Rose Island

Photo by: Tim Bindner

Marcie told me she might join me for a hike this morning. I hoped she would, and honestly was surprised when she got up at 7:00 am on a Sunday morning. Marcie likes to sleep in, especially on Sundays. As I write this, she is currently in bed taking a nap.

Today’s destination is Charlestown State Park, and the trail is the Rose Island Trail Loop. Marcie has never been there, but Mark and I have. I was excited to show Marcie this location.

You can read a bit more about Rose Island here, but I will prove a few facts before I describe our outing.

In the early 1920s David Rose bought the location, added a swimming pool, cabins, a zoo and an amusement park. He spent a quarter of a million dollars on the construction. The park was over 100 acres. Access to the park was mainly done via a steamboat called Idlewild (later named the Belle of Louisville).

What is left today is only a few columns, foundations, the pool (filled in with gravel) and may signs explaining the location. There are also markers showing the water level of the 1937 flood throughout the area. Sometimes the level was up to my chin, other parts up to my knees, and in one section I would have been under water by 15 feet.

We met Mark in the parking lot, grabbed our gear (camera, water bottles, backpack, and gloves for Marcie and Mark) then headed for the paved path down to Rose Island. The sign told us we were about to descend from 300 feet to 120 feet above sea level in about ½ mile.

At 43 degrees, the surrounding woods and the nearby Ohio River provided us with a misty, humid backdrop. It was not long before we reached the bridge that allowed us to cross 14 mile creek. Once we crossed the creek were officially on Rose Island. We took a moment to read the sign, providing some history of the place I mentioned above. Then we continued along the gravel path toward the Ohio River.

We saw where the cabins, hotel, and other various buildings used to be. Each place had a sign marking what was there, a bit of history and the 1937 flood line marking.

Soon we had made a loop and reached the pool. Mark mentioned that he heard this was the “largest filtered pool east of the Mississippi at the time”. The ways were still intact, but the pool had been filled in with gravel. We read about renting swimsuits to which Mark responded, “Can you imagine renting a suit that others have worm?”

As we completed the loop and made our way back to the bridge, we heard a noise to the left of us. Suddenly, a young deer darted out right in front of us, scurried to the left, ran a few feet away from us, then jumped back into the woods.

We crossed the bridge, and I saw a man fishing 50 feet below us. I took his picture, then we moved along. Instead of taking the steep paved path back, we headed into the woods and take a more natural route.

The sunbeams danced throughout the woods as the slightly changing leaves provided distractions to the green forest we were traversing. We had moments of talking, took slight breaks, and all three of us took pictures. Mark put it all in perspective when he said as we were walking “the woods and nature always provide the cure for a bad day.”

Eventually, we completed our 3.16 mile trek and returned to the car. We all had a great time (other than Marcie getting a migraine on the trail). She didn’t let us know until we were in the car. She told me “she was able to walk it off.”

We said our goodbyes, Mark headed home, and we went to McAlister’s for lunch. For a few hours, we disconnected from the world and enjoyed nature. It has been a great day and wonderful weekend. Perfect weather (for me), hanging out with two of my favorite people and doing things I love (hiking and photography). This was a little slice of heaven for me. “We’re constantly shown the ‘real world’ on our screens but we come face to face with the real world out on the trail.”–Author Unknown.

Until next time,

Tim (Kilmer)