Hiking Trail One at Versailles State Park © 2006

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Trail One

2.25 miles
Moderate
Hiking Trail One at Versailles State Park has a number of access points. It can be accessed from the cul-de-sac at the end of the Old Fire Tower Road. It can also be accessed from the picnic area on the right of the main park road which goes back towards the campground. Our favorite place to enter the trail is at Oak Grove Shelter, just past the campground entrance.

The trailhead here is on the south end of the Oak Grove Shelter parking area. You can just head for the electric pole at the end of the lot. A short distance, maybe twenty feet, and you are on the trail. Right or left, the trail is a loop so it doesn’t make much difference. We usually turn right - there is a rather impressive set of stairs in that direction that we would rather walk down than up.

If you go right, the trail passes closely to Oak Grove Shelter, a popular spot on weekends for family reunions and other gatherings. Go left, down the hill at the old stone water fountain. The steps are wood, and are rather steep. You cross a stream over a wooden bridge and go across the road. The entrance to the trail is directly across the road. On the left is a periwinkle covered hill which blooms nicely in April and May.

At this point you cross another bridge and ascend a rather steep slope, climbing the hill. Once at the top, the trail levels off mostly and is an easy walk. In the early spring and autumn the trail affords a nice view of Laughery Creek. At one point you can see Versailles Lake off to the right. In April and May, the forest around the trail is blanketed with early spring wildflowers.

On the southern portion, the covered bridge across Laughery is visible in spring and fall. Once the trail starts back towards Oak Grove, you will be hiking fairly close to the Old Fire Tower Road. Notice at different areas in the forest some rather large sinkholes. These are formed when water peculating through the ground dissolves the limestone bedrock which under lays this part of Indiana. The soil above the cavity gradually caves in, forming these sinkholes. This is a common landscape feature in Hoosier forests in this in the southern part of the state.

On this return trip near the end of this portion of the trail you will cross a rocky stream over a wooden bridge. If it has been raining, off to the right is a rather pretty waterfall. Once you pass this, the trail ascends slightly, and then descends towards the road, which you must cross again. The trail is almost directly across the road. It climbs somewhat, as it works its way back to the parking lot, and you are back where you started.

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