indiana’s waterfalls

Indiana’s Picture-Perfect Waterfalls

story by Glenda Winders

one of the lessons of the pandemic year has been how much beauty and diversity can be found out of doors and close to home. Thanks to the glaciers that shaped Indiana’s landscape, the state has more opportunities than many others to explore Mother nature’s creations. rivers and lakes beckon, and so do the dramatic waterfalls that punctuate them.

Spring is one of the best times to visit Clifty Falls when their waterfalls can range from roaring plunges to delicate bridal-veil mists. PHoTo: Indiana dnr

Cataract Falls is the largest waterfall by volume in Indiana. PHoTo: Indiana dnr

“The waterfalls you can enjoy at Indiana state parks, state forests and nature preserves are good reasons to be reminded that Indiana is more than a ‘fly-over’ or ‘drive-through’ state,” said Ginger Murphy, deputy director at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of State Parks. “These cascades are a reminder of the geological processes that framed (and are still framing) the Hoosier landscape.”

Clifty Falls State Park near Madison was named for its most spectacular features – roaring Clifty Falls, Little Clifty Falls, Hoffman Falls and Tunnel Falls. Hike through a rugged landscape on the park’s 10 miles of trails to discover them and other smaller ones, as well. As with all waterfalls, the activity at these falls depends on the amount of rainfall in the area. And their personalities change, depending on the time of your visit. Spring will find them cascading at full force while in winter they become a frozen spectacle.

Upper and Lower Cataract Falls are the largest in the state by volume. A part of Mill Creek, which feeds the 1,400-acre Cagles Mill Lake in the Cataract Falls State Recreation Area near Cloverdale, they were formed because of pre-glacial bedrock ridges buried beneath ancient lake sediments. Also here are volleyball courts, a swimming pool and a playground as well as lots of tables for lunch while you watch the activity around you. Be sure to pack a picnic!

Not far away near Spencer is McCormick’s Creek State Park, the first in the state. Here the namesake creek flows through a limestone canyon to form the scenic waterfall, and nature-lovers will find lots more to do, too. Miles of hiking trails lead through trees and native wildflowers, and you can also climb a vintage fire tower and cross the stone-arch bridge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It’s a good place for bird-watching, too.

Turkey Run State Park near Marshall and Shades State Park near Waveland are 15 miles apart, but Sugar Creek runs through both of them. On the north side of the creek in Turkey Run is Rocky Hollow Falls Canyon Nature Preserve, and in Shades lies the Pine Hills Nature Preserve. These parks are best known for their great hiking through deep sandstone ravines, and along the way you’ll discover Silver Cascades and other smaller waterfalls.

Charlestown State Park was once part of the land around an Army ammunition plant, but today it offers

Salamonie State Forest PHoTo: Indiana dnr

Turkey run State Park. PHoTo: Indiana dnr

fantastic hiking along rugged hills and deep ravines. You’ll discover a substantial waterfall at Charlestown Landing, and as you move along the trails you’ll come upon several other smaller ones as streams flow down to Fourteenmile Creek and the Ohio River. Nearby is Nine Penny Branch Nature Preserve, a stand-alone dedicated nature preserve with terrain similar to the park’s. Nine Penny Run wends through it, leaving limestone slabs, waterfalls, pools and riffles in its wake.

Spring Mill State Park near Mitchell was an industrial village in the early 1800s. Settlers came here because of cave springs that provided a constant source of water to operate a sawmill, a wool mill and a distillery with a gristmill at the center of it all. While you explore the restored Pioneer Village look for the sign just past the leather shop that guides you to Hamer Cave. A short walk in that direction will take you to a magnificent waterfall and the flume that carried water to keep the mill running. While you’re here check out the memorial to Gus Grissom, the astronaut whose home was in this area.

Salamonie River State Forest near Lagro in Wabash County also has a rich history and is named for a Native American word meaning “yellow paint.” It was created as a demonstration of how land on river bluffs that had largely eroded away could be reclaimed, with much of the work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Hiking and horseback-riding trails abound, and below the Salamonie Dam is a waterfall in a ravine that flows into the Salamonie River.

Anderson Falls Nature Preserve in Bartholomew County is a 44-acre county park through which flows a half-mile stretch of the Fall Fork of Clifty Creek. Geologists know this park for the fossils of Silurian Age animals captured in the Waldron Shale layer here, and where the Louisville limestone area overlaps that layer is where you’ll find the 14-feet-high waterfall that gives the site its name.

In Richmond, Thistlethwaite Falls was voted one of the top waterfalls in Indiana. It was created in the early 1800s when Timothy Thistlethwaite blasted a new channel in the West Fork of the Whitewater River to provide more waterpower to his nearby sawmill. It’s located just south of Waterfall Road near Springwood Park.

Other photo-worthy waterfalls include Muscatatuck Falls in Jennings County and Deadman Falls in Jefferson County. “All of these waterfalls are accompanied by great displays of wildflowers in the spring; the reds, yellows and oranges of forested slopes in fall; and unique ice formations in winter,” Murphy said. “They are each worth visiting to enjoy in any season.”

Hathaway Preserve at ross run has vertical cliffs as high as 75 feet. PHoTo: Indiana dnr

Grapes & Grain -

A Tradition of Progress

CCelebrating their 25th anniversary, the French Lick Winery looks not only to the future but also to their

South Indiana roots where history and heritage are interwoven into the fabric of everyday life.

For Kim Doty, who with her husband John, started the winery in 1995, it all goes back to the farm, now designated as a Hoosier Homestead Farm, founded by her great, great grandfather 133 years ago.

For over a century the family raised soybeans, cattle, and hogs on the farm which is located in Martin County.

That changed when John suggested they grow grapes to sell to other wineries.

“Dave Schrodt from Brown County Winery told us

owner & Head Winemaker nicholas doty and Assistant Winemaker Wayne Harless.

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Hoosier Homestead Farm owners, 5th Generation. With their deep roots in the soil, they planted eight acres of grapes including one of the first Norton grapes planted in the state on one of the highest points in the county.

if you’re going to grow grapes you might as well open a winery,” says Kim, who earned a degree in horticulture from Purdue University.

Doty laughs when she says this, noting how outlandish that sounds looking back given they were working fulltime. They also were parents of two young sons, Aaron and Nick and she didn’t know anything about making wine.

Luckily, John, a Purdue grad with a degree in Agricultural Economics – Farm and Business Management had wine making skills that went much further back to around age 12 when he fermented Concord grapes (think Welch’s Grape Juice) and blackberries in a crock.

“We didn’t even use a press,” Doty says. “After they fermented, we drained them through cheesecloth.”

He also made wine in the home’s basement.

With their deep roots in the soil, they planted eight acres of grapes including one of the first Norton grapes planted in the state on one of the highest points in the county. Down below, the lushly beautiful east fork of the White River inspired the name Heaven’s View Vineyard.

Seven years later they opened the French Lick Winery inside the historic Beechwood Mansion in West Baden Springs, a small hamlet practically right across the street from French Lick.

Working round the Clock.

“We were making 400 gallons of wine, which we bottled in the basement and then carried case by case upstairs to the tasting room,” says Kim, noting that

at first, they didn’t quit their day jobs, so they often were working late into the night. “Now we have 6000-gallon tanks, there are 100 wineries, and we have 30 types of wine.” In 2004, needing more room, the winery moved into a sprawling former piano factory. “I was thinking, when we moved into the Kimball building about serving simple cold sandwiches, a soup of the day, and charcuterie,” says Kim.

It didn’t happen that way. Like everything about the winery, it grew into something bigger. Now, the Vintage Café is a full-service restaurant serving freshly made Italian food.

artisan spirits

Several years ago, the family decided to take the business one step forward or should we say back into the past by

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Their artisan spirits are so exceptional that bestselling author and bourbon curator Fred Minnick, who has 2 million podcast followers and is described by the New York Times as one of the “Top Whiskey Writers” in the country, named the Spirits Of French Lick Lee Sinclair 4-Grain Bourbon as his top pick for Best Non-Kentucky Bourbon of 2020.

opening Spirits of French Lick, a distillery that creates pre-Prohibition style bourbons, botanicals spirits, brandy, and American whiskey in the largest pot-still distillery in the state. Under Master Distiller Alan Bishop, their distillation methods are consistent with its historical counterparts.

Their artisan spirits are so exceptional that bestselling author and bourbon curator Fred Minnick, who has 2 million podcast followers and is described by the New York Times as one of the “Top Whiskey Writers” in the country, named the Spirits Of French Lick Lee Sinclair 4-Grain Bourbon as his top pick for Best Non-Kentucky Bourbon of 2020.

Indiana’s Black Forest

In an interesting but little know fact aspect of Indiana’s distilling history, many of the Germans who settled here came from the Black Forest area of Germany where small family distillers made spirits from the fruit they grew. Bringing this tradition with them, distilling in the region most likely dates back to before 1806 and continued to grow through the decades. Farmers, planting 150,000

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apple trees in each of a six-county area known as Indiana’s Black Forest, harvested the fruit to make apple brandy. Bishop’s research shows there were more than 155 documented legal distilleries in the Black Forest, as well as illegal ones too. In all they produced not only the most apple brandy in the world at the time but also the best. Spirits of French Lick honors the heritage of Indiana’s Black Forest in their single-pass Calvados-style Old Clifty Apple Brandy.

always Family: The next Generation

It was a family business from the beginning. Starting at a very young age, Aaron and his younger brother Nick worked along with their parents in every step of the process from vine to wine. They were taught how to plant, nurture, trim, and harvest grapes as well as bottle and cork wines by hand. They hand wrote the labels that went on the bottles. They were an integral part of decision making and so in 2020, Nick and Aaron were ready to step up to run the business after John and Kim took a step back towards retirement.

Under their stewardship, Aaron and Nick have expanded distribution into three new states and are currently introducing a new set of wines called The Winemaker’s Cut. Semi-Dry fruit wines, made the way Nick enjoys them. Joining the team and the family is Nick’s wife, Laurelin Doty, the winery’s Director of Operations. “It’s very gratifying and rewarding knowing that they’re running things.” says Kim.

Nick and Aaron represent the sixth generation of family to run the farm. If any or all of Nick and Laurelin’s three young daughters follow the family tradition, one day there will be a seventh.

owners, nicholas & Laurelin doty.

Check out these Indiana Culinary Destinations

1

Tin Plate Restaurant

2233 S. J St., Elwood • 765-557-8231 Popular for pork tenderloin sandwiches, ribbon fries (loaded with pulled pork BBQ as an option), and their special recipe roast beef manhattans. For more than five years, this local favorite has been drawing crowds from all over the state. Varied menu for all tastes, and full-bar available.

2

Huber’s Orchard, Winery & Vineyards

19816 Huber Rd., Borden 812-923-9463 • huberwinery.com This family owned and operated farm is seven generations in the making. Known as much for hospitality as they are for award-winning wine and spirits, Huber’s Orchard, Winery & Vineyards offers visitors a true farm-tobottle experience. Wander almost 700 acres of farmland, savor a wines and spirits tasting, then stay for lunch at the Starlight Café.

Minnetrista Culinary Events

1200 N Minnetrista Pkwy, Muncie 765-282-4848 • www.minnetrista.net Minnetrista’s culinary team shines through with a variety of offerings. Indulge in a true interactive food experience at their “Chef Demonstration and Wine Pairing” dinners, where you’ll enjoy exquisite food prepared by their executive chef, along with a wine pairing. Also popular are their food presentation workshops, where you’ll learn about jams, hard cider, and more. There’s also monthly brunch offerings, and special kids’ culinary camps.

3

4

Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum

329 Washington St., Columbus 812-378-1900 zaharakos.com Beautifully restored 1900s ice cream parlor, restaurant, and museum unlike any other in the nation. Delight your tastebuds with ice cream creations, hand pulled sodas, and a full menu. Listen to the sounds of mechanical musical instruments, linger over the icons of the soda fountain era, and shop the country store. Open Wednesday-Sunday.

5

Harris Sugar Bush

999 E County Rd. 325 N, Greencastle o 765-653-5108 c 765-301-0016 harrissugarbush.com Signature, all-natural maple syrup produced on-site is packaged locally in unique gift jars. Also carrying maple cream, candy and delicious nut toppings, Indiana produced honey, BBQ sauce, jams, jellies and sorghum. Open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but call first to ensure we are in the shop.

6

King’s Café and Bakery

109 W Main Street • Cambridge City 765-478-6500 • kingscafeandbakery.com King’s Café & Bakery serves up a wide array of coffee drinks, homemade baked goods, fresh, made-to-order food, and hand-dipped ice cream. They also make custom cakes, pies, cookies, and nearly any kind of baked good upon request. Guests can make themselves at home, surrounded by the rich history of charming Cambridge City. They take pride in shopping local and supporting other Indiana businesses. Be sure and check out their weekly lunch specials! Closed Mondays.