Entering The Falls of the Ohio River

One of the great things about commuting by bike is you get a chance to see things you overlook or take for granted while driving. Like a lot of you I live in a city (Louisville, KY.) which has so much to offer if you just slow down and look.

One of my bicycle commute routes to and from work takes me past some of the most historical places in Louisville, KY. Just before the end of my bike to work along the river is the Falls of the Ohio River. This archeological gem is the home to fossil beds dating back almost 400 million years. It is among the largest, naturally exposed fossil beds in the world. In layman's terms, I have Jurassic Park in my back yard. Or to be more accurate "The Devonian Park" The Devonian period was many,many, many years before the Jurassic Period. It was a time when the first seed bearing plants came into existence; along with the first amphibians.

The "Falls' presented a navigational night mare for transportation and goods moving along the Ohio River from the east to the west and down the Mississippi. Due to a rock reef extending across the river and forming rapids; goods had to be off loaded west of downtown Louisville at Portland and taken east above the Falls of the Ohio to be re-loaded and taken to areas north and east of Louisville and vice-verse. The Falls of the Ohio River is also the site where in October 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark met to start their excursion to the northwest. These two men planned, recruited individuals and started their expedition from what is known as Mill Creek. Captains Lewis and Clark and their entourage traveled down the Ohio River then up the mighty Mississippi then west on the Missouri River to the northwest.

Located just west of what is now downtown Louisville, the Ohio River drops 26 feet over a two and half mile stretch at the falls. These are the only natural falls of the entire 981 miles of the rivers length. Most of the Falls and fossils beds are flooded behind the McApline Dam and Locks. This is what the falls looks like when river levels are high.

Photo courtesy of Albertus Gorman: https://artistatexit0.wordpress.com/

Click Here for more high water video at "Falls of the Ohio"

A huge difference than when the river levels are low in the fall.

When one talks, writes or speaks about The Falls of the Ohio River, you must include a notation about the locks and dam which was constructed in order for goods and transportation to circumvent the rapids and the Falls of the Ohio River. Although these falls below do not look like much, let's say Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls, still it is a drop of up to 26 feet. Try taking a flatboat, keel-boat, steamboat or raft over these obstacles and expect them to stay intact.

In 1830 the first dam, canal and locks were constructed around The Falls. Over the course of those years there have been several improvements on the original Louisville and Portland Canal. Most recent from 1996 to 2009, a 1200 foot lock was built and a new bridge over the locks was built which replaced the old roadway span which would raise when boats were entering or leaving the locks.

For over 200 years The Falls has been an area of study for scientist and historians. Almost 600 species of fossils, corals and other creatures have been identified in the remains of the fossils beads exposed below the dam.