A trip to Indiana’s grand ravines

Early October is typically the start of my search for fall colors, but this year I decided to start a new photography project and my wife and I took a trip in search of other colors. I would photograph fall colors if I found them, but I expected we were a week or more too early. We drove our RV to Turkey Run State Park for a two night trip. The park has a nice campground and the evening campfires were cozy as it was cool. This trip was my third to Turkey Run State Park

After setting up camp, we did some exploring and talked to a park naturalist about some areas that I might want to photograph. She was very helpful with her suggestions. The next day, we were up early and ready for some hiking. To get to the trail, we had to descend 70 steps! Having had partial-knee replacements in both knees, I hate going down stairs. Once we made it to the bottom, I saw these sandstone cliffs in the warm morning sunlight and we made our way to the bank of the creek before cross the swinging bridge.

We were going to hike into a ravine that is part of the Mansfield Sandstone formation that covers a large are of western Indiana. The ravines at Turkey Run State Park were created by glacial runoff as the glaciers melted and carved the ravines.

The hike I had planned was only about .75 miles each direction. At the end of our hike, we stopped where the creek flows down a small sandstone structure. There was not a lot of water today as it has been dry, but the color in the sandstone attracted my attention.

After climbing 70 steps up from the creek, we had lunch and hiked another trail. There were probably less than 50 steps down and then up on this trail! I believe this trail is one of the prettiest in the parks as the ravine narrows at one point to provide a stunning view.

As I was photographing the scene, Linda noticed a fern growing out on sandstone wall.

We then walked through the gap and made our way to the stairs out of the ravine. The second set of stairs were carved into the stone by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Core) and are well worn. The steps lead to a nice overlook also created by the CCC.

One of our next trips is to a slightly more northern part of the Mansfield formation to explore some other ravines.