THINGS TO DO

Begin your trip by experiencing the Metamora Grist Mill. Discover the mill’s history and see for yourself how the mill grinds corn into flour, meal and grits – just as it has since the 1800s! Then, try milling grains yourself with a hand-powered grinder or learn how millers secured their sacks of flour by trying your hand at tying a miller’s knot. Children can explore the transportation discovery space. See how Hoosiers used to move from here to there on our wooden canal and train table, chart your course throughout Indiana with an interactive map or pack a model canal boat full of crates and merchandise before its journey to Cincinnati.

Originally constructed in 1843, the aqueduct was partially destroyed by a flood in 1846. Shortly afterward, it was rebuilt with a modified Burr arch truss more than 75 feet long. The Duck Creek Aqueduct is very unique — so much so that it was featured in an edition of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It is perhaps the only covered wooden aqueduct still operating in the United States. Engineers designed this aqueduct to carry the canal and its boats above Duck Creek. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

Starting at the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site, walk along the hiking trails that lead you down the canal route. These trails will take you through historic Metamora and lead you to the Duck Creek Aqueduct (about .5 miles) and eventually the “Twin Locks” (an additional 2.6 miles). Add some fun to your trek with a scavenger hunt, available at the Grist Mill.