping roadside forebay and riprap treatment zone would be perfectly aligned along I-65 to catch the highway and farm runoff to strip out oil, salt, and nutrients, spilling clean water into the lake or ditch systems

• A spectacular floating island oasis right in the middle

  • Built Aztec Chinampa or other floating style, clean fill discussed earlier, and thousands of water-cleaning plants plus edible oyster and king stropharia mushrooms - paddle boarders get the best view

  • Visible from I-65 — drivers will literally watch the lake heal in real time as the island grows greener every month

  • Free mushroom harvesting for visitors

  • Permaculture food forest helps to provide food for local residents, wildlife, and guests

    • Creating root-cause solutions to address food shortage and hunger in our local community

Glass-crushing & filtration system

• Recycled glass from visitors & northwest Indiana bars and restaurants can be crushed on-site and used as ultra-effective, sparkling filter media in the riprap zones and shoreline berms for architecture & disaster avoidance

• Turns glass “waste” into permanent, beautiful, toxin-grabbing armor that keeps runoff clean

• Glass-cleaning process can use solar pumps for lake water, cleaning both glass and water, filtering water through a photo-ready garden of beautiful plants & mushrooms

• Simple, welcoming public access

• Small canoe/kayak launch possible

• Woodchipped paths wind through the beautiful food forest

  • Safe and gorgeous - solar rope lighting winds through plants and arches; Up-lighting faced into trees

  • Picnic areas connected by short looping trail that’s perfect for evening walks or relaxed horse rides

Nothing huge. Nothing overbuilt. Just a clean, healthy, insanely photogenic lake you can see from the highway that quietly proves we can heal water, create habitat, and turn trash into treasure — all at the same time.

Robinson Lake won’t just be restored.
It could be the postcard win that makes people pull off I-65 and say, “Wait… we can do THIS with our lakes!?”