Ohio River Scenic Byway – IN

Story of the Byway

The route begins in Aurora, Indiana. Here visitors can visit the Hillforest Victorian House Museum, an Italianate-style mansion built in 1855 that overlooks the Ohio River. A National Historic Landmark is open for tours from April to December. Nature lovers will enjoy the Red Wolf Sanctuary, which preserves North American wildlife through environmental education and rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife. The weekend before Labor Day, visitors can partake in the Swiss Wine Festival, a celebration of Switzerland County’s cultural heritage in Vevay. Otherwise, visitors to Vevay can explore the Historic Hoosier Theatre, which is located in an 1837 building and offers live music and plays for an intimate theater experience, or the Switzerland County Historical Museum. Engineering lovers will enjoy visiting the Schroeder Saddletree Factory Museum, America’s only restored 19th century saddletree factory, where visitors can see antique powered machines spin into action.

Continuing west, visitors can discover southern Indiana’s Precambrian and Paleozoic history at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Here, visitors can explore the world-renown fossil beds with fossils that date back 390 million years that remain from when southern Indiana had been covered by a saltwater sea. The interpretive center features redesigned interactive exhibits on geology, archaeology, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and ecology alongside a full-sized mammoth skeleton. Cave lovers will enjoy a stop at the Indiana Caverns in Corydon, which includes Indiana’s longest cave, ice age bones, and a walking tour with a boat ride. Those hoping to explore southern Indiana’s present offerings will love exploring the Ohio River as they pass through Crawford County. Here, visitors will have access to public access ramps near Leavenworth and Alton to enjoy boating, fishing, and waterskiing.

The route continues through Cannelton, Tell City, Troy, and Rockport. In Cannelton, visitors should be sure to check out the Cannelton Cotton Mill, built in 1849. The mill is one of the most impressive pre-Civil War mills in the Midwest and operated for over 100 years, producing military uniforms during the Civil War and both World Wars. Outdoor lovers will enjoy a stop to the Eagles Bluff Park, a scenic spot that overlooks the Cannelton Locks and Dam and offers hiking trails and picnic areas. As visitors drive through Tell City, they should try to spot the William Tell Statue, for whom the city is named, in front of the City Hall.

As the route continues west, visitors should make a stop in Historic Downtown Newburgh. The historic town offers antique shops, quaint dining establishments, and walking trails around the river, which invites visitors to relax after a day of driving along the byway. As visitors drive through Evansville, they can’t miss visiting the rich historical sites such as the LST 325, the only operational World War II landing ship in existence, Willard Library, a 1885 library featuring both an extensive genealogy collection and the famous “Grey Lady” ghost, and the Angel Mounds State Historic Site, which tells the story of the Middle Mississippian culture that inhabited this Native American site from 1000 to 1450 AD. Sports lovers should make a stop at Basse Field, the third oldest operation park in the country in Evansville before continuing to the end of the byway in Indiana in Mt. Vernon.