River Pleasures Along the Wabash

Nowhere along the course of the Wabash River through the Hoosier State have nature and humanity left a richer legacy of beauty and history than in the rugged hills and peaceful countryside less than an hour west of Indian-apolis. This lazy, brown stream once raged with an icy torrent from retreating glaciers. In its wake, a fertile valley spread across the rural landscape.

Your 225-mile tour takes travelers through gracious communities such as Attica and Covington, which sprang up along the river. Restored 19th-century buildings, where you can shop for antiques and crafts, proudly line their main streets and encircle courthouse squares.

Gently rolling farmland that surrounds the towns gives way to rugged woodlands at Turkey Run State Park and its neighboring preserve, Shades State Park. Ferns as soft as feathers line trails along steep sandstone ravines. During the summer, canoers view the panorama from Sugar Creek, a Wabash tributary that runs through the parks.

Some 30 covered bridges dating to the 1850s span tributaries of the Wa-bash River in Parke County (50 miles west of Indianapolis). Though many of the structures no longer are open to traffic, they're maintained as gracious reminders of simpler times. It's no wonder the county proclaims itself "covered bridge capital of the world."

After you spend a day or two roaming the region, you'll understand why it compelled Hoosier songwriter Paul Dresser to dream of moonlight on the Wabash and long for his Indiana home.

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