Clifty Falls State Park, IN

Yeah, more Fall leaves!

The Sierra Club in Northern Kentucky has taken on the project of creating a “recommended hiking” booklet.  Actually, we are updating a booklet that was created by club members years ago; ensuring the parks listed are still well maintained and the web addresses and maps are still current. It’s been fun looking at destinations with a critical eye to determine if I would personally recommend it to someone seeking a day hike.  Not all parks in the original booklet get my vote… but Clifty Falls in Indiana gets a big two thumbs up from me… and both arms waving around in the air! Great park! But challenging, this is not a casual stroll kinda place. Well, let me take that back. This park can be anything you want it to be.

They have trails from paved, wheelchair accessible trials with nice overlooks, to treacherous climbs down into a canyon. The trails range from a half mile up to three miles, but they are all interconnected so you could hike for hours and hours if that was your plan. There are 10 different trails that total up for 15 miles of hiking. The park brochure rates their hikes as Easy to Very Rugged. I only hiked a rating up to Moderately Rugged and that was good for me. If you are in any way prone to vertigo, don’t look down. And if you want to gaze around at the scenery, for God’s sake, come to a complete stop first. One stumble could send you over the edge. My pictures really don’t do this park justice. Can you see the drop off on the right side of the picture? The trail starts on top of that rock formation and winds around just below the lip of the canyon.

The road through the park is windy and beautiful, so if you want to take a leisurely stroll, go for it, the speed limit for cars is 15 mph and the road is so curvy, most cars couldn’t go faster than that even if they wanted to. I also saw a few bicyclists while I was there, but you will need gears for the elevation changes, though they seemed gradual on the road, which stays on the top of the canyon. 

My only complaint was the power plant on the Ohio River, near the south side of the park. It was so close that you could hear it humming, droning out the birds, kind of unsettling when you are trying to have a relaxing time in the woods. Don’t waste your time with the Observation Tower, horrible view. I know we all like our electricity… It’s like meat eaters I suppose, we enjoy a good hamburger but we don’t want to look at slaughtered cows. 

Steps, steps, and more steps. Notice the new section of these stairs. I’m sure the park is constantly changing due to erosion but the Indiana DNR is hard at work maintaining its accessibility for our enjoyment. I wonder where they get their resources and why it seems as though the Kentucky parks are falling apart.  I hear lots of grumbling about cutbacks in KY and OH. Somehow, this park in IN is striving... and there was not even an entrance fee. There was a booth at the entrance, so at times there must be a fee, but not on the day that I went.

  

Here is a little waterfall. The water seemed low, most of the waterfalls I saw were just trickles. I’ll have to go back in the springtime to see if there is any difference. The largest waterfall in the park (named, surprise-surprise, Big Clifty Falls) was too far away to get a good picture.  I think you need to follow one of the trails at the bottom of the canyon to really appreciate its beauty. The brochure says Big Clifty Falls drops 70 feet to the creek below, then the creek drops another 200 feet over the route of three miles and eventually ends in the Ohio River. This was one of the littler falls that fed into the creek.

All and all, I think Clifty Falls would make a wonderful weekend destination. You could stay at the Inn or the campground, and there are plenty of trials to keep you busy for a few days. The nearby town of Madison, IN is also nice; shops and restaurants, and from what I’ve read, festivals throughout the year.

Riversweep Update

The girl scouts made the news... I told you they were cute! 

The amount reported was over a 100 bags of garbage and over 50 tires.

More pictures if you care to see (I'm not in any, thank goodness) can be found on the Hamilton County Parks Facebook page, (click here), and the Cincinnati Enquirer's website, (click here).

Great Miami River Sweep

This past Saturday I participated in the Great Miami River Cleanup.  This is an annual event covering the entire Miami River, which flows from Indian Lake in Washington, Oh for 170 miles to the Ohio River. As you can image, it was a big evolution and took the effort of hundreds of people.

According to the event’s website, the river’s watershed covers 6,600 miles of rivers and streams and drains all or parts of 15 counties in Southwestern Ohio and Eastern Indiana.  Storm water drains and ditches pick up garbage every time it rains and causes the collection of debris along the riverbanks. 

I worked in the region just north of the Ohio River in Hamilton County and let me tell you...  the majority of what we picked up was plastic bottles.  People, please, buy a reusable water bottle and refill it every time you want a drink.  Image how much money you would save and how much pollution you would help to keep out of our waterways.  Not to mention the energy that would be saved from the manufacturing of those drinks if nobody bought them!  If we keep buying them, they’ll keep making them.  

This is the flood plains on the side of the river near Shawnee Lookout.  These areas stay dry for the most part, unless there are heavy rains.  Some areas were a bit difficult to walk through, but others were open like you seen here.  We had a group of girl scouts with us, they were very cute, you could hear them squealing every time they found something. Lots and lots of squealing and giggling.  Bravo to those troop mothers!

Here are the two dumpsters we filled up.  I don’t know how much our group collected but if I had to take a guess, I’d say 100 garbage bags and 30 tires.  Why do tires always wind up in rivers?  The website says that last year the entire project collected 34.55 tons of debris plus 401 tires.  They haven’t got the final tally for this year’s project yet.

I’m reminded of the commercial frequently seen when I was young, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” Do they still have commercials like that on TV?  I can’t recall seeing one recently.

A big “Thanks” to all of the counties that organized the volunteers in their portion of the annual sweep.  It’s a beautiful river and I hope it stays that way FOREVER (I know, I know, nothing lasts forever, but maybe for a long, long time).

Another Centipede

Had another centipede sighting this morning.  This one was scurrying from the kitchen into the dinning room.  He disappeared under the dinning room table and I thought, "oh well, let him enjoy himself, maybe he'll eat a spider or two for me while I'm at work."

Then, a little while later, after I had forgotten about my uninvited visitor, I was standing next to the dinning room table, checking my purse to ensure I had everything I needed to leave for work... and the little bugger ran across my foot!!!

OMG, the nerve! Well, needless to say, he's now in the garbage can squished up in a big wad of paper towels. I plan to stop by Lowe's this afternoon for sticky traps. I'll keep you updated on what I catch, but no worries, I won't gross you out with anymore centipede pictures.