Indiana's newest state parks.

• Author: Keaton, Joanne

Featuring fossils, fish and fowl

It may be the biggest and best combination of old and new around. Falls of the Ohio in Clarksville is the 20th and newest park operated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. But the latest state park has 350-million-year-old fossil beds, the largest exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world.

Don't confuse the "Falls" in the park's name with waterfalls. There are cascading rapids--or cataract falls--that lead to a 26-foot drop in the Ohio River's elevation in just 2 1/2 miles. At the falls are 125 species of fish. Bird species run even higher--265--and include peregrine falcons, egrets, herons and osprey. It's "a living river eco-system," says park naturalist Bette Anderson.

We could go on about the long-ago ocean in Southern Indiana's Clark County, but there's a better way to learn the area's history. The 16,000-square-foot Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center overlooks the coral reef. In about an hour, through a film and exhibits, visitors can learn how the outdoor wonders came to be.

Eight miles northeast of New Castle is Summit Lake State Park. Opened in 1988, it's a relative newcomer to the park system. "Fishing has put it on the map," says Dan Robinson, assistant property manager. That's not just a warm-weather sport at the park--ice fishing is big, too. Fish include bluegill, sunfish, crappies, large-mouth bass and channel cats.

With its camping, swimming and bicycling, Summit Lake is a traditional park. In the next several years, park personnel will re-establish the prairie there, encouraging even more wildlife. Already there are more than 200 species of birds. Blue heron rookeries lead to spottings of herons in flocks of 20 to 60.

A not-yet-named new state park, scheduled for a fall 1995 opening, is near Charlestown in Clark County. Already the...