On my way south from Indianapolis, I drove through the small town of Madison. Located along the Ohio River directly across from Kentucky, Madison has a beautiful historic downtown and a population of only around 12,000 people. There wasn’t much going on when I visited, but I later learned that the city has a long tradition of hydroplane racing on the Ohio River. The Madison Regatta has been held here for generations and remains one of the town’s biggest annual events.
I definitely didn’t associate Indiana with waterfalls or dramatic scenery before coming here. The green forests were more along the lines of what I expected, so I was surprised when I reached Madison and found steep hills, winding roads, and rugged terrain. I had always pictured Indiana as being almost completely flat, and southern Indiana quickly changed that impression.
Clifty Falls State Park was established in 1920 on land near Madison and protects some surprisingly rugged scenery along the Ohio River region. Hiking through the park, I came across forested trails bordered by cliffs, rock walls, and deep ravines. For such a small area, there seemed to be something interesting around almost every turn.
The park isn’t very large, but it’s so densely packed with interesting terrain that it became one of my favorite state parks. Giant boulders, exposed rock formations, and steep cliffs appear throughout the forest, making the landscape feel much more rugged than I ever expected to find in Indiana. The photo below gives a better idea of the elevation, looking down from high above one of the cliffs.
There are four major waterfalls within Clifty Falls State Park, ranging from roughly 60 to 80 feet in height. Thick vegetation made it difficult to get a completely unobstructed view of some of them, but that was also part of what made exploring the park so enjoyable. The waterfall above was my favorite, while the final photo below provides a closer view of the falls surrounded by the forest.
