Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana, may be the smallest state park, but the history and impact of this land is enormous. Come with me on a journey through time as we learn about the stories of the fossils, George Rogers Clark, the Underground Railroad, and more. You'll also learn what's going on with the park today as well as hear more rock puns than you wanted!
Falls of the Ohio State Park is covered in history, both ancient and recent. The fossils found in the riverbeds are visible reminders of the foundations of time, and there is still evidence of the Underground Railroad in the area too. The park is also part of a vibrant community today. On my visit, I ran along the 7.5-mile Ohio River Greenway. Across the river was a great view of the Louisville skyline. The park and everything surrounding it was full of energy. It was a humbling place to stand – fossils under my feet and the present whirling around me!
IN the Podcast Episode
You’ll learn all about fossils from park interpretive naturalist Alan Goldstein and hear about the Falls of the Ohio Foundation from its previous director, Kenton Wooden. Kenton shared about the Rock the Rocks concert on the riverbed and about plans to keep adding to the park. Oh, and be ready to roll your eyes at a mountain’s worth of rock puns!
Listen to Falls of the Ohio State Park: Don’t Take Fossils for Granite on Apple or Spotify.
Park Features
Falls of the Ohio has no gate entrance, only a $2 parking fee which an annual park pass covers. There’s a small hiking trail and an outdoor classroom. The nature center is actually a museum with a separate entrance fee, but the main focus is the fossil beds. The height of the Ohio River determines how much of the riverbed is exposed. Some days, you’ll find Class 4 rapids. Other times, the fossil beds are almost entirely visible, so it feels like you’re on another planet!
According to Kenton Wooden from the Falls of the Ohio Foundation, the park tells the stories of the fossil beds “which are the only natural barrier along the 981-mile-long Ohio River.” The park also features important historic events like the arrival of General George Rogers Clark, native history, the Underground Railroad, and more.
Don’t Take Fossils for Granite
When I visited Falls of the Ohio, the water was the lowest it had been in years, and it was the most amazing landscape. I felt like I was on the moon. Small craters full of water dotted the fossil beds with Louisville as a backdrop. For much of the year, people can explore over 200 acres of exposed fossil beds. It's an incredibly beautiful setting, truly a photographer's dream.
But what was I seeing? Thankfully, I was guided by Alan Goldstein who has been the park’s interpretive naturalist for 31 years. Alan just retired, so I was thankful to interview the fossil expert before he left the park. First, I learned these are not dinosaur fossils. At the park, I saw crinoids, brachypods, sponges, trilobites, and several types of coral. In the episode, Alan explains what these fossils looked like when they were alive, how they moved, grew, and died. He also helped me identify them. For instance, sponges look like petrified cow patties. Some of the coral fossils have real beauty to them with detailing similar to what you'd see embroidered on a woman's dress or a lace doily.
Second, Alan told me the way the fossils are layered is unique. He said, “Most of the time, when you think about fossil exposures, you think of the Grand Canyon, where you have layers over time… the oldest is the bottom, the youngest is the top, and you're only looking at cross sections of layers. Here, you're actually on the layer itself.” Imagine the Grand Canyon like a cake before it's cut. The bottom layers are older than the top layers. To see all the layers well, you have to hike down into the bottom of the canyon. At Falls of the Ohio, it's like you cut a piece of that cake and put it sideways on your plate to serve it. Now you can see all the layers spread out before you more easily and all at once. The accessibility, quantity, and layout of the fossil bed make Falls of the Ohio a special place in the country!
Now, if you really dig rocks and fossils or have a kid in your life who does, there might be some tears when you discover you aren't allowed to take any of the rocks or fossils home. Thankfully, the park has found a way to help out by providing collecting piles. Alan brings in shale from local rock quarries, and visitors are allowed to take home any fossils or cool rocks they find from these piles only.
An Important Part of History
Fossils aren’t the only important pieces of history in the area. George Rogers Clark was a Revolutionary War general and hero who was given about 8,000 acres near the park. He brought with him several enslaved people, including Ben and Venus McGee, an enslaved Black couple who Clark inherited from his father's estate. Since slavery was prohibited in the Indiana Territory, Clark hired McGee as an indentured servant. The McGee family lived in an area near Clark's home called Guinea Bottoms until about 1820. It was the first free Black settlement in the Northwest Territory. The history of Guinea Bottoms is another fascinating piece of Indiana history.
There are so many other people who pop up in the area you’ve probably heard about. George Rogers Clark’s brother William Clark and his colleague Meriwether Lewis embarked on a journey west from here. John James Audubon, a famous ornithologist, studied birds in the area for years. Hannah Toliver was a free Black woman in Jeffersonville. She, her husband, and other free Blacks aided fugitive slaves across the Ohio River.
Falls of the Ohio Museum
Before Falls of the Ohio became a state park, the Falls of the Ohio Foundation was established. With so many stories to tell, the community wanted to protect the area. According to Kenton Wooden, “Our community felt like it was a really precious resource that needed to be preserved and maintained and wasn't receiving the recognition it needed… We worked together to help bring the state park system in as a partner in 1990. And then from 1990 until 1994, we worked together with the local community and the state to build our interpretive center, which opened in 1994.”
The interpretive center is really fantastic. It's full of hands-on activities and would appeal to kids of many ages. It's interactive, features the best examples of fossils, and lets visitors walk through a time-lapse of the area in an immersive way. There is an additional cost for the museum, but there’s a reason for that. Kenton explained, “Falls of the Ohio is unique in a lot of ways, but it also is Indiana's smallest state park, and it's their only state park without a gate fee. When you pay to go through the exhibits, you're helping support that place.” In the interpretive center, you’ll find new, world-class exhibits that feel like a genuine museum.
Rock the Rocks
One of the coolest events Falls of the Ohio Foundation puts on is a concert called Rock the Rocks. Kenton said, “We take a band with full speakers, lighting, and everything, and we put them down on the fossil beds. We invite people to bring a blanket, bring a lawn chair, and just sit down on the rocks… We get outstanding talent; we've had Grammy winners there, we've had bands that travel all over the world. It is an awesome experience.” There is also food and drinks with all of the proceeds supporting the foundation's mission. Through events like Rock the Rocks, the foundation has raised enough money to create outdoor classrooms for learning and enrichment.
Planning Your Visit
I’d recommend a weekend away where you can visit Falls of the Ohio, explore the fossil beds, and take a ride on the greenway. You could camp at neighboring Charlestown State Park or stay in Jeffersonville. Then drive across the Ohio River to Louisville to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum or do a bourbon tasting.
Falls of the Ohio State Park has an impressive past and a vibrant future full of amazing stories, all built on the foundation of these incredible fossil beds.
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Want to join my IN the Parks journey? Check out the podcast, follow along on Instagram and Facebook, and be sure to share with a friend. Now, go make some of your own memories, and I hope to see you in the parks!