Climate
Located in Southern Indiana summers are hot and steamy, when winters are moderate. Spring and Fall are pleasant times.
Flora and fauna
Birding is very popular in the park featuring observations of species such as: scarlet tanager, osprey, bluebirds, black vultures and bald eagles.
Wildflowers and heavy woodlands fill the area.
Landscape
Fourteenmile Creek is the main attraction of the park, with elevational changes of over 200 feet. Devonian fossils litter the park and the area is made up heavily of karst sinkholes. The unique topography of the landscape offers rugged hiking options.
History
The creek valley at Charlestown is one of the oldest unglaciated streams in the state. Even though the stream was this way, melting water from northern glaciers helped shaped the streams deep valley's. The trip down Fourteenmile Creek shows the effects of the Ohio River on it and how it is the same elevation as the Ohio due to dams and locks along the Ohio. When the Ohio rises, Fourteenmile seems to be 'reversing' in its flow due to the water backing up.
The park was used as the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant for 50 years, ending in 1995. The park used to also have a turn of the century amusement park called Rose Island.