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In 1916 a group of area businessmen began to consider whether a state park in the county was possible. State parks had already been established in 1916 - McCormick's Creek State Park and Turkey Run State Park. Three areas were examined: Cedar Cliff, Clifty Falls and Cragmont. By 1920, the Clifty site, on Madison's west side, was chosen and various elements of the county and local community contributed to the funding for the new park.
The park’s name comes from the waterfalls found on Big Cifty Creek and its tributaries. Clifty Falls State Park has natural and cultural history, a landscape, and trails that make their way through it all. The hiking over its 10 trails is good year-round, but many trails are rugged.
The history of the Park pre-dates the Park (Todd House, landscape use by settlers, Brough's Folly, trestle bridges) as well as being a part of the Park's timeline (Clifty Inn, CCC era, Madison State Hospital additions). Some vestiges of this history remain in the Park and can be seen today.
A bit of the history is seen in the DNR video that follows.
The Todd House
The Todd House, built in the 1830s by John Todd, was located near the southern entrance to Clifty Falls. It was part of the Underground Railroad. The house was torn down in 1909. There are no known vestiges. The land where the Clifty Inn now stands was once part of the Todd family holdings and, it is reported, the Todd family cemetery was at the top of the hill.
The Todd House (image from Indiana State Parks Facebook post).
Quarry, Mill Pond, and Pump House
An 1800's grist mill was located above the main falls on Big Clifty Creek near the mill pond. It is reported that parts of the mill race were present when the park was dedicated. The vestiges remaining are the quarry and the mill pond. The mill pond is also associated with the CCC-era pump house.
CCC-era pump house along the upper end of Big Clifty Creek, seen from Trail 8.
Brough’s Folly
Brough’s Folly was to be a railroad connecting the town along the Ohio River to the hilltop on its way to north. It was the work of John Brough (pronounced “bruff”), who purchased the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad from the State of Indiana in the 1850s. The deal with the State required Brough to create a route from the river to the hilltop. The project began its route through what would become the park, but was unsuccessful - therefore the "Folly". Several structures from that attempt are still visible in the park today: the tunnel, railroad grades, various stone retaining walls and trestle abutments.
View to railway bridge abutments on Trail 5.
The Clifty "Inns"
The Clifty Inn was always a major feature of the park. The first "Inn" was a modified Todd-family stone farmhouse, now lost to history. The Inn and the south entrance to the Park have an interesting and complicated history all their own.
Explore more about the history of Clifty Inn and the south end of the Park.
Image of original Clifty Inn from vintage postcard. The first 'inn", more a roadhouse, to the left.
Civilian Conservation Corps
Many Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) men from three companies were stationed at Clifty Falls between 1933 and 1938. CCC construction remaining at Clifty Falls includes shelter houses such as Clifty Shelter, a pump house (along Big Clifty Creek across from Trail 8), gatehouses at both entrances, and the stone arch bridges over Dean's Branch and Little Clifty Creek.
CCC-era water fountain, on of three remaining (none functional).
Park Expansion
The original park was confined to the canyon and ridgetops, then rapidly expanded in size to include more upland area to the east.
Cement fence posts remaining from the border between the Park and the Madison State Hospital.
Trestle Bridges
The bridges in the park have changed over the years. Trestle bridges, now replaced, were used in at least two locations and vestiges remain.
Trestle bridge over Dean's Branch (just upstream of Tunnel Falls). Image from Jefferson County Historical Society).
Memorials
Various memorials and plaques can be found in the park. While not usually the highlight of visits to the park, they are part of the history of the park and serve as reminders of the past and can help us look to the future.
The Guthrie Memorial at the south gate.
Among the resources used for this section were: "Clifty Falls State Park Interpretive Master Plan 2019" (Indiana DNR 2019), "The Geological Story of Clifty Falls State Park" (Indiana Geological and Water Survey), and "History and Geology of Madison, Indiana, and Clifty Falls State Park" (Kentucky Geological Survey, Series XIII, Guidebook 1, 2017).
Indiana DNR has many useful publications on the nature and history of Clifty Falls - and other DNR properties.
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