Turkey Run State Park is located about southwest of Shades State Park. Both parks are located along Sugar Creek, and both feature a gorge system formed by the drainage of the creek as it cuts down through sandstone bedrock. Mansfield sandstone is the specific type seen at Turkey Run, named after Mansfield, Indiana. Travel between the two parks crosses a flat glacial till plain and enters the gorge system. The Punchbowl on Turkey Run's Trail 3 is an example of a pothole that was scoured out by glacial erratics caught in swirling backwash.
