Charlestown State Park, Indiana - June 12th to 15th, 2023
Charlestown State Park is not a particularly large park, but very pleasant. It is situated along Fourteenmile Creek, where it enters the Ohio River. It is a convenient location for visiting Louisville, Kentucky, which is on the other side of the river. However, we enjoyed spending a full day in the state park. It was nice to be surrounded by nature again after spending the previous week touring cities.
Monday we drove from FMCA Campground in Newtown, Ohio to Charlestown State Park in Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. We stopped at a little park in Vernon, Indiana for a picnic lunch. Along the drive, a coyote ran across the road in front of us. That’s the first time we’ve seen a coyote east of the Mississippi. We see them all the time out west, but never out east.
Tuesday and Wednesday, we toured Louisville. We’ll cover that in our next post.
Thursday we spent the day inside Charlestown State Park. Before lunch, we hiked Trail #5 from the campground. It was a lovely little trail through the woods. There is a platform along the trail, overlooking the Fourteenmile Creek, but the view is so overgrown that you can barely get a peak of the water below. From our campsite, the hike was 1.7 miles with an elevation gain of 180 which took us 45 minutes to complete.
After lunch, we hopped on our e-bikes and rode to the Trail #3 trailhead. The trailhead was about 1.7 miles from our campsite. From the trailhead, Trail 3 starts out paved, but steep, down to the Portersville Bridge that crosses Fourteenmile Creek. Crossing the bridge, we picked up Trail 7, which circles the area known as Rose Island. It is really not an island, but a narrow stretch of land where Fourteenmile Creek flows into the Ohio River. Rose Island was an amusement park in the 1920’s, with a zoo, pony rides, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, roller coaster, shooting gallery, dining hall, dance hall, swimming pool, a hotel, and cabins. Attendance declined in the 1930’s and the flood of 1937 sealed Rose Island’s fate.
The only way to reach Rose Island in the 1920’s was by steamer, a pedestrian suspension bridge, or ferry. One of the steamboats ferrying passengers to Rose Island, the Idlewild, is still in operation today. It is now called the Belle of Louisville. After years of cruising many different waterways, it returned to Louisville in 2005 when it was renamed to Belle of Louisville and once again cruising passengers along the Ohio River.
Nature has reclaimed Rose Island, but there are some informational signs along with some remnants of the amusement park. The most recognizable feature is the swimming pool. Although the pool has been filled in, you can still see the tops of the walls along with the pool ladders.
After crossing back over the Portersville Bridge, we continued on the Trail 3 loop. At this point, Trail 3 turns into a dirt and rocky trail. The trail back to the trailhead is longer than the way down, but that just means the trail is not as steep. It is also more enjoyable, as it follows along in view of Fourteenmile Creek for a little while. Quite a variety of bird song can be heard drifting down from the tree tops.
Our hiking total for the day was 5.2 miles with an elevation gain of 633 feet which we completed in a total of two hours and 35 minutes. It was hike number 27 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023.
A little history and a little nature. The combination makes for a wonderful state park. If we had a little more time there, Ann might have tried paddling in Fourteenmile Creek.
Check out our related video: Charlestown State Park, Indiana
(Ann)