McCormick's Creek State Park - Spencer, Indiana

Saturday we made a day trip to McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana to celebrate my son's fifth birthday. The drive took about 1 hour, 15 minutes from the northeast side of Indianapolis, most of it on I-70.

We got to the park around 12:30 and headed to the Nature Center for our first stop. Unfortunately, most of the exhibit area was closed for renovations that will last until the fall, but there were a few exhibits out, including a couple of snakes. We also watched a couple of kid-friendly videos about owls, chipmunks, mice and ants.

At 1:30, a park ranger met us for a guided hike off the beaten path to an overlook of the falls. The theme of the hike was geology and how erosion was working in the park. The ranger kept it interesting even for the kids, with some smooth rock to touch and stopping at some sink holes to let us see for ourselves the effects of erosion under the ground.

As the hike continued, the most interesting thing we saw was the variety of mushrooms growing in various places. I had no idea that there were blue mushrooms, but we saw blue, red and yellow mushrooms in addition to the standard brown.

After the hike, we drove around to the other side of the creek to the official overlook of the falls. There's also a staircase that leads down to the creek. We ventured down and enjoyed wading in the cool, knee-deep water. Quite a few teens and young adults hiked the 100 yards to the falls and were able to stand beneath and behind them as they cascaded down. We walked 30 yards in the other direction where there were no other people so the kids could throw rocks - a favorite pasttime of everyone who has ever been a kid.

Next we headed over to one of the park's 10 shelters and picnic areas for a cookout. There was a playground nearby, so the kids played while we got everything set up. Nothing like hot dogs, really juicy watermelon and some smores to put a smile on everyone's face.

We capped our day with a 45-minute hayride ($4 per person) around the park and through the packed campground.

Our one-day stay allowed us to do a lot, but a weekend camping trip would certainly be merited to McCormick's Creek State Park. There are a total of 10 trails of varying difficulty over the 1,900 acres. Non-campers can find hospitality in the Canyon Inn or one of several family cabins.

There's also a pool and tennis courts.

Wolf Cave, on the northern end of the property, is temporarily closed - as are all caves in Indiana, due to a fungus that is killing bats. We'll have to go back and explore that another time.