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Falls of the Ohio State Park

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Falls of the Ohio State Park, Indiana, USA
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LocationClark County, Indiana, USA
Nearest cityClarksville, Indiana
Area165 acres (0.67 km2)
Established1990
Visitors327,092 (in 2003-2004)
Governing bodyIndiana Department of Natural Resources

Falls of the Ohio State Park is a state park in Indiana. It is located on the banks of the Ohio River at Clarksville, Indiana, across from Louisville, Kentucky.

The park is part of the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area. The main feature of the park is the exposed fossil beds of the Jeffersonville Limestone dated from the Devonian period.

The park includes an interpretive center open to the public, built on the grounds where Camp Joe Holt once existed. In 1990 the Indiana state government hired Terry Chase, a well-established exhibit developer, to design the center's displays. Building started in September 1992, costing $4.9 million with a total area of 16,000 sq ft (1,500 m2).[1] The center functions as a museum with exhibits that concentrate on the natural history related to findings in the nearby fossil beds as well as the human history of the Louisville area, covering pre-settlement, early settlement, and Louisville and southern Indiana history all the way up through the 20th century.

Fossil formations (Devonian Jeffersonville Limestone) found along the shores of the Ohio River.
Large rugose coral (above hammer) at the Falls of the Ohio.

Unlike at other Indiana state parks, annual entrance permits do not allow unlimited free access (rather, only five people per pass per visit) to the interpretive center, as fees are still needed to reimburse the town of Clarksville for building the center.

The Woodland Loop Trail has ten new stainless steel markers denoting the plant life of the trails, thanks to an Eagle Scout project.[2]

Strange wildlife has a habit of showing up in the park. Living alligators and crocodiles have also been seen in the park.[3] In August 2006 a fisherman hooked a dead octopus. Zachary Treitz, a 21-year-old Louisville college student, admitted he had put the octopus there after purchasing it dead from a local seafood shop for a film project.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kramer, Carl. This Place We Call Home (Indiana University Press, 2007) p.495)
  2. ^ The News and Tribune - Scout project enhances Woodland trail
  3. ^ The News and Tribune - Fisherman finds octopus in Ohio River
  4. ^ Schneider, Grace. "Octopus pulled from river was leftover from student's film project". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
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