Trip 18 · Falls of the Ohio (border run)
Fossils, Ruins & Red Hots
CrittersOdditiesScoopsborder runLittle kids OKGrade-school sweet spot
Walk across a 390-million-year-old coral seafloor, explore the ruins of a 1920s amusement resort a flood erased, and watch cinnamon Red Hots made on candy machines from 1891. Best in late summer, when the river drops.
The route
US 60 through Shelbyville → the Louisville edge → Charlestown State Park, IN → Clarksville → Jeffersonville → home
Stops
Rose Island ruins
Walk the bridge into a 1920s amusement resort the 1937 flood erased — pool shell, walkway arch, ghost paths, good signs. A ruined kingdom with a parking lot. Downhill in; the climb out is the admission fee.
Falls of the Ohio
In late summer the river exposes one of the planet's great Devonian fossil beds — acres of ancient seafloor you walk on like a stone tide pool. Fossils stay; photos leave.
Schimpff's Confectionery
Candy-making since 1891: cinnamon Red Hot demonstrations on the antique equipment when scheduled, and a tin-ceiling soda fountain regardless.
Colgate Clock
One of the largest clock faces on Earth, telling Indiana time to all of Louisville. Drive by; act like you needed to know.
File a field report
Found a new dairy bar? Bridge out? Dog mayor re-elected? Email a field report and the best dispatches get published (first names only) on the Field Notes page.