Saturday, May 6, 2023

Since #plant23 is complete, Pat and I took our time on this Saturday to take a little trip to a beautiful spot in Crawford County, Indiana.  This was out in a very rural area south of the town of Taswell.   I had discovered this waterfall in a pop-up ad on the internet site “Only In Your State–Indiana”.  So, we decided we would set out on a little random excursion late this morning.

We traveled through Jasper and Celestine, caught a glimpse of the huge Patoka Lake, and drove slowly through the hills and valleys of Dubois and Crawford Counties.  On the east edge of Taswell, we turned south on Trestle Road, and soon we arrived at a little roadside pull-off, with space for two vehicles to park. There was already a car and a pickup parked there along the road.

I was surprised to see any other vehicles there, for often when I choose to visit these kinds of obscure places, Pat and I are typically the only ones there.  i.e.  “The World’s Largest Ball of Twine”, or the Barbed Wire Museum, (both in central Kansas) or “Anderson Falls” east of Columbus, Indiana. or the “World’s Longest Covered Bridge at Medora, Indiana.

We set off walking the primitive trail upstream, and encountered many other individuals along the way.  I didn’t count specifically, but there were probably 50 other explorers on that .9-mile, out-and-back trail, up what is called “Yellow Birch Ravine”.

Here are some pictures of our adventure.

At the east end of Taswell, we turned onto “Trestle Road”, Can you imagine how the road got its name?

A short clip of our drive down Trestle Road…

Here is the entrance to the trail, off the 2-vehicle parking spot. Other cars and pickups just parked along Trestle Road

The trail ran roughly parallel to this stream, crossing it 4 times on the way up Yellow Birch Ravine.  

It was cool and green in these woods

We ran across this smaller, unnamed cascade along the way

I don’t know the name of these little purple flowers, but they brightened the trail!

Farther up the ravine, the rock outcroppings were massive.

Here was our first glimpse of “Double Falls”.

The waterfalls were picturesque, and came down from a height of approximately 30 feet.  

Pat carefully walked underneath and behind the falls

It was a fun adventure, exploring this unexpected sight in southern Indiana.

After this hike, we had a late lunch at Schwartz’s Family Restaurant near Eckerty.

Who would expect such interesting places here in the hills and valleys of southern Indiana?  A fun day.