With so many exciting, family-friendly adventures awaiting you in Southern Indiana, plan your visit now before summer slips away. We’ve highlighted several attractions, sure to give an enthusiastic answer to “what did you do on your summer vacation?”
Family Adventures
The Thunderbird steel roller coaster soars and loops high in the air, then drops to the ground, narrowly speeding past a multitude of “near misses”.
The Mammoth water coaster climbs seven stories and covers more than three acres. Riders beware! What goes up, must come down!
See why Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana wins awards for excellence time and time again.Trip Advisor has recognized them so many times, they are now in the Trip Advisor Hall of Fame. USA Today named Spashin’ Safari the number one waterpark in the nation. Time Magazine named The Voyager the number one wooden roller coaster in the world. The awards list is long, but we invite you to experience the parks for yourself.
Here are a couple of items to keep in mind when you visit. Santa Claus, Indiana is on Central Time. You should consider staying for more than one day so you’ll have the time to see and experience everything the area offers.
A family-owned business, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari is genuinely committed to your family’s safety, comfort, and treasured memory-making. The free parking, free-soft drinks, and free sunscreen is just the beginning of making you and your family feel “taken care of”. The park is clean and well-maintained. With access to two world-class parks for one price, you’ll appreciate the value, while your family will be excited about the thrills. Bring your daredevil and faint-of-heart. There is something exhilarating for everyone.
Big Splash Adventure is all indoors and offers all types of splashing good times.
Big Splash Adventure in French Lick is an indoor waterpark impervious to seasons, weather, or sunburns. Recognized for its innovative and environmentally friendly design, the water park is enclosed in a beautiful, glass structure making it a year-round destination. With an attached hotel and other world-class hotels nearby, families can include other attractions during their visit, such as Wilstem Wildlife Park. This one-of-a-kind animal experience provides safari-type drive through and close encounter visits with their four-legged residents. When we say close encounters, we mean giving elephants a bath and a pedicure, or coming face-to-face with a giraffe named Bert, hand-feeding him carrots. This isn’t a walk-and-see zoo. It is a hands-on, hooves-on, paws-on animal rendezvous you’ll never forget.
The Koch Family Children’s Museum in Evansville is devoted to education and discovery.
Burdette Park in Evansville is so much more than what you would expect from a park. As part of the huge aquatic center, the long water slides wind down shady-lined hills. A large kiddie area for toddlers is the perfect place for the little ones to splash and play. Trails, tennis, and fishing will keep the fun going, even when you are not in the massive pool. Onsite camping and chalets let you stay and play for days. While you are in Evansville, visit the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden, which is home to over 700 animals. When at the zoo, be sure to walk through the Amazonia and experience a South American Rainforest. Another family fun experience closeby is the cMoe-Koch Family Children’s Museum of Evansville with three floors and 20,000 sq. feet of exhibits designed to inspire play-based learning. From crustaceans to construction, and from climbing to creating, this museum offers a day full of learning disguised as fun.
Family Discoveries
IndianaCaverns – HarrisonCo.Indiana. Most of the caves and caverns in Indiana have been formed by underground rivers.
Southern Indiana’s topography is hilly and scenic. Yet, underground is a series of caverns and caves to explore. Listed here are several within short driving distance of one-another. Get your Indiana Cave Trail passport and follow their trail, or create a cave trail of your own. Either way, explore them all!
Bluespring Caverns can be explored on foot or in a boat. Or, both!
Bluespring Caverns Park in Bedford is 100 feet below the earth’s surface. Here, underground rivers are navigated with tour-guided boats to discover Northern blind cave fish and blind crawfish.
In Mitchell, the Twin Caves at The Spring Mill State Park also offers an underground boat tour. However, at this park, there are several caves to explore. The Bronson, Donaldson, Hamer, and Twin caves are all open to search for cave creatures and formations.
In Corydon, Indiana Caverns tours include a variety of passage heights and depths under the earth. In these caverns, you will see a waterfall, rock and mineral formations, and ice age bones (hint: sabertooth tiger). Like Blue Spring Caverns Park, Indiana Caverns also offers an underground boat tour.
At the Squire Boone Caverns, you’ll see these dramatic stalactites and stalagmites.
Squire Boone Caverns & Village in Mauckport offers a one hour guided walking tour through their cavern. Combined with your underground experience, a pioneer village featuring soap making, candle dipping, gemstone mining, and candy factory is all premises.
Bring your little explorers and visit them all. You’ll find it especially refreshing during hot summer days because it is a cool 50 degrees year-round in the caves and caverns of Down Home Southern Indiana.
Southern Indiana holds many thrills, adventures, and discoveries for your family. Plan your trip now and make this a phenomenal summer of memories and milestones.
