Booking a Field TripOn this page:How do I schedule my group visit?
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| Interpretive Center | Open daily, except Thanksgiving and Christmas |
| Outdoor Programs | May 1 - Mid-November (Group size limit of 90*) |
| Indoor Programs | Mid-November - April 30 (Group size limit of 90) |
| George Rogers Clark Cabin Programs | May 1 – October 31 |
| Picnicking (no indoor facilities) | Recommended between April 1 - October 31 |
| Fossil Beds Exposed | Mid-June - Mid-December (best August - November) |
| Special Events | Check for a current program guide or pick up a program brochure. |
*Teachers will lead some programs when the group capacity exceeds 90.
Group Sizes
Our interpretive naturalist-led programs max out at 30 students per group. Here is how to break up groups for activities.
33 – 61: Two groups
62 -90: Three groups
91 – 120: Four groups
If one class has 18 students and one has 30, it works better for our group activities to have two groups of 24.
When you arrive
Please have the students unload from the circle in front of the Interpretive Center. This saves time and can make the difference between missing and seeing the movie at your assigned movie time. If your bus driver is staying, they should park in the lot behind the Interpretive Center. Groups should exit through the River Observation Room and load the bus from the rear parking lot unless there is inclement weather.
Accessibility
- Mobility impaired: The Interpretive Center is designed to be completely wheelchair accessible. The auditorium accommodates up to eight wheelchairs at one time. A wheelchair ramp links the main parking lot with the top of the fossil beds.
- Hearing impaired: The theater presentation is available with closed caption and audio transmission directly to visitors. Contact us for details.
- Visually impaired: The theater has an audio descriptive channel, which allows visitors to hear descriptions of the visual images on the screen.
Drop-in Policy
What is the policy with "drop in" groups? (Even when I am not scheduling an interpreter-led program…)
Our facilities are limited in size and one large school group will fill the Interpretive Center. We ask that all school groups planning to visit the state park please make a reservation. "Drop-in / unscheduled groups" may not be able to use the primary park fossil beds or enter the Interpretive Center if there are groups already scheduled. We pride ourselves on high quality interpretive programming and “surprise groups” may unintentionally interfere with existing programs as well as overload our small rest rooms and limited picnic grounds. Such groups will be directed to use Ashland Park, 1/2 mile east on Riverside Drive. Remember - make a reservation to visit the fossil beds, Interpretive Center or picnic grounds!
Parking- Chaperon or group vehicle parking: For groups visiting the Interpretive Center: Get your pay-to-park envelope from the dispenser in the back parking lot and put the tear-off portion of the envelope on your dashboard. Give the empty envelope to the receptionist in the lobby.
- Groups and chaperons not using the Interpretive Center: See pay-to-park instructions.
Exhibits and Aquariums
The Interpretive Center contains a unique exhibit gallery which is focused on the 400 million year history of Falls of the Ohio. The gallery features four themes: geology, prehistoric cultures, natural history and modern cultural history. Exhibits begin with the Middle Devonian, when the fossil beds were under a warm, tropical sea. Topics include the ice age, archaeology and native peoples, settlement period, the Lewis and Clark expedition, flora and fauna at the Falls, and the development of technology and industry in the Falls Cities area. Aquariums focus on living coral reefs and Ohio River fish.
Orientation Theater
- A 14 minute award-winning audiovisual program awaits visitors to the Interpretive Center. This wonderful show reviews the content of the exhibit gallery. It features truly unique underwater photography of a "Devonian" coral reef, and traces the history of the Falls to the present day.
- A 22 minute film about the local connection to the Lewis and Clark expedition is also available. "Spirit of the Land" is suitable for grades 4 and up. It can be scheduled with your reservation.
Activity Sheets
Activity sheets for various grade-levels enhance students' learning experience. Develop your own or use ours. They can be downloaded from our Educator Information page. Please make enough copies for each student to have their own. Bring pencils, too!
Outdoor Opportunities
The fossil beds may be explored with an interpretive naturalist (up to 90 students) or on your own. The best dates for guided programs may fill up more than six months in advance, so call ahead. Educators that schedule a program without an interpretive naturalist will be sent a Discovering Fossils brochure which may be downloaded and distributed to students and/or chaperons. Advanced-level fossil brochures are also posted in the Discovery Center on this website. Training with our summer professional development [link] workshops is encouraged.
All interpretive naturalist-led programs have a maximum capacity of 90 students per two hour session.
Geology
K-3 Outdoor Fossil Lab: Provides students with the opportunity to study and investigate the diverse variety of rocks and fossils on the river bank and observe evidence of ancient sea life on the fossil beds.
4th -12th Outdoor Fossil Lab option 1: Is biodiversity new? Students map part of the fossil beds to get a close-up view of the fossils and determine the diversity of Devonian sea life.
4th -12th Outdoor Fossil Lab option 2: Students will clean a small part of the coral beds to observe the incredible diversity in the shapes and patterns of the Devonian fossils found here. They will look for evidence of tropical storms, growth cycles and the inter-relation of species. (Only possible during times of low water in the Ohio River.)
Note: Larger groups are invited to explore the fossil beds on your own. A reservation is required.
K-2 Indoor Fossil Lab: What creatures lived in the Devonian sea? This lab explores fossils and modern sea life. Students make a colorful Devonian ocean scene.
4th - 12th Indoor Fossil Lab: Provides a unique experience where students discover how marine fossils lived. They dig for fossils that can be taken back to the school.
3rd – 12th Minerals and Life Lab: How are minerals distinguished from rocks? What characteristics do minerals have? How are they used to improve our lives? This minds-on / hand-on lab provides students to opportunity to investigate these and other questions.
Geology Activity Sheets are available for students as part of the geology program packet. Inquire when you make your reservation.
History
George Rogers Clark Home Site Programs*: We focus on life on the frontier in 1803 highlighting George Rogers Clark and the start of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Explore a representation of Clark's log cabin with programs, including re-enactors, from May through October. A program fee of $2 per student is charged.
Suggestion: Combine this visit with a trip to Locust Grove for a full day of history!
Interpretive Center: A 22-minute movie "Spirit of the Land" explores the local connection of recruits to the Lewis and Clark expedition. It can be scheduled with your group's reservation.
K-12 Indoor Lab: Tools and Foodways of Prehistoric Peoples is a hands-on experience providing a glimpse into the lives of people that lived in the area as long as 13,000 years ago, using a variety of artifact reproductions.
History Activity Sheets are available for students scheduled for the lab described above.
* Your group has a choice of a guided program at the cabin or on the fossil beds, limited staffing does not allow for both.
Kids Corner
This learning and activity center is for children from Head Start to 1st grade. It offers teacher-led discovery and storytelling activities. Activities can focus on fossils and dinosaurs, Native Americans, sea creatures, pioneer life, nature, transportation around the Falls, bridge building, and more. Books with puppets, puzzles, and a wide assortment of toys relating to those themes are available. Kids Corner can hold 20 children at a time, while others can see our movie or explore the exhibit gallery.
Checklist for Planning Your Trip
__ I made a reservation.
__ I know the total cost.
__ I will bring my driver’s license if paying by school check.
__This visit is tied into my classroom curriculum.
__ I know how to get there.
__ I will tell the bus drivers to drop my students off in front of the Interpretive Center and to pick them
up in the rear parking lot.
__ I will reserve the picnic area if I plan to use it.
__ I know whether or not my group has scheduled a naturalist-led program.
__ I will contact the park if there is a change in group size.
__ I am aware the Interpretive Center hours are from 9 am to 5 pm.
__ I have attended a teacher orientation -or –
__ I will sign and return the park / school agreement form.
Updated May 7, 2010
