Falls of the Ohio State Park - Mitch Craig Heating and Cooling
A wonderful place to visit for history and nature lovers. The park is located on the Ohio River, just 23 miles northwest of Louisville, Kentucky. It is full of history from the Ice Age and provides its visitors with beautiful views of the Falls of the Ohio River as well as a chance to explore some amazing wildlife.
The History
The Falls of the Ohio State Park was established in 1949 by an Act of Congress through a gift from Paul Veverka and former Governor LaFollette. In 1951, President Truman visited Clarksville from Washington D.C. to sign a resolution approving statehood for Indiana! This shows how special this region is because most Presidents travel using military aircraft or Air Force One instead of travelling on a steamboat. Since the early 1800s, this region has been a popular place for riverboat travel and trading on the Ohio River. In fact, boat building was one of the major industries in Clarksville during that time.
In 1972, Act 148 transferred ownership from Indiana to the United States National Park Service for inclusion in the national park system. The Falls of the Ohio State Park is now a unit of Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area, and it is located in both Kentucky and Indiana. This park is most well-known because fossils from an Ice Age camel were found here! It can be difficult to imagine what North America looked like with mammoths, camels, mastodons and giant ground sloths roaming around, but it is possible to take a walk through time here.
The first discovery of fossils was made by two men back in 1807, who thought that the bones they found were from an elephant and dug them up to transport home. They actually transported the bones back to their homes, where they realized that they weren't from an elephant at all! There were no elephants in North America during this time, so it is now believed that these bones belonged to a type of camel instead. More fossils were discovered and sent to Thomas Jefferson, who identified them as belonging to an animal previously never known to exist on the continent! More discoveries continued and, soon after establishing what kind of animal lived here and how ago they roamed around, people began to realize that it was a rare, tropical animal. The camel's Latin name is now the source of its common name: "Camelops hesternus."
The fossils found here date from about 780,000 years ago up until 12,000 years ago. It is believed that this area was much wetter and warmer during these times because the climate would have been perfect for tropical animals such as camels and sloths! During this time period, Kentucky was located much further south and was covered by a shallow sea. With so many fossils being discovered in the region, more than 1 million bones were unearthed throughout the 1800s, which brings us back to why we know this area as "Bone Valley."
Present Day
Today, visitors to the Falls of the Ohio State Park and surrounding areas can see fossils and walk through a museum that was once a working limestone mine! They can also take a stroll along the Interpretive Trail, where they will see some of the limestone cliffs with their many fossil formations. The park's website provides more information about the history and what you get to experience while visiting this fascinating place.
The scenery at Falls of Ohio is pretty unique because it is on an island between two states: Indiana and Kentucky! There are hiking trails through these beautiful rocky landscapes while learning even more about the history here. Just watching how quickly water moves around in these falls is enough to impress anyone who visits this special place.
To get to the park, you must take an 8-mile drive down Route 62 south from Clarksville, which will lead you straight here. There is a small admission fee for this national landmark; parking is free! Since it is in southern Indiana, this destination might be slightly more difficult to reach if travelling anywhere else throughout the state, but it would definitely be worth the trip.
If planning a visit, visiting midweek during the off-season (winter) might be your best bet because there are usually fewer people and warmer weather; otherwise, it can get quite crowded on weekends! Many special events occur here throughout the year so check out their website for all of these details and more!
This interesting piece of history belongs to both states so that you can visit both sides of the falls in one place. It is a must-see for anyone who loves history or just learning about new things in general!
More Information
- Falls of the Ohio State Park
- Address: 201 W Riverside Dr, Clarksville, IN 47129, USA
- Phone: 812-280-9970
- Hours: Vary by season but typically from dawn until dusk
- Admission fee: $5/ person during peak season (summer) and free at all other times except special events when there might be an additional charge
- Website: http://www.fallsoftheohio.org/
Business Information:
Mitch Craig Heating & Cooling
634 Eastern Blvd, Clarksville, IN 47129, United States
(812) 920-5717