Edited, updated, and partially written by Kevin Strunk, MS, LPG, NSS 16267

Many portions of the text and road log were taken from previously published papers and field trips written and/or organized by: Blatchely, Malott, Powell, Bassett, Armstrong, Art and Peggy Palmer, Hobbs, Moore, Krothe, Deebel, Johnson, and many others. We wish to thank them for their previous work and their interest in, and dedication to Indiana speleology. Between the stops are many points of interest which are visible from the road along the tour route. Some are mentioned in the guidebook to enhance the participants' appreciation of the classic Indiana Karst.

Summary of the Major Stops on the Field Trip

Stop 1: The Crawford County Fairgrounds is on top of the Crawford Upland, a loess and sandstone-capped, dissected plateau and regional erosional feature with up to 500 feet of local relief. Wyandotte and other large caves are within this area. Within the Crawford Upland, the limestones exposed in the Mitchell Plain to the east, are protected by a veneer of Mississippian-aged interbedded sandstone and shales of the Chester Group, resulting in the picturesque upland topography. The eastern edge of the Upland is the Chester Escarpment, the prominent erosion, structural and topographical transition with the carbonate floored, and heavily karsted Mitchell Plain. Classic karst features are associated with subsurface drainage of the sinkhole plain and the uplands under the control of massive regional down cutting of the base level Blue River and Ohio River. The Upland also has sandstone-capped and dominated erosional “buttes” and many sandstone shelter caves.

Travel to Stop 2: We will go south on SR 66 and travel past Pilot Knob, an erosional remnant and topographical feature sitting up on top of the Upland that is capped by likely the eastern-most outcrop of the lower-most Pennsylvanian-aged strata, the Mansfield Sandstone.

Stop 2: Tower Quarry has excellent exposures of the lower Chester Series sandstones and limestones and the main cave bearing units, the Ste. Genevieve limestone and other Blue River Group rocks. We will see an approximately 150 foot tall highwall in a brief stop which will begin our exploration of the Indiana stratigraphic column from the Chester Series in the west to Silurian limestones in the east. This will also show the rocks are at the Uplands surface locally.

Travel to Stop 3: We will travel east on scenic SR 62 to Leavenworth and then along the Ohio River scenic overlook at Horseshoe Bend, and then cross and pass through the heavily karsted and deeply dissected Blue River valley on the way to Wyandotte Cave

Stop 3: Wyandotte Cave is perhaps Indiana's most famous cave with a combination of history, geology, exploration challenges and management issues making for a unique spot in Indiana speleology. We will visit the historic entrance and also venture into the Washington Avenue entry area.

Travel to Stop 4: We will continue east on scenic SR 62 though the Harrison-Crawford State Forest, portions of which were recently named O'Bannon Woods State Park (after the late beloved Governor Frank O'Bannon (D), a Harrison County native, friend to cavers, cave owner and an active conservationist. We will drive through historic Corydon and past the first capital of Indiana, and north on SR 135, crossing over Interstate 64 up to Quarry Road.

Stop 4: At the Corydon Crushed Stone Company quarry just north of Corydon, we will again see the upper Mississippian limestones of the Blue River Group that overlie older strata to be seen to the east. At the quarry, the Paoli, Ste. Genevieve, and St. Louis Limestones have been quarried for use as crushed stone aggregate. The quarry also has an excellent exposure of rocks above the Ste. Genevieve, including the Aux Vases, the Bethel Shale and some Sample Formation sandstone. The Corydon Crushed stone Quarry is on the extreme eastern edge of the Crawford Upland, and is contained within an outlier of the westward retreating Crawford Upland/Chester escarpment. These outliers are sandstone-capped hills of limestone that have been isolated from the main upland area. Other outliers can be seen sitting out on the Mitchell Plain like islands in a sea of sinkholes. The quarry has an excellent vista overlooking the Crawford Upland to the south and west, the Mitchell Plain as well as the Indian Creek Valley to the near east, with the Norman Upland far off to the far east. While at the quarry, we will discuss the local New Albany shale gas wells. The New Albany is an organic rich shale that is being developed throughout Indiana as a natural gas reservoir. Some wells are located on the quarry property and vicinity.

Travel to stop 5: While traveling east on Interstate 64 from Corydon to our next stop in the greater Louisville metro area, we will pass through the Mitchell plain into the Norman Upland, then down the Knobstone Escarpment into the Ohio River valley and the Scottsburg Lowland, passing through huge road cuts exposing the lower Mississippian strata including the Borden Group as well the mostly Devonian aged New Albany Shale upon which the Knobstone is developed, and Devonian limestones upon which the Lowland is developed at the Falls of the Ohio. We will cross into Kentucky along the Louisville water front to reach the Falls.

Stop 5: The Falls of the Ohio is a premier, globally significant fossil and historical location. It is near here in Clarksville that Lewis and Clark really began their journey, negating the spurious claim of St Louis! Although now tamed, greatly altered and partially obscured by the presence of the McAlpine Lock and Dam operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Falls of the Ohio is in fact a huge outcrop of heavily-fossiliferous Devonian-age reef rocks over which the Ohio River originally cascaded, making for long delays in river traffic prior to the building of the Lock and Dam to allow unrestricted river traffic. Native Americans utilized the area extensively as did the migrating pre-settlement herds of American Bison as the famous and regional scale “Buffalo Trace” crossed the Ohio River at this point. We will visit the Indiana side at the Falls of the Ohio State Park which has excellent access to the outcrop, a wonderful museum and views of the Lock and Dam and downtown Louisville. Sorry, no collecting allowed!

Travel to Stops 6-9: The drive northwest on US 150 up the Knobstone Escarpment and across Norman Upland and the southeastern Mitchell Plain and across the Blue River Basin leads us to the east side of Lost River Karst Basin, which we will traverse from east to west back to the Chester Escarpment, then up into the Crawford Upland, then down into the bowels of the karst at Wesley Chapel Gulf, finally arriving at the Orangeville Rise. This route allows for observation of unique Lost River topography. The Lost River of Indiana has fascinated early explorers, geologists, and cavers for over 200 years. The combination of caves, surface streams, sinking streams, sinkhole plains, swallowholes, storm water rises, and perennial rises are the meager surface evidence of what appears to be one of the world's most complex subterranean drainage networks. We will see the wet bed upstream of the normal dry weather sink(s) and the dry bed at several places. Recent mapping efforts in Lost River Cave have reached over 20 miles, with much more to be mapped in the huge system.

Stop 6: This stop is actually a driving tour as we traverse the eastern portion of the Lost River Basin in the area with only surface drainage apparent. This will allow us to see how the forks of the surficial Lost River have cut down into the older Mitchell Plain surface. We will see the progressive sinking of the Lost River until it gone just east of SR 37 as we drive across the karsted plain, with thick residual soils in the east and a sinkhole plain in the western areas.

Stop 7: This stop is also a driving tour as we drive through the central portion of the Lost River basin west from SR 37 up the Crawford Escarpment on the south side of the Lost River basis to a north-facing overlook, then down the escarpment towards the Tolliver Swallowhole in the sinkhole plain. Tolliver Swallowhole is the major wet weather sink of the Lost River System. During dry weather the water typically sinks east of SR 37, but during flood events the river overflows west of SR 37, then based upon flow volume, progressively sinks first at Stein Swallowhole, then Turner Swallowhole, and then finally at Tolliver Swallowhole if Turner Swallowhole overflows. Tolliver Swallowhole handles all but the largest flood volumes and is a direct entry to the underground Lost River. The above ground Lost River is eroded about 20 feet below the soil-covered surface of the Mitchell Plain, and the incised limestone river floor drops quickly into the swallowhole. Tolliver Swallowhole is a National Natural Landmark. Access is an ongoing issue and we will likely not visit the feature on this tour.

Stop 8: Wesley Chapel (Elrod) Gulf is perhaps the most interesting of the Lost River features. The gulf is actually an eight-acre sinkhole with steep 30 to 100 foot bedrock walls that has collapsed into the underground Lost River. The relatively flat, alluviated floor of the gulf contains a perennial rise pool that disgorges large volumes of water and sediment during floods. The water typically sinks near the pool in dry weather, but during a flood the water flows into an overflow channel that carries the water to numerous swallowholes along the west wall of the gulf. The entire floor of the gulf can be flooded to a depth of several feet if the swallowhole inflow capacity is exceeded. Elrod Cave and Wesley Chapel Gulf Cave are associated with the gulf and are entries to the underground Lost River. While there has been cave with a few miles of explored extent that is part of the huge and vast Lost river plumbing system known for over 100-years, in recent years over 20 miles of Lost River Cave passage have been mapped. The gulf is a National Natural Landmark owned and managed by the Hoosier National Forest.

Stop 9: We will drive west out of the western-most Mitchell Plain towards the Orangeville Rise which is an excellent example of a southern Indiana perennial vertical rise pool and spring that is actually within the Crawford Upland. The Orangeville Rise is not the True Rise of the main Lost River, but rather is the outlet for drainage captured in a sub-basin to the north of the main Lost River Basin. The True Rise of Lost River is a similar, but less accessible, feature located about 0.75 mile south. The Orangeville Rise is a National Natural Landmark long owned by The Nature Conservancy, prior to being transferred to the Indiana Karst Conservancy in 2003.

Stop 10: Travel to Campground from French Lick via Patoka Reservoir, Eckerty and Marengo

This stop is also a driving tour as we drive back to the Campground. We will take the Orangeville Road and SR 145 to the historic gambling towns of West Baden and French Lick then travel south via SR 145 past Patoka Reservoir to Eckerty Junction, and then east on SR 64 to Marengo, and then south on SR 135 to the camp ground just south of Marengo.

We will be passing numerous sandstone and other outcrops of the Stephensport Group strata south along SR 145 past Patoka reservoir, then the lowermost Pennsylvanian-aged sandstones and shales of the Mansfield Formation beginning just north of Eckerty and then east on SR 64 from Eckerty Junction for five or six miles, before passing back through the Chester Series into the Blue River limestone exposed near Marengo. The creek and river bottoms contain alluvial derived from Crawford Upland.