Oh my water !!! I’m an Aquarius, which is the sign of the water bearer. Needless to say water is my thing. Whether it’s a lake or an ocean, a puddle or a river, I love water. Sometime in the winter, I stumbled upon an article that had a link to all of the waterfalls in Indiana. I’m not sure how I missed it, having lived here my entire 30plus years, but Indy has some really impressive overflows of water. Cataract Falls, the biggest water(?) is at the top of that list and was the one I put my finger on and said as soon as it warms up outside, I need to be there!!! Well we made it and oh emm gee how incredible it was !!! There are trails all over the place. The park was easy to find and there is decent parking space. We went on a Sunday. It usually costs between 7 – 9 bucks per car/truck to get in but since the office is closed on Sundays, it was free ! Perfect start! There is a covered bridge that you can cross to get to the right side of the river. I’m not sure what river this is, but there’s a lot of it. The waterfall is beautiful ! We immediately climbed down to get as close to it as possible after seeing other people nearby do the same thing. Once we were down by the fall, we took pictures and stared into space but the hiking adventure set sail ! See, this is one of those waterfalls that you can stand behind if you find the right trail to take you there. The water stretches for miles and I believe we could walked forever and seen this beautiful stream as it calmed the further we went, but we had our heart set on sharing a kiss behind this Fall. And so we crossed the covered bridge, which I’ve never done before, and began our trek through the woods to find a way to the falls. About an hour(or easily 40 mins) later, after climbing up and then all the way down, we found out !!! ! There were people already there, people behind us and people across from us on the other side of the river. It was marvelous ! Like some type of best kept secret in Cataract, Indiana ! The waterfall was loud, beautiful and misted us just enough to give us a cool down(it was HOT). Now, despite getting a tid bit lost on the way back, we were able to find ourselves back to our starting point after conquering the waterfall(we didn’t chase it… we hunted it. TLC would be proud). We had a blast. I love how you can sit in many different areas close to the water and even stick your feet in if that’s your thing(not me). It’s a great area for family, for reading, exercising and exploring. I will absolutely be back. I feel there is more left to conquer. And who wouldn’t want to frequent a waterfall they can literally stand behind and share a kiss !!!
Kris W.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Cloverdale, IN
Great place in Indiana. Best time of year is in the fall with all the colors or in the winter when it becomes Indiana’s largest«frozen waterfall». Our two boys(8&9) love it. We go multiple times a month and never get bored. We live about 1 ½ away so we get to see it throughout the seasons.
Don S.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 New Palestine, IN
Well worth the drive to see one of Indiana’s greatest show natural attractions. I go every year.
Stephen T.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Indianapolis, IN
Pretty damn sweet and mostly undiscovered. I know people who live down the road in Bloomington and Spencer who complain about the lack of scenery in Indiana but have never even heard of Cataract Falls, so I refuse to take these people seriously. One of the best parks in Indiana if you ask me. I’m glad it’s not swarming with tourists. Best time to visit is after a big thunderstorm or during the spring snow melts. Mill Creek seems like a tiny creek upstream and downstream, but I’ve seen it as a raging torrent, and the falls so loud you can barely hear. Not much to see if it hasn’t rained in a while, but the park is always nice. There are actually three waterfalls here. The one by the parking lot where you come in is where most people stop. The Lower Falls are deeper in the park and have a really great sunset view of an open valley stretching downstream toward Lieber State Park. Little Sister Falls is normally dry, but a great area to hike around in the springtime(the area gets extremely overgrown during the summer.) There’s also a covered bridge and the ruins of an old mill that sat right next to the Upper Falls. The view from the observation area up by the parking lot is all right, but your best bet is to jump the fence and walk down to the base of the falls. It’s a little dangerous and slippery, but well worth it if you’re cautious. And I’ve never, ever seen any park officials around.(The entrance station was unmanned every time I’ve been in the park.) I’ve walked back into the ledge underneath the falls when there wasn’t a ton of water coming over the top, and it’s a hell of a site. I think there’s a few camping sites here, but if you’re ever biking through, the place is pretty remote. Easy to gorilla camp out in the woods. Really cool pine forests in the park, too. Not your typical southern Indiana forest. Feels like something farther north. It’s not Yosemite Falls, but I’ve had some truly beautiful evenings here and think Cataract Falls is one of the greatest parks in this underrated state. Don’t worry about it being crowded, not even in the peak fall tourist season. No fancy amenities, no concessions, no problem. A couple of basic latrines. Pack a snack.
Yvonne M.
Évaluation du lieu : 3 Bloomington, IN
Largest waterfall in Indiana. No big deal here. You can skip this place.
Ethan H.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 Crawfordsville, IN
I’m not sure how good the directions on the website are.(In fact, the non-helpful website is the reason I give it only 4 stars.) But there’s another website that might give even better information: In the meantime, the falls are spectacular! There’s easy car-access to all the sites of interest, in case you’re older or have kids in tow. But you can also hike it. The woods are beautiful.
