For the first meeting of our Adventure Club, we met at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Parking is $2, but if you purchase a ticket to the Interpretive Center it's included in the price. I thought Piper might enjoy that, so we spent a grand total of $5.

After gathering the group together, we headed to what we thought would be a fairly easy walk down a sidewalk ramp to the fossil beds. In the springtime, the river is at its highest so a lot of the beds are underwater, but you can still get a glimpse of some pretty cool fossils. I don't know if it was a result of flooding or from the wind and ice storms in the last year, but after a certain point, the sidewalk was covered with trees and driftwood that we had to clamber over.

After we made it through that obstacle course, the kids had a great time looking for fossils in the rocks. Since the oldest kids on this adventure were only 3, they had an even better time finding rocks to throw into the water (not the fossil rocks, of course). The floodgates were open and water was still streaming in. It sounded like we were next to the ocean.

After getting all dusty and hot, we headed back up the hill for a picnic.

From our picnic location, we noticed a trailhead at the back of the parking lot. The trail is called the Woodland Loop Trail and we estimated it to be about 3/4 of a mile. It started as a fairly easy walk through the woods, complete with markers that note certain trees and other items of itnerest in the trail. We didn't know what any of it was because the pamphlet that explained it all was located back at the Interpretive Center. A box with some pamplets next to the trail sign would have been welcome.

About halfway through the hike, the trail turned back into sand. The girls decided the sand was "crystal rock" and spent a fair amount of time scooping up handfuls.

Obviously, I didn't take any photos of it, but there was a fair amount of garbage washed along the shore, the oddest of which was a wheelchair. While it detracted from the beautiful surroundings, it did serve as a good lesson for the littles on why we don't throw our garbage onto the ground.

Everyone was hot, tired, and thirsty after the hike so we pretty much broke after that point. Several of us went back to the Interpretive Center to look around. I would have skipped it, but Piper wanted to look at the "old dead animals". It had a lot of good information and some cool fossils. There were also some big aquariums full of fish and a room for the kids to play with puzzles and bridges. A movie is shown on the half hour, but we didn't make it.

Piper and I arrived home at a little after 3:00. I couldn't believe we spent a full four hours exploring the area. It was $5 well spent. :) 

If You Go: Pack sunscreen, sun hats and sturdy shoes. Take more water than you think you'll need. In fact, the next time I'll take a cooler with cold drinks and leave it in the car for the trip home. A few dry wash cloths to wet with the extra water and wipe off the dust would also be nice. Even on a temperate spring day in May, it was pretty warm down in the fossil beds.

If you're planning on going with a stroller, I'd call in advance to make sure the debris has been cleaned away from the sidewalk ramp to allow access.

Take $2 cash for parking. If you don't plan on visiting the Interpretive Center that's all the money you'll spend.