If you don’t have the desire to sit in the car for four or more hours for a full-fledged vacation to Chicago or St. Louis, the beaches of Alabama or Florida, or the mountains of North Carolina, there are plenty of interesting places to visit two hours or less from Louisville. It can be delightful to find and explore the unique, under-the-radar spots that not everyone knows about or visits regularly.
Rose Island – Charlestown, Indiana
A little over 30 minutes from Louisville is Rose Island in Charlestown State Park, which was an amusement park and resort in the 1920s. It featured cottages that looked over the Ohio River, a swimming pool, a dance hall, and a miniature golf course. Flooding in 1937 damaged the structures beyond repair, so what is left is a strange and lovely reminder of what life might have been like for families who came and stayed at Rose Island.
Trail #3 at Charlestown State Park takes you down a steep, paved pathway to a bridge that gains you entrance to the ruins at Trail #7. You can meander through the park on your own, but Charlestown State Park sometimes offers guided tours of Rose Island, which helps to show some of the smaller ruins you might miss on your own.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park – Hodgenville, Kentucky
While you can drive to Washington, D.C., to see the huge Lincoln Memorial, a much shorter trek takes you to the first Lincoln memorial in Hodgenville, which is built up on a hill above the place believed to be Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. The Beaux-Arts monument is full of symbolic elements, including 56 steps that represent the 56 years of the president’s life. Within the memorial building is a one-room log cabin like the one Abraham Lincoln was born into in 1809.
In 1811, the Lincoln family moved to Knob Creek, along Highway 31 in Hodgenville, where a cabin now stands. Nearby is a meadow and the creek itself, where you can stand and imagine the 16th president as a young boy throwing stones into the water. Having stood there myself, it provides a real sense of awe and wonder. If you are taking young children on this adventure, consider getting the picture book “Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale” by Deborah Hopkinson to build some context before they visit. The Louisville Free Public Library has several copies available to borrow.
Lincoln State Park and Abraham Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial – Lincoln City, Indiana
If you want more presidential history, you can head a little over an hour north of Louisville to where the Lincoln family moved when Abraham was 7 years old, in 1816. The visitors center has numerous exhibits and a film, and there is a huge memorial plaza with sculptured panels that you can explore outside. Visitors can see the gravestone of Lincoln’s mother, Nancy, who died from milk sickness in 1818.
After you’ve taken in the historic sites, there is still more to do in the state park, which features a nature center and various hiking trails, including the Lincoln Boyhood Nature Trail and the Lincoln Park Loop Trail. There is also swimming, fishing and paddle boat rentals.
Big Bone Lick State Historic Site – Union, Kentucky, and Rabbit Hash, Kentucky
If animals are your thing, a little over an hour’s drive from Louisville will take you to Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, where you can see the herd of bison that lives there. Fossilized remains of mammoths and giant sloths were discovered at the site in the 1700s, which is why it is called the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology. Its visitors center provides information about this history. There is also a walking path that takes visitors to the salt springs, where animals regularly visited and where Native Americans and European settlers came to hunt.
If quirky little towns interest you, it is an easy 14-minute jaunt from Big Bone Lick to Rabbit Hash, located in Boone County. Check out the General Store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and then go further back in time to the Rabbit Hash historic district where you can find lots of quirky odds, ends and antiques.
Clifty Falls State Park and Historic Madison, Indiana
Clifty Falls would be a great place to spend a day, especially after a good rainfall. With four major waterfalls (Clifty Falls, Little Clifty Falls, Tunnel Falls and Hoffman Falls), there is plenty to see. If you visit in the summer, you can hike a bit and then spend time at the swimming pool. The state park offers regular hikes to some of the waterfalls, as well as guided tours of Brough Tunnel, which was once built to be a railroad tunnel. The tunnel is closed during the fall and winter months to protect hibernating bats.
While you’re up that way, take the 10-minute drive from Clifty Falls State Park to Madison, Indiana, where you can tour the Lanier Mansion, which was completed in 1844 and is a gorgeous example of Greek Revival architecture. The historic mansion is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Broadway Fountain in downtown Madison is gorgeous, and there are several other historic homes worth seeing, including the Francis Costigan House and the Jeremiah Sullivan House.
The small town of Columbus, Indiana (on the opposite side of Interstate 65 from Bloomington), is chock-full of public art. If you wander through the town, around any corner you may find an unexpected surprise, such as a Henry Moore sculpture. There are three Dale Chihuly installations at various spots in Columbus as well. My personal favorite is “Eos” by Dessa Kirk, which you can find at the intersection of Brown and Lindsey streets. More outdoor beauty can be found at Mill Race Park, which includes a covered bridge and a huge reflecting pool.
Families with younger children will enjoy the Commons indoor playground as well as kidscommons, which is a quirky children’s museum. Kids of all ages will enjoy Zaharakos, where you can get an ice cream soda; be aware that the real treat is seeing the mahogany backbar and 1908 orchestrion that still plays music. Dating from 1900, the store is something you definitely want to see if you put Columbus on your itinerary.
A smidge under two hours from Louisville is Berea, where you can hike the Pinnacles, considered by some to be some of the best hiking in the state (and not as crowded as the Red River Gorge area). After working up an appetite, you can sit down for a spell at the historic Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant. Those who love to shop will find plenty to satisfy them at the Artisan Village – pottery, fabrics, woodworking and woven goods.
