State Park Visit #9: Prophetstown State Park
Visited August 7th.
Actually, a two-for-one today: Prophetstown State Park is kind of small with not many trails and also located not a very long drive from Indy, so to fill out the day I first stopped by the Fall Creek Gorge Preserve, also known as "the Potholes." I visited there last February with my hiking group, but it's a really pretty area and I wanted to see it not covered in snow and ice.
Fall Creek Gorge is located outside of Attica, IN (the same general area of the state as Shades State Park), and its main attraction is a shallow, rock bottom stream that has formed deep, round depressions in the sandstone due to the movement of the water through the gorge. It's not terribly easy to find if you're not deliberately looking for it. There are no signs on the main roads, and the tiny parking area is halfway down a gravel road (called Potholes Road, your only clue you're even in the right area) that at first looks like it's just there to service the farms you pass by on the way. It's my understanding this is deliberate; the state kind of wants to keep people away because of its popularity. It is meant to be a nature preserve, and too many people tromping around and possibly trashing stuff isn't great. Anyway, there were no other people around when I went, but the trash can near the parking lot was stuffed to overflowing with drink bottles and other trash, so clearly people come around often.
There is a small trail that leads from the parking lot to a small, shallow stream that flows into Fall Creek. This bit of slick rock is surprisingly tricky to walk on without slipping, but it has to be crossed to get to the rest of the trail.
The trail follows along the top of the gorge and ends here: a waterfall at the head of the gorge. It's not the best picture because of where the sun is, but it's a really nice waterfall.
This is looking down the creek, from the waterfall toward the mouth of the gorge.
The water was really shallow, so I followed the creek down to the gorge.
And then into the gorge to get a closer shot of the potholes. You can see how the stream is shallow, but it's also carved the deeper holes into the sandstone.
Another angle on some of the potholes.
And this is where I stopped taking pictures because I, uh, fell into a pothole. I was edging toward one, trying to get a really close up shot of it, but the stream bottom I was standing on was slick and curved down into the hole, and I found myself just kind of slipping down it. And there wasn't anything to grab to stop myself from going in, so I ended up standing waist-deep in water. It's a good thing I had my phone in my hand when I went in, because if it had been in my pocket it would have gotten soaked. After that, I couldn't get a good enough grip to climb back out, so I gave up and just waded the rest of the way through the gorge and back to the trail, an action which sometimes required both hands for balance, so I spent part of it holding my phone between my teeth. It is not easy to hold an HTC One between your teeth.
But I got back to my car, put a towel on the seat because my pants were wet, and continued to my second destination.
Prophetstown State Park is outside of West Lafayette, IN, and is the newest state park in Indiana. I think it opened in 2004/2005. Somewhere around there.
It features mostly prairie and wetlands.
It's a bit late in the year for a lot of wildflowers, but there were some still out.
There were some nice views along the main trail.
This is a fishing pond? According to the map. I don't know.
More wildflowers.
And this was the official end of my hike. I headed toward trail 4, which runs along the Wabash River, but I was greeted with this. Let's zoom in a little...
See that wooden post right in the center of the picture? Yeah, that's the marker for trail 4. It is not actually supposed to be in the middle of the Wabash River, but there's apparently still a lot of flooding from all the rain we had in June/July. I'd unintentionally gotten wet once that day already, so I turned around.
Actually, a two-for-one today: Prophetstown State Park is kind of small with not many trails and also located not a very long drive from Indy, so to fill out the day I first stopped by the Fall Creek Gorge Preserve, also known as "the Potholes." I visited there last February with my hiking group, but it's a really pretty area and I wanted to see it not covered in snow and ice.
Fall Creek Gorge is located outside of Attica, IN (the same general area of the state as Shades State Park), and its main attraction is a shallow, rock bottom stream that has formed deep, round depressions in the sandstone due to the movement of the water through the gorge. It's not terribly easy to find if you're not deliberately looking for it. There are no signs on the main roads, and the tiny parking area is halfway down a gravel road (called Potholes Road, your only clue you're even in the right area) that at first looks like it's just there to service the farms you pass by on the way. It's my understanding this is deliberate; the state kind of wants to keep people away because of its popularity. It is meant to be a nature preserve, and too many people tromping around and possibly trashing stuff isn't great. Anyway, there were no other people around when I went, but the trash can near the parking lot was stuffed to overflowing with drink bottles and other trash, so clearly people come around often.
There is a small trail that leads from the parking lot to a small, shallow stream that flows into Fall Creek. This bit of slick rock is surprisingly tricky to walk on without slipping, but it has to be crossed to get to the rest of the trail.
The trail follows along the top of the gorge and ends here: a waterfall at the head of the gorge. It's not the best picture because of where the sun is, but it's a really nice waterfall.
This is looking down the creek, from the waterfall toward the mouth of the gorge.
The water was really shallow, so I followed the creek down to the gorge.
And then into the gorge to get a closer shot of the potholes. You can see how the stream is shallow, but it's also carved the deeper holes into the sandstone.
Another angle on some of the potholes.
And this is where I stopped taking pictures because I, uh, fell into a pothole. I was edging toward one, trying to get a really close up shot of it, but the stream bottom I was standing on was slick and curved down into the hole, and I found myself just kind of slipping down it. And there wasn't anything to grab to stop myself from going in, so I ended up standing waist-deep in water. It's a good thing I had my phone in my hand when I went in, because if it had been in my pocket it would have gotten soaked. After that, I couldn't get a good enough grip to climb back out, so I gave up and just waded the rest of the way through the gorge and back to the trail, an action which sometimes required both hands for balance, so I spent part of it holding my phone between my teeth. It is not easy to hold an HTC One between your teeth.
But I got back to my car, put a towel on the seat because my pants were wet, and continued to my second destination.
Prophetstown State Park is outside of West Lafayette, IN, and is the newest state park in Indiana. I think it opened in 2004/2005. Somewhere around there.
It features mostly prairie and wetlands.
It's a bit late in the year for a lot of wildflowers, but there were some still out.
There were some nice views along the main trail.
This is a fishing pond? According to the map. I don't know.
More wildflowers.
And this was the official end of my hike. I headed toward trail 4, which runs along the Wabash River, but I was greeted with this. Let's zoom in a little...
See that wooden post right in the center of the picture? Yeah, that's the marker for trail 4. It is not actually supposed to be in the middle of the Wabash River, but there's apparently still a lot of flooding from all the rain we had in June/July. I'd unintentionally gotten wet once that day already, so I turned around.