About a month ago, Kyle and I decided to head to Charlestown State Park for trail number 3. It is listed as a rugged 2.1 mile trail. It begins with a paved half mile decline. When we reached the trailhead for trail 3, we were not prepared for what we saw. There was a footbridge over 14 mile creek. We decided to go ahead and cross to see what was on the other side. Here is what we found:
In the early 1900's Rose Island was an amusement park in Southern Indiana. In the summers, families came from up and down the Ohio River, and all over Indiana to visit. We know there was a swimming pool, shelter house with picnic tables, hotel, dance hall, and the 'Walk of Roses'.
Charlestown State Park is doing their best to preserve what is left of Rose Island. You can see this for yourself on the 'Rose Island Loop Trail' - Kyle and I stumbled upon it totally by chance.
They have information posted throughout the loop with what they know about each location, as well as how high the Flood waters of 1937 got. The Great Flood of 37 shut down Rose Island, and ultimately it never reopened. This has been by far my favorite hike to date.
We finished our hike by getting back to trail 3. Trail 3 was a pretty easy hike until the last mile or so which is mostly uphill. This is a hike I definitely plan on doing again.
No comments:
Post a Comment