Indian Point Park

Notice: Indian Point Park Lower is temporarily closed. Please check back for updates.

ALERT: A section of Ford Rd. over Talcott Creek in Madison Twp. is closed. Detour signs are posted. Click here for more information.

ALERT: For safety reasons, Seeley Road is closed to vehicle traffic between the lower and upper entrances. Park visitors can park in either lot and walk on Seeley Road (over the bridge and on the steep hill).

For information about the new entrance and playground at this park, click here.
A new tent campsite is available to reserve at Indian Point, click here for details.

Park history

Charles Lyman bought several acres at the point of land above the intersection of the Grand River and Paine Creek in 1901. In the years before World War I, he used the area as a military camp for high school boys. More than 150 youngsters attended Lyman’s Camp Wissolohichan during its seven-year period of existence. Lyman began carving the names of campers into a Totem Stone, which can be seen along the trail near the point. Later, the point became a Finnish camp, Kaleva Lodge. During this time, a stone hut was built and used as a sauna, intact until the 1970s, when the park system dismantled it. The property was purchased from John Phelps in 1964. A plaque was erected here, in honor of James and Edna Phelps, his parents. (In 1802, part of the property had been deeded to his ancestors by the Connecticut Land Company.)

The Whittlesey Culture

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service, Indian Point has one of the earliest architectural works in this part of Ohio.

A tribe from the Whittlesey Culture lived here; a Whittlesey structure was built on the 100-foot ridge between Paine Creek and the Grand River. Two parallel mounds of their earthworks can be seen.

The Whittelsey were an early people who lived from 900 AD to 1650 AD in stockade villages on high bluffs overlooking rivers and lakes. Because they didn’t have contact with Europeans, the name of their tribe is unknown. The culture is named after the archaeologist who discovered the tribe.

To protect the health of anyone who eats Ohio-caught fish, an annual advisory for how often these fish can be safely eaten is prepared by the Ohio Department of Health in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Click here for more information.