usa: indiana: charlestown state park, madison, and clifty falls state park

Pretty much the entire time I was growing up I thought Indiana was a boring state. I thought there was nothing to do, and nothing to see. When my Girl Scout groups went hiking it was always on mulched trails, that were only a mile long. When I camped, it was in a tent only a few meters from a car. None of these experiences were all that fun, and didn't give me a good opinion of my home state.

Then I grew up, and realized that Indiana does have quite a bit to see and do. I realized that state parks have trails longer than a mile, and not all the trails are flat. 

I learned about museums and cute cafes and small town main streets, etc... With the advent of social media it is a lot easier to learn about all those different options.

Social media was how I learned about the city of Madison, as well as two state parks not far from Madison. I learned about Charlestown State Park when I saw a photo of a trail going through the location where an amusement park used to be. I learned about Madison because a high school swim teammate posted photos of a family vacation. I learned about Clifty Falls State Park because a high school cross country teammate posted photos.

One of my day trips around Bloomington started by driving south, toward Charlestown State Park. I set the route on my phone, with the GPS voice piping up every so often telling me when to turn. That worked fairly well, except when Google Maps doesn't know about road construction, and I have to figure out my own way to get around a road.

Even though my phone was telling me where to go, I paid attention to road signs. One of the signs I saw pointed to a covered bridge, so I made an executive decision and followed the sign. I'd never heard of the very small town of Medora, but this detour took me through the entire town :)

The covered bridge was photogenic, as was the main street of the small town.

I finally got to Charlestown State Park mid morning, I got to pay the Indiana resident entry fee by showing my Indiana drivers license. (The hire car I had was plated in Virginia.) The fee is not big, just $7, which is pretty good for what you have access to in the park.

As far as state parks go, Charlestown isn't huge, at 5100 acres. It's in Clark County, on the river border with Kentucky. (From the first trail I hiked I could see Kentucky on the other side of the river.) The park opened in 1996, at approximately half its current size. 

It gained the rest of the land in 2004.

The trail I wanted to start with was #7, so I followed the signs to a parkplatz near the trail head. I was the only one in the parkplatz when I pulled in, which felt a little creepy. Especially because the first trail I wanted to hike was around what little remains of where an amusement park used to be located, on Rose Island.

Rose Island used to be an amusement park drawing people who arrived by ferry on the river.

It was originally a church camp known as Fern Grove in the late 19^th century, and was developed into an amusement park when the land was bought by the ferry company.

There is a big sign when you get to the island, with photos of what used to be, and some dates that are important to the story of the area. There was a massive flood in 1937, it covered the entire area in 10 feet of water. The flood caused so much damage that the park was unable to open that season, and never opened again.

I'm a bit unclear how the ruins came to be what they are now. 

The pool is still there, but has mostly been filled in with concrete so no one accidentally drowns. There are a few pillars with metal arches over them. There are signs in various places telling you what used to be there, which is good because there is no way anyone would figure it out otherwise.

There used to be cabins in which families stayed for a few days, and a dance hall, and a small petting zoo. All of those have totally disappeared. I know southern Indiana is hot and humid and sometimes feels like a jungle, but it isn't actually a jungle, and the remains of those buildings must've been mostly removed by humans.

The trail wasn't as exciting as I'd expected, as there really is very very little to see. I enjoy hiking, but there was just so little of the amusement park, even though that's how this particular trail is marketed.

After finishing that trail, I didn't feel like I'd moved nearly as much as I wanted to, so I went back toward my car, which took me to two more trail heads. I hiked trails 3 and 4, and was completely worn out after all that. I don't know the final distance, but between the heat, humidity, bugs, and not usually flat trails, I felt like I'd earned a good meal somewhere.

Trails 3 and 4 had some vertical changes, some bridges, changes in the size of the trails, changes in the flora through which the trails went, etc... I had to watch where I put my feet most of the time, mostly because I have a tendency to trip over nothing in particular. There were skinny areas with tree roots sneaking across the trail, wider areas where the trail wasn't always clear, etc... I was a happy camper with what I'd done when I finally got back to my car.

Madison is a city of almost 12,000, in Jefferson County, also on the river border with Kentucky.

The city was laid out and platted in 1810, with lots starting to be sold in 1811. This was before Indiana was even a state, so way back in American history. At the time, this was one of the major entry points to the Indiana territory, it seems most people entered via the river.

As a visitor, one of the aspects of Madison that I quite liked was free parking. This is less and less common, and I really appreciated it. I parked on one side of the main street, and didn't have to touch my car again until I drove home that evening.

Since I'd just hiked for several hours, I wanted food before anything else. Actually, I wanted dessert before anything else. Something else I'd seen on social media was an ice cream shop in Madison. I ended up going to a totally different place from what I'd originally, but I was still happy. After dessert came the main meal, which ended up being grilled cheese and chili at a small diner. I know I've said it before, but I'm happy to repeat myself: I love diners. I'll always choose them over a chain restaurant, or cafe, or even another local restaurant. 

After eating I walked down toward the river. The street on which I happened to walk had what must've been the old Madison High School, as it had that look. Right next door was the old high school gymnasium, which still has a sign over the entrance reminding visitors of the 1955 Madison High School state basketball champion team. These sorts of memories are priorities in small Indiana towns. This old gym is now a local rec center.

I walked main street a bit, enjoying the cuteness of the street in general. There was a nice fountain, as well as a church with a lovely steeple

I started to walk toward Lanier Mansion, but when I got there I found a sign saying that I'd just missed the last tour of the day. Darnit. I was still able to walk through the gardens outside the house, which are well kept, and empty at 1615.

At that point I felt like I'd had a good day, so I walked back to my car and headed toward Bloomington. On the way I stopped one more time, at a place called Eleutherian College. It was founded as Eleutherian Institute in the mid 19^th century, and admitted students without regard to ethnicity or gender. 

Since this was just before the American Civil War, that was a bold point of view, especially in southern Indiana. (Indiana was not a slave holding state, but Kentucky was, and many people in southern Indiana felt the same way as friends and family across the river.)

Over the years, as many as 150 students at a time attended school there, approximately 25-33% were of African American descent. During the Civil War the building and grounds were used for military training. The college closed in 1874, but was used as a teachers training school for 4 more years, when it was sold and became a public school. 

The public school closed in 1938, and after that went through a series of owners until the current owners restored it to what it was like in the 1850s. It is now open once a month during summer months for tours. Unfortunately I wasn't there on one of those days, argh.

Not far from the college was a very small Baptist church, with an even smaller cemetery out back. I wonder if any of those buried have any living descendants anymore.

The rest of the way home was an easy drive, I arrived after dark. I admit to stopping for one more photo, I couldn't resist documenting a stop in Paris. 

Paris, Indiana, that is. Population 1500.

another day I wanted to hike in another state park close to Madison, so I drove back down, starting this particular day in the city. I went right to Lanier Mansion, joining a tour at 1100. There were two other ladies in my 'group,' but they weren't really taking photos.

I listened to all the information and took heaps of photos, as I usually do. It was nice to be on a tour and actually understand all the information I was being given. Hee hee.

Lanier Mansion was built by James Lanier in 1844. He was a wealthy banker, the house is built it a Greek style, complete with columns out front. 

Throughout the house you see examples of the obsession with symmetry in many of the rooms. If one side had a door, so did the other, even if it didn't lead to anything. Quirky, to say the least.

The wallpaper was different in each room, and I wouldn't want any of it in any house I ever own or live in. There were quite a few bedrooms, which makes sense as the house was three floors, plus servants quarters. The best part of the house was the spiral staircase.

After leaving the mansion I walked down to the former railroad depot. 

Back in the day, people and goods were moved around the country mostly by train. The city has made the area into a small museum, which was neat to see. They've put up photos and information, as well as recreating the ticket office.

There is also an old train car out front, you can go inside. Long distance was so very different back then. There is no longer a train coming to southern Indiana. There are actually far fewer trains in the US now than there used to be, which is sad. Trains are amazing.

Since I'd enjoyed the food I had during my first visit to Madison, I went back to the same places. Yum, and the food was served quickly.

After eating I drove up the street to Clifty Falls State Park, again paying the Indiana resident entry fee. The park is now around 1400 acres, but when it opened in 1920 it was just 570 acres.

The state parks offer a trail map at the entry gates, which is pretty awesome. Not long after entering the park I found a parkplatz and pulled over to study the map.

I ended up choosing two trails. I was supposed to be able to see a few different waterfalls by hiking these two trails, but that didn't happen. The trails went right by the waterfalls, but I'd forgotten to take into account the recent weather in the area.

It hadn't rained much, so the waterfalls were almost non existant. Argh. I could see where they were supposed to be, but the few drops of water were not at all impressive.

One of the trails took me past a cave you can go all the way through if you bring a head torch with you. I hadn't brought mine, so I only went in until I got scared of the dark. I'm not scared of the dark, but I am scared of whacking my head on the rocks because I don't see them. Futher along that particular trail I found the other side of the cave, pretty neat.

This particular cave is closed to visitors during the winter, as a species of bat stays there, and scientists don't want to mess with them.

Even though I'd eaten lunch in Madison, and I hadn't felt as though the hiking in the state park was very intense, I was still knackered by the time I started driving back to Bloomington. Thank goodness for radio and podcasts that kept me entertained :)