Owensboro to Cave-in-Rock

Smothers Park (formerly Riverfront Park) was established in 1816 as the first park in Owensboro. Its Lazy Dayz Playground has been named the top playground in the world (2015) by Landscape Architect’s Network.

The park features three signature fountains with a show every 15 minutes and a cascading waterfall. You will also find a spray park, concession stand, restroom, and picnic area.

Angel Mounds State Historic Site is part of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, an agency of the State of Indiana. The site contains a museum and visitors center that details the work done by archaeologists and what that tells us about the life ways of the people who lived there. A hiking trail guides you around the village site to highlights, with markers discussing certain points along the trail. A reconstructed WPA laboratory is also on the site where field schoolwork is done and explained to the visitor when an active excavation is going on.

The Evansville Museum is the permanent home for Pablo Picasso’s ‘Seated Woman in Red Hat’ in the recently renovated Koch Foundation Gallery. You will also find fine art exhibits, the Gothic Room, and the Transportation Center. Their Koch Immersive Theater & Planetarium is a must see when in Evansville!

The Audubon Museum & Nature Center displays Audubon’s life through personal memorabilia and his art. Over 200 objects are on display, including artifacts from Audubon’s Kentucky years, a complete set of his masterwork, Birds of America, and many original artworks.

In the first week of November 1803, the expedition passed Uniontown, Kentucky. One week ahead of the expedition, fellow river traveler Thomas Rodney praised the hunting, lamented the poor fishing, and thought its harbor excellent:

“[G]ot to the settlement where we found the best and nicest harbor we have met with in the Ohio. Two muscle bars of sand and pebbles crossed a small part of the cove of the river with a gap to go in and 6 ft. water over the bason inclosed by them.”
—Thomas Rodney October 28, 1803

Rodney’s “muscle bars” still shelter today’s boat ramp and a fishing pier. Hannah’s Place is the social life of the town, and the She Shed Bakery specializes in decorated cookies.

If you want to see more of rural Kentucky and the Ohio River:

• Leave Uniontown on HW 360 and soon after, go west on HW 871.
• At the next T-intersection, go west onto HW 667.
• When you reach HW 56, turn onto it and take the bridge to Old Shawneetown, Illinois.

In Old Shawneetown, the visitor will find Lewis and Clark interpretation, the John Marshall House Museum (a modern reconstruction), Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site, Old Shawneetown Village Hall, and the Historical Texaco Service Station, all within walking distance.

In early November 1803, the Lewis and Clark flotilla passed a unique 55-foot-wide cave in the high limestone bluffs above the Ohio River. In 1797, Samuel Mason converted the cavern into a tavern he called Cave-in-Rock, but beware to anybody stopping here:

“From this apparently innocent and inviting position, Mason would dispatch his cohorts upriver to befriend unwary and bewildered travelers with offers of help and guidance. As they neared the cave, these henchmen would disable their boats or force them toward the yawning hollow, where the hapless pilgrims would be robbed, or worse. Few victims lived to tell their story.”

On their way down the Ohio, no doubt Lewis, Clark, and their crew heard that two Mason Gang members recently escaped from imprisonment and Governor Claiborne offered a $1,000 reward for their return—dead or alive.

Today, Cave-in-Rock State Park offers sweeping access not only to the cave, but to the heavily wooded bluffs above it. The park contains 34 Class A campsites and 25 Class B/S tent sites. The Cave-in-Rock Restaurant and Lodge features southern-style cooking and eight suites with deluxe baths, dining areas, and private patio decks overlooking the Ohio River.

The park is a great place to picnic with three playground areas, shaded picnic shelters, and four large shelters available for group rentals. Several hiking trails wind through the forests and provide expansive views of the river—the same views used by Ohio River pirates of the past.