Discover Southern Indiana

10/09/2026

The leaves are starting to turn. 🍂 And Southern Indiana is about to put on quite a show.

Whether you're heading out to one of this weekend's festivals, hiking a trail through the Hoosier National Forest, picking pumpkins at a local farm, or simply catching the light just right on your favorite back road — we want to see it through your eyes.

Share your fall photos with us for a chance to be featured on the Discover Southern Indiana website or in an upcoming newsletter. 📸

Upload your photos directly at https://ow.ly/Aq5J50ZVtoC — look for the photo uploader right on the homepage. Every corner of our 13-county region tells a different story this time of year, and we can't wait to see yours. 🌿

Tag your adventures with and let's celebrate fall in Southern Indiana together. 👇

10/08/2026

There's something about a 125-year-old hotel in October that just hits different. 🎃👻

French Lick Springs Hotel has stood in the hills of Orange County since 1901. It has hosted presidents, welcomed celebrities, sheltered gangsters, and witnessed more than a century of Southern Indiana history within its walls. And every October, all of that history gets a little more atmospheric.

This fall, French Lick Springs Hotel is dressed for the season ... and it is something to behold.

👻 The Spooky Hallway ... Step onto the upper level of the Event Center and prepare yourself. Animatronics, eerie sights, and hair-raising surprises lurk around every corner, active every single day from 6am to midnight. Whether you're a brave soul or a reluctant participant, the hallway has a way of getting everyone.

🎃 Nightly Halloween Light Show ... When darkness falls, the exterior of French Lick Springs Hotel transforms. Ghoulish imagery and spine-tingling animation creep across the facade of one of Indiana's most iconic buildings every night through the end of the month.

Both experiences are completely complimentary. 🕷️ No tickets. No reservations. Just show up and let one of Indiana's most magnificent historic hotels do the rest.

And since you're already there ... you might as well stay. 🌿 French Lick Resort has no shortage of fall experiences to fill a full weekend: casino thrills, world-class spa, championship golf, scenic train rides, and dining that lives up to the setting. Book a room at French Lick Springs Hotel and wake up inside a piece of Indiana history ... haunted hallway and all.

📍 French Lick Springs Hotel | French Lick, IN | Orange County
📅 Spooky Hallway: Daily through October | 6am–Midnight
🎃 Nightly Light Show: Starting at dusk through October
🎟️ Complimentary ... no tickets required

Book your stay 👉 frenchlick.com

French Lick Resort Timeless French Lick

10/07/2026

🎃 Southern Indiana's fall festival season is in FULL swing ... and this weekend is proof. Whether you're chasing live music, small town charm, vintage cars, ice cream, or just the perfect excuse to get outside before the leaves are gone, there is something happening close to you this weekend. 🍂

Here's just a taste of what's going on ...

🍦 Front Porch Concert & Ice Cream Social — 6th Annual at Hometown Scoops | Friday, October 9
🎸 Hauntingburg Blues Festival — Historic 4th Street, Huntingburg | Friday, October 9 (free!)
🎢 Friday Night Live at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari — Santa Claus, Spencer County | Friday, October 9
🍎 18th Annual Orleans Fall Fun Festival — Historic Congress Square, Orleans | Saturday, October 10
🦌 Fall Shop & Stroll at Santa's Reindeer Ranch — Saturday, October 10
🎃 Chrisney Fall Fest — Chrisney | Saturday, October 10
🚗 36th Annual Bristow Car Show & Octoberfest — Bristow, Perry County | Sunday, October 11

And this is just a sampling. 🌿 Southern Indiana's fall calendar is packed from corner to corner this weekend ... head to our events calendar for the full list and find what's happening closest to you.

👉 https://ow.ly/aEa350ZVsLy

10/06/2026

We dare you to have a bad time. 👻🎸

This Friday, October 9th, Historic 4th Street in Huntingburg transforms into something wonderfully wicked for Hauntingburg ... a FREE one-night blues festival, Halloween celebration, and outdoor movie night all rolled into one unforgettable evening in Dubois County.

Here's how the night unfolds:

🎃 Trick R Treat on 4th Street — 4-6pm (little ones, this one's for you)
🎸 The LJs — live blues, 5-6pm
👻 Zombie Free Kids Zone — 5-9pm
🍺 Food & "Boo"-ze Vendors — 5-9pm
🎸 Ft. Dayne & Friends — headliners take the stage, 6-9pm
🎬 Practical Magic — free outdoor movie screening, 9pm

Costume encouraged. Good time guaranteed. And did we mention it's completely FREE? 🕷️

Historic 4th Street has seen a lot of great nights ... but a blues festival that turns into a Halloween movie screening under the October sky might just be the best one yet. Bonus points if you dress up. 🧟

📍 Market Street Park & Historic 4th Street | Huntingburg, IN | Dubois County
📅 Friday, October 9th | 4pm–late
🎟️ Free admission | All ages welcome

Visit Dubois County (Indiana) Strolling In Huntingburg

10/05/2026

You liked the last one. So we went further. 🍂🗺️

A few weeks ago we sent you down a road full of giant Sasquatches, circus dioramas, and floating cabins ... and apparently Southern Indiana wasn't done surprising people. Because we just dropped a second road trip blog, and this one has a whole new set of detours worth pulling over for.

This time the routes wind through Owen, Greene, Daviess, Orange, and Crawford County ... and the curious stops are just as good:

🌊 A river that literally disappears underground — the mysterious Lost River in Timeless French Lick vanishes beneath the karst landscape and resurfaces miles later. You have to see it to believe it.

🐄 Stark Manor ... a unique stay in Owen County where Highland cows are your neighbors. Yes, really.

🌲 Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum ... large-scale metal sculptures tucked throughout the woods in Greene County. Art you explore rather than simply look at.

👟 The Shoe Tree in Crawford County ... one of those roadside curiosities that raises more questions than it answers. Stop anyway.

🦇 Marengo Cave ... because Southern Indiana has two landscapes worth exploring: the one above ground and the enormous hidden world underneath it.

Same philosophy as last time. Different roads. More reasons to leave the plan at home. 🌿

Read the full blog and start planning your fall detour 👉 https://ow.ly/IGqU50ZSqi4

And if posts like this are your thing — our weekly newsletter delivers fresh blog content, events, and regional inspiration straight to your inbox. Sign up so you never miss what's happening across Southern Indiana. 📩 https://ow.ly/6LtY50ZSqi5

The weird, wonderful and unexpected stops worth pulling off the highway for this fall. There’s something about fall that makes the long way feel like the right way. Maybe it’s the changing leaves. Maybe it’s finally rolling down the windows after a long summer. Or maybe it& ...

10/04/2026

Happy World Animal Day! 🐘🦒 And what better way to celebrate than with one of Southern Indiana's most extraordinary wildlife destinations — right in our own backyard.

Tonight through October 31st, Wilstem Wildlife Park in Paoli is lighting up the night with their Fall Light Show + Dinos After Dark — and if you haven't experienced Wilstem after dark, this is your moment. 🌟

Choose your adventure:

🚗 Light Show Only
Drive through a stunning fall-themed light show + Dinos After Dark at dusk (around 7:30/8pm, closes 9:30pm). The perfect family night out.

🦒 Twilight Drive Thru + Light Show
Add the drive-thru safari before the lights come on — encounter the animals, visit the Roos & Crew building, then stay for the full light show. Add on an Elephant Meet & Greet at 5:45pm and a giraffe feeding for the full experience. 🐘

⭐ Twilight VIP Guided Safari + Light Show
The ultimate Wilstem evening — an off-path guided wagon tour with 40+ species, safari feed included, Roos & Crew access, and the full fall light show to close out the night. This one is something special.

And while World Animal Day only comes once a year, Wilstem's incredible animal encounters are available year-round. Elephant meet & greets. Giraffe feedings. Kangaroo encounters. VIP guided safaris through 40+ species of wildlife. This is not a typical zoo visit .... it's a chance to truly connect with animals in a way that stays with you long after you leave. 🌿

There are very few places in the country where you can hand-feed a giraffe, lock eyes with an elephant, and watch dinosaurs glow under the night sky — all within the rolling hills of Southern Indiana. Wilstem is one of them.

📍 4229 US-150 W | Orange County
📅 Fall Light Show open daily through October 31st
🎟️ Tickets at https://ow.ly/J4SE50ZSkI8

Wilstem
Timeless French Lick

10/02/2026

October in Southern Indiana? Yeah, it's a lot. 🍂🎉

This weekend alone, here's just a sampling of what's happening across the region:

🎉 Mingle on Main — Downtown Jasper | Friday, October 2
🎬 Movie in the Park — Bedford | Friday, October 2
🍷 Music on the Patio — Blue Heron Winery | Saturday, October 3
🍎 Fall Family Fun Festivities — Lakeview Orchard | Saturday, October 3
🎸 Live Music — Monkey Hollow Winery | Saturday, October 3
🏛️ Old Settlers Day Festival — John Hay Center, Salem | Saturday, October 3
⛪ Octoberfest — St. Francis of Assisi | Saturday, October 3
🎨 Young Abe's Country Craft Fair — Lincoln State Park | Sunday, October 4

And that's just what we listed here. Southern Indiana's fall calendar runs deep — from county to county, weekend to weekend, there is always something worth showing up for. 🌿

Find even more happening across the region this weekend at our full events calendar 👉 https://ow.ly/80bo50ZSjG5

10/01/2026

Happy International Coffee Day! ☕✨

Whether you take it black, blended, oat-milked, or poured over with a perfectly drawn leaf on top ... today is your excuse to treat yourself to something a little extra special. And Southern Indiana has no shortage of incredible local coffee shops, cafés, and sweet spots to help you celebrate in style.

From cozy small-town storefronts to bustling downtown cafés, our region is full of local coffee worth discovering. Find your next favorite cup 👉 https://ow.ly/GknN50ZSiIj

Now tell us — where's your favorite coffee spot in Southern Indiana? Drop it in the comments. ☕👇

10/01/2026

If you need an excuse to head to Timeless French Lick ... the annual Orange County Pumpkin Festival is in full swing!

09/30/2026

Some traditions don't need reinventing. They just need showing up for. 🍂

For 57 years, the small community of Cataract in Owen County has been doing something quietly extraordinary. Every first weekend of October, the Cataract Volunteer Fire Department fires up the kettles, cooks over 850 pounds of ham and beans, bakes 200 pans of cornbread, and feeds anyone who shows up hungry. No frills. No gimmicks. Just good food, good people, and a tradition that has kept a volunteer fire department running for nearly six decades.

This is the 57th Annual Cataract Bean Dinner Festival — and this weekend, October 2nd through 4th, it's happening again.

Here's what's waiting for you:

🫘 The beans — kettle-cooked ham and beans and fresh cornbread, served by the Cataract Volunteer Fire Department. This meal alone is worth the drive.
🍖 Additional food vendors — BBQ, burgers, pizza, tacos, coneys, fried vegetables, kettle corn, ice cream, and Mexican food
🛍️ 125+ vendor booths — tools, crafts, art, antiques, jewelry, and more
🚌 Shuttle service available on site

Serving hours:
🗓️ Friday, Oct 2 | Noon–8pm
🗓️ Saturday, Oct 3 | 10:30am–8pm
🗓️ Sunday, Oct 4 | 10:30am–6pm

And here's the part that makes this event mean something beyond the bowl in your hands: this single weekend fundraiser provides roughly 60% of the Cataract Volunteer Fire Department's entire annual operating budget. Every bite of cornbread, every bowl of beans, every purchase from a vendor booth — it all goes back into protecting this community. That's worth showing up for. ❤️

While you're in the area, make a full day of it — Cataract Falls, Indiana's largest waterfall by volume, is just a short walk away. Pack a blanket, take a slow stroll to the falls after lunch, and let Owen County do what it does best: surprise you. 🌊🍂

📍 9582 Hi Ridge Trail | Cataract (Spencer), IN | Owen County
📅 Friday–Sunday, October 2-4, 2026
🎟️ Free to attend

More info 👉 https://ow.ly/FN5b50ZSifX

Cataract Volunteer Fire Department
Sweet Owen Tourism
Owen County Chamber of Commerce