At Hovey Lake, you can explore the river landscape by paddle, getting up close to some of Indiana’s few bald cypress trees. Water also shapes the setting of Harmonie State Park on the banks of the Wabash River. In Posey County, nature and culture come together in many ways—from floodplain landscapes to historic sites around New Harmony.
Rivers, Floodplains, and Bald Cypress Trees
Hovey Lake Fish & Wildlife Area lies in the floodplains of the Ohio and Wabash Rivers in Indiana’s far southwest. Activities here include paddling, fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching. Paddling offers a special perspective on Hovey Lake and its bald cypress trees. Nature lovers will find more than just a view of the water in this protected area: the many ways to engage with the landscape also shape the experience.
Harmonie State Park lies 25 miles northwest of Evansville, right on the Wabash River. Its riverfront setting offers a different point of orientation from the vast floodplains at Hovey Lake.
New Harmony: History in Buildings and Gardens
In New Harmony, historic buildings and sites tell stories of religious utopianism, Enlightenment science, and communal living. The town sits on a scenic bend in the Wabash River and is a National Historic Landmark District. Its history can be explored through a wide range of examples: a library with a long tradition, reconstructed gardens and baking sites, and an exhibition of historic prints.
The Workingmen’s Institute was founded in 1838 as a model for workers’ self-education. Today, it continues to serve as a library, archive, and museum, and is Indiana’s oldest continuously operating public library. The Atheneum combines a contemporary visitor function with distinctive architecture: it serves as New Harmony’s visitor center and is also an architectural landmark designed by Richard Meier and completed in 1979.
Reconstructed sites also show how communal life was organized. The Harmonist Bake Oven represents the communal brick ovens used by the Harmony Society to bake bread. The Harmonist Garden has been partly reconstructed as a kitchen garden and partly as an ornamental garden of the Harmonists; it is located outside the David Lenz House. The Harmonist Orchard offers a glimpse into the landscape’s history: the orchard was replanted at its original site based on the 1832 Weingartner map.
The Maximilian-Bodmer Print Exhibition offers another perspective. It houses prints by Swiss artist Karl Bodmer that document the Indigenous peoples of the upper Missouri in the early 19th century. New Harmony thus brings together a range of themes: self-education, communal work, garden culture, and the depiction of Indigenous peoples in historic prints.
Tours for Different Time Commitments
The Atheneum is a good place to start getting your bearings in New Harmony; you can pick up maps and information there about tours and events in town. For a guided overview of the historic district, consider the 45-minute New Harmony Tram Tour. A guide narrates the ride, which runs Tuesday through Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Central Time.
The two-hour New Harmony History Tour offers a different focus. It includes transportation by tram and access to the interiors of historic buildings and sites, and runs Tuesday through Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Central Time. The difference is not just the time commitment: the shorter ride includes commentary as it travels through the historic district, while the longer tour also includes indoor spaces. New Harmony is open to visitors year-round; check the times for the tour you’re interested in before your visit.
Discover more destinations: Mt Vernon, New Harmony, Orange County, Whitley County, Clark, Rush County, Gibson County, Lawrence.
Return to the main travel overview: Indiana.
