Charlestown State Park
Experience the Beautiful Outdoors in the
Ohio River Valley
Charlestown State Park is an Indiana state park on 2,400 acres (9.71
km²) in Clark County, Indiana, in the United States. The park is on the
banks of the Ohio River, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Charlestown. It was
once part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant (INAAP), and was donated
in separate parcels to the Indiana state government. In 1993, the state
of Indiana was given 859 acres (3.48 km²) , and in 1994 was given an
additional 1,125 acres (4.55 km²) . When the park opened in 1996, it
encompassed 2,400 acres (9.71 km²). With an additional 2,600 acres
(10.52 km²) given by the INAAP in 2004, the park has 5,100 acres (20.64
km²), making it the third largest state park in Indiana. The park
attracts 100,000 a year.
Features
The main feature of the park is various scenic trails overlooking
Fourteen Mile Creek, noted for being one of the oldest unglaciated
stream valleys in the state. On the peninsula the creek forms where it
meets the Ohio River stands an isolated bedrock ridge called the
Devil's Backbone, which features remains of an ancient stone fortress.
The park does not provide any access to this peninsula from its trails.
At one time there was a footbridge across the creek used for accessing
the Rose Island amusement park, but only concrete pilings remain on
each side of the creek.
Devonian fossils and karst sinkholes can be found in the park, in
addition to 72 species of birds, including bluebirds, black vultures
and bald eagles.
The park is scheduled for $3 million in improvements, which were
delayed in January 2006 when workers building a new boat ramp found a
Native American cooking area dating back to 2,000 B.C. The remains of
firepits and stone slabs that would be used to crack nuts were found,
as well as Laurel chert, from which stone tools were made. only once
the archaeological surveys were done could work on the improvements,
including a five-lane boat ramp, and a riverfront walking trail,
continue. In September, 2006 construction of the new boat ramps
restarted. The boat ramps opened in June 2007.