Along with all the usual activities such as camping, hiking, and swimming this park also has an interesting little museum honoring Gus Grissom. Displays include his space suit and an actual Gemini space capsule that he flew in. He was killed, along with two other astronauts, when a fire broke out in an Apollo capsule during testing.
The park also has a wonderful stone grist mill that was the center piece of a 1860s industrial village. Visitors are treated to demonstrations of the workings of the mill when water is allowed to flow over the huge outside wheel which turns all of the gears and the grinding stone inside. About twenty reconstructed log buildings, some with interpreters demonstrating crafts, make up the rest of the village.
The Grissom Museum is all accessible. The mill village is semi-accessible. The pathways are paved and easy to roll along. The first floor of the mill is accessed by a ramp. This is where all of the main gears and grinding stone are located. Additional floors with artifacts and exhibits are accessed by steep, long staircases. Of all the other buildings, only one has an accessible entrance.Very little information is posted anywhere in the village but the interpreters are very knowledgeable.
Besides these attractions there’s a cave boat tour which may not be operating now because of a fungus that is a threat to the bats. We didn’t check the accessibility of the tour or of the campground. Entrance to the museum and the village are free with a park day pass. The cave tour is a few dollars more.
The parking lots at the museum and village are large enough for RVs. Park
38.73684, -86.42193
I have always been partial to cave tours, ever since I did the big Oregon Caves tour at the National monument south west of Grants Pass :)
ReplyDelete