Charlestown State Park...

We managed to visit two State Parks on Saturday, 15th July: Charlestown State Park and Versailles State Park. We visited Charlestown State Park first, located north-east of Louisville on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. This was the site of a munitions factory, the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, during the Second World War, and it is also where the ruins of the old amusement park on Rose Island is located.

Candace, Riaan and I had a lovely picnic lunch and then hiked down to Rose Island, (not actually an island but rather a peninsula formed by Fourteen Mile Creek and the Ohio River) where we enjoyed walking along the trail through what remains of the amusement park site. It was destroyed during the Ohio River flood of 1937. All that remains are a few foundations and structures, quickly being overgrown as nature reclaims the area. We had a great hike through the area and then visited the Park Office and Camp Store before heading on to Versailles State Park.

 Enjoying a picnic lunch.

 My lunch. Yum!

 Starting off on our hike to Rose Island.

 Pretty white flowers.

 A butterfly enjoying the lovely weather.

 Another beautiful flower.

 Grasshopper.

 Giant katydid.

 The historic Portersville Bridge, built in 1912 by the Vincennes Bridge Company, used to connect Daviess County with Dubois County until it was moved here in 2011.

 The pea-green water of Fourteen Mile Creek.

 Candace with one of the information boards. Note the 1937 Flood marker on the pole.

 Information display at Rose Island.

 The suspension bridge used to connect the "island" with the mainland here.

 Site of a cottage.

 Riaan and I balancing on a tree.

 The original entry pillars are still visible today.

 An old retaining wall.

 The Walkway of Roses.

 Candace and Riaan enjoying the walk.

 The original pool on Rose Island - which has now been filled with concrete to prevent accidents.

The Park Office at Charlestown State Park.