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INDIANA
Did you know that Southern Indiana is packed full of caves and caverns? They seem to everywhere down there!! I decided to take a little trip on one of my off weeks without Elisa. Indiana is only a couple hours away from where I live in Ohio and only 4 hours to the southern part that I planned on visiting.
I did as much research as possible before planning my trip. I already knew about the 3 main parks: Bluesprings Caverns, Marengo Cave Park and Squire Boone Caverns. During my research, I learned that there was a “Cave Trail” in Indiana that included those 3 parks as well as Indiana Caverns. So I made my plans, booked my rooms, packed my bags and jumped in the car!
THISTLEWAITE FALLS
When I arrived in Richmond, IN I decided to stop at a Visitor Center, hoping that they could direct me to additional activities near all the caverns. Crazily, the lady inside had no idea Indiana even HAD caverns! Sadly, she wasn’t much help but another woman there knew about them so she helped me figure out some other things.
While I was there, they also told me about a really close waterfall that I should check out. I was told that it was well worth driving 10 minutes out of my way. So, of course, I put the name in my GPS and made the short drive to Thistlewaite Falls.
Those ladies knew what they were talking about! It was short walk from the parking to see the incredible falls!! I could hear the falls from the parking lot and rushed to see them. I LOVE WATERFALLS! They’re one of my favorite things to see on a hike and I’ll usually hike off trail if I hear water, just to find the source.
LUCKY’S
Before reaching my first adventure, I knew that I would need some lunch. During my research, I found a small place near the caverns, in Bedford, IN that had decent reviews, so I decided to give it a shot. The small place is simply called Lucky’s. It looks like it’s been something else in the recent past, but not sure what.
I parked in the parking lot, which, surprisingly, had a LOT of cars and more kept arriving. That’s always a good sign to me! During my research, I found a small menu showing their options so I knew there wasn’t much to expect. When I walked in to place my order, I asked the cashier what she suggested. That was when I realized that there were MORE menus on the walls behind me!
She suggested I try the Mac & Cheese Bacon Burger, so that was what I got. There were many other things that looked good and I wish I’d gotten to try them! This burger was mostly mac and cheese, which was no problem for me. The mac and cheese with the extra melted cheese on top was phenomenal! I wasn’t a huge fan of their bacon though. Kind of tasted like they just threw it in the fryer and it had a burnt flavor to it so I picked it off the burger. The fries were delicious as well!
BLUESPRING CAVERNS
After lunch, I hopped back in the car and made my way towards my first cavern. I arrived at Bluespring Caverns and mine was one of only a few cars in the lot. The joys of traveling during the week!
I went inside and purchased a ticket for the next boat tour. Yes, you read that right, a boat tour. An underground, CAVE BOAT TOUR! I may have been a little excited by the idea of a boat tour. I’ve seen a few caves and caverns now, but I’d never seen one with a river.
While waiting for my tour to start, I of course had to check out the gift shop, because DUH! Trinkets and gifts are a must everywhere I go! 😁I love looking at all the different rocks and geodes. All of the colors are so amazing! Sometimes I think that I would be a great geologist and then I remember the one and only geology class that I took in college lol.
When the tour was ready to start, my tour mates and I made our way to the door where we were to meet our tour guide. He gave us the basic rules that apply to every cavern tour out there: no food or drinks and don’t touch any formations! Did you know that touching any of the formations in a caverns can stunt their growth? I learned that the oils from our hands can stop them from continuing to grow. Just like in the woods, LEAVE NO TRACE!
We walked down the steep incline to the cavern and you could feel the chilliness before we even got to the opening. PRO TIP: bring a jacket or sweatshirt with you! While we stopped to put on our jackets, our guide told us the story of how, where we were standing, used to be a pond. One day, the landowner cam out to see that the pond was gone and in its place was an opening underground.
After entering the cavern, our guide described the different formations that we saw. Stalactites, which are formations that are formed from the ceiling, stalagmites, which are formations that are formed from the ground and “cave bacon”, which is formed by water rolling down the side of the wall or rock, causing the formation to curve!
Tickets for the boat tour are $24 for a one hour tour. Be sure to wear comfortable, closed toe shoes and bring a sweater or jacket with me. The caves stay at a constant temperature of about 54 degrees. They also have additional options for groups for a Kayak Adventure or an Overnight Adventure. Visit their website for more information.
SPRING MILL STATE PARK
After Bluespring Caverns, drive about 10 miles to Spring Mill State Park. There is a fee to enter: $7 for Indiana plates or $9 for others. If you plan on visiting more of the state parks, you may want to consider getting the annual pass for $50-$70.
PIONEER VILLAGE
Be sure to check out the Pioneer Village. During the busy season, you’ll find workers there to answer any questions that you may have. Currently, part of this area is under construction, as they’re making repairs to the grist mill.
There’s so much to see in this village. I walked around for a couple of hours, looking at EVERYTHING! Just when I thought I was at the end, I’d realize there was another path to even more buildings!
CAVES
This state park also has quite a few caves for you to explore. On their website, there’s mention of boat tours of a couple of the caves. I didn’t reserve any tickets for those, but sort of wish I had 😔.
I did find Donaldson Cave, which made me super happy! It’s a lot of steps down to the path, but it’s completely worth it; the trail actually dead ends right into the cave!! PRO TIP: Bring a strong flashlight. Be sure to have a flashlight with you because it’s DARK inside and your phone flashlight isn’t going to do ANYTHING to touch the dark. If you’re able to make your way to the back of the cave, there’s a small opening that you can climb through and look down on the trail below.
COUNTRY DRIVE
After a wonderful stay at Cobblestone Hotel in Salem, I took a drive through the morning countryside to get to Marengo Cave Park. The drive was less than an hour but so beautiful and I had to keep stopping along the way to take some pics of the fog over the countryside.
MARENGO CAVE PARK
Marengo Cave Park is a large park located in Marengo, IN. In addition to cave tours, they also have other activities for entertaining the kiddos, or those of us who are arukk kiddos at heart. Some of the other activities are: pedal karting, mega maze, sky climber, mini glow putt, a sweets shop, rock shop and mining and The Crawl, which is a cave simulator for the littlelies.
I chose to do the 2 cave tours. PRO TIP: Check out their different bundles to save money! The combo ticket cost me $31. Crystal Palace is a 40 minute tour and Dripstone Tour is a 60 minute tour. My suggestion would be to do both because they are both so very different.
CRYSTAL PALACE
The Crystal Palace Tour is a 40 minute tour, starting by going down a set of stairs to enter the cavern. This your actually begins where the Dripstone Trail ends. Once in the cavern, you’ll probably want to put on your jacket!
The tour guide showed us an area of the cavern and used different lights to show us how each section was created over time. It was pretty cool!
There was also another area which was incredible!
That small hole that the water is dripping from is the original entrance to the cave!! The 2 children who discovered this massive cave, crawled in through that opening, using only a candle in the pitch black to see where they were going. Can you imagine?
DRIPSTONE TRAIL
The Dripstone Trail is different than Crystal Palace in that it’s much more open. Crystal Palace isn’t exactly arrow, it IS when compared to Dripstone Trail.
Look at all of those incredible stalactites hanging out! These babies were everywhere you looked! Also, because of all the space to the ceiling, these wide open spaces have been used in the past for sermons and even weddings!
Then there was the really cool section of the ceiling that had so much moisture, that the mud there never truly dies. Hundreds of people over the years have tried throwing coins up to them stuck. Many have been successful, but most of us just can’t seem to get the angle right! There are so many coins littering the ground here that you don’t even have to use your own coins.
VAN’S COUNTRY TABLE
When leaving Marengo Cave Park, turn right onto State Route 64 and the next driveway is a small diner called Van’s Country Table. This is the epitome of a country diner! Small location with what appeared to be just one waitress.
There were many options on the menu but I decided to go with a pork tenderloin sandwich and a fried fish sandwich with green beans and a side salad. The green beans were the best, cooked with bacon and onion, the way they should be! The fish came with homemade tartar sauce that was a little sweet and I’m really not too sure I felt about it; it wasn’t terrible, though, because I still used some with my fish. The pork tenderloin was well seasoned and delicious.
I got a water to drink since it was so hot out and I was feeling pretty dehydrated, but unless you’re a fan of tap water, I would suggest getting something different. Even the Diet Coke tasted a little weird to me.
PRO TIP: Bring cash to avoid paying credit card fees!
CAVE COUNTRY CANOES
After lunch make the short drive to Cave Country Canoes. I reserved my time online and signed up for the Half-Day 7 mile kayaking trip. They also have a Full Day for 14 miles, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that. They have kayaks or canoes but I prefer the kayak. Gotta build up that upper body strength!
When I arrived, I got myself signed in and bought a waterproof bag for my phone; since this was a last minute addition, I didn’t bring mine with me. I then went to the bathroom to change into my swimsuit. At the car, I grabbed my car key and a bottle of water and left everything else.
By the time I made my way back inside, it was time to load up on the bus and get dropped off 7 miles up the Blue River.
PRO TIP: Wear water shoes, not flip flops!
I learned later that June is the best time to do kayaking in this area since that’s their rainy season and the water will be higher. That being said, this was ROUGH! Since the water was so low, there were times when I’d have to rock myself and the kayak to get past rocks. Sometimes, that wasn’t enough and I’d have to actually climb out and push my boat and then get back in.
There wasn’t much to look at, except for a bunch of turtles of every size that were on logs sunbathing. I also saw a few ducks and even a deer drinking at the edge.
It was pretty rough going for the majority of the time, but the last mile or so was much higher water and I really just had to direct my kayak and relax. I completed the 7 miles in about 3 hours and was completely worn out by the time I reached the exit point!!
INDIANA CAVERNS
If you plan to stay overnight somewhere to see the next 2 caverns, I would suggest a hotel in Corydon, IN. I staying at the Baymont there and was extremely disappointed.
The next morning, I made my way to Indiana Caverns. This is another adventure park with lots of family options. Be sure to check out their site for more info about the Bat Chaser, gem mining and more!
I was only interested in the cave tour for this one. This walking/boat tour is $26 and lasts approximately an hour and half.
Unlike some of the other caverns in the area, this one was packed full of FOSSILS! During the last Ice Age, many animals wandered into the caves and became trapped inside due to the steepness to the entrance. Many of the fossils that have been located belonged to extinct bears and boars.
SQUIRE BOONE CAVERNS
Finally, make your way to Squire Boone Caverns located in Maukport, IN. This one hour tour cost $25. Squire Boone also has additional activities to keep you busy, including a barnyard with goats and pigs, as well as ziplining, candle dipping and gem mining.
This tour starts with a short walk through the woods that leads you to the entrance. Before entering the cavern, our very knowledgeable tour guide explained to us the history of this land and how it was discovered by Squire and Daniel Boone.
FORMATIONS
Honestly, this had to be my favorite of all the caverns I’d seen so far. There were so many incredible formations and pools. The large pool near the entrance, with blue light shining through it was magical and the our guide and I were talking about what it would be like to get married right there lol (she’s planning a wedding).
Another cool formation was the large one that resembled a ship, named the “Titanic.”
Or how about the “egg?”
Then there was the giant column that was bigger than me! (A column is when a stalagmite and stalactite come together).
GRIST MILL
On the property, there’s also a grist mill. One of the workers offered to do a demonstration for me of how it worked and it was super cool. There’s the giant wheel outside that, once activated, turns and lifts the water, creating hydropower.
Then, back inside the building, they turn on the next machine. Dried corn is poured inside and it grinds up the corn to make cornmeal. Until this invention, women would spend all day grinding corn for meals and this greatly affected their time.
BOONE’S KITCHEN & CANDY SHOP
When I arrived, the village that they have onsite was closed, however, their little kitchen and candy shop were still open. After exploring the rest of the area, I was STARVING! They have quite a few baked goods that are made in-house, however, I was more interested in their BBQ pork sandwich that smelled heavenly. They also have hot dogs and other sandwiches available.
Be sure to check this place out! I loved the country tables and decor! The food was delicious!! The staff is super friendly! What more can you ask for??
Conclusion
Southern Indiana has many caves and caverns for you to explore. The ones that I’ve indicated here are simply the most common that people visit, however, there are many more at other parks. Be sure to plan ahead, as some places may only do tours on the weekends or during certain times of the year.
What do you think? Have you visited any of these caverns? Which was your favorite? Do you have others you’d recommend?
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