The Tenderloin:
The first state park in Indiana is called McCormick’s Creek and lies right next to the city of Spencer in Owen County. It contains a canyon where a small, fast stream runs through as well as a small waterfall, cave, and an Inn. In this inn in Indiana is another one of the best pork tenderloins you will ever eat. Granted, this place is a bit out of the way and hidden. It may cost $7 to get into the park and you will have to go to the hotel, but this isn’t the typical overpriced, underwhelming hotel food. It is well worth the money, and if you have the time you can stroll around the park and slow down a bit. The Canyon Inn Restaurant serves up what they call a Hoosier Tenderloin (I do wish I could find a Boilermaker Tenderloin somewhere, but when in Rome…). It comes out bun sized, but it makes up in thickness as it has one of the largest cross sections I’ve seen on these journeys. The breading is where the true glory comes from. It is more like a breading on “crispy” fried chicken. You could even go as far to say it was flaky, like the layers on a fresh biscuit. However they do it, it seems like they’ve perfected the outer shell. The little hot sauce packets were also the perfect addition to the crispy juicy sandwich. On top of that, you are in a park. Sitting in the porch area, you can watch the birds eat out of the feeders and enjoy the tranquility of the forest that comes with being in the middle of nature. The Canyon Inn Restaurant, and the park itself, is worth every dollar for admission and the time spent on any detour or destination, and, of course, a darn good tenderloin.
The Town:
Spencer, Indiana might play small fiddle to the park next door, but it stands on its own as a nice place to visit. Being from the south part of the state, the buildings are 50 years older than anything up north. The copper dome of the Owen County Courthouse and the railroad tracks that run through the square give the first impression of a historic, unique place to see.
The Tivoli Theater is one of the nicest restored theaters I have ever seen. The Santa Fe style stucco exterior makes it look like you are in an old western town. The décor extends to the inside as you gaze upon white statues and black iron fences on the walls. The bright red curtain pops as you sit down in your seat before the show. This theater is so clean that if you spill popcorn, you feel like bending down to clean it up; no sticky floors here. They even show first run movies as we sat down to watch the 101 Dalmatians’ villain get her own movie, “Cruella”. Not only are the tickets affordable, you can get popcorn, a pop, and candy for only $5. It is a wonderful venue to watch a movie or a play with your family, or just a date night.
Next to the Tivoli is the Civilian Brewing Corps. Before the movie, or maybe just taking a break from the park, you can stop in and get one of their handcrafted beers. Sit either inside the brick building or dine outside on the patio, you can enjoy some homemade food. I got the mac & cheese. This serving had rotini as the pasta and some fresh gooey cheese sauce with some pulled pork mixed in. The Hefeweizen is a light wheat beer and I could get a slight sweet banana aftertaste. Bring your kids, as this is a family friendly brewpub, and they got root beer too. In fact, the root beer was fresh and as good as drinking one at a local drive-in diner.
Make sure to stop at DK Sweets on the other side of the square. You can find an assortment of gummies and popular candy but you can also pick up some older styles like clove gum and candy cigarettes. Ice cream and smoothies are served as well as their “Insanity Milkshake”. This giant concoction is mega-sized and covered with all sorts of toppings. If you order it, you get your picture on the wall. Unfortunately (or maybe “fortunately” as there would have been an after-picture), they were not serving them at the time of visit. They are mostly known for their Fudge ‘O Bits, which are little bites of differently flavored fudge. I picked up some birthday cake and some cappuccino flavor, my wife wisely picked out two flavors that I can’t or wouldn’t like to eat - peanut butter and turtle cheese cake. We loaded up on a bunch of sweet snacks there before heading out to the park.
Like I said at the beginning, my family and I were spending the weekend at McCormick’s Creek state park for this trip, so we spent a lot of time wandering through nature. I could probably write a whole blog on all the activities one could do at the park (maybe a future blog idea?), but for this I’ll highlight two of them, hanging out at the falls, and hiking the creek itself.
To get to the McCormick’s Creek Falls you could either hike a trail or just take a quick drive to a parking lot along one of the park roads. You then have to descend a multitude of stairs to the canyon bottom and traverse across some rapids to get to the base. The falls is not exceptionally large, but it is not a trickle either. It is just the right size to be safe to stand underneath and hang out at the base. You can find a multitude of people either getting showered by the falls or just playing around in the plunge pool. Whether being in or out of the water, it is a relaxing destination. And who doesn’t like the sound of water falling on rocks?
There are many miles of marked hiking trails through the park on paths, but I really enjoyed a two mile trek along the creek itself. I don’t think you could traverse through the creek under heavier rainfall conditions, but this weekend the flow was just right to be relatively safe. You could walk along the side at most parts. The water moves rather quickly, as you are at the bottom of a large canyon, but is shallow enough to hop from rock to rock (or just wade through the stream itself) when the only path is through the water. It is a unique and challenging journey, but well worth it, especially on a warmer day.
If you really want to see some large falls, you could head about 15 miles north of town and visit the Cataract Falls State Recreational Area. They have the largest falls in Indiana in the upper falls and only a mile down river, a lower falls. There is no showering along this area, as the powerful force of the water would make it dangerous, but the views are spectacular. Make sure to also visit the covered bridge right upriver of the upper falls. It is closed to vehicular traffic, but you could walk all around and inside of it.
Spencer, Indiana is blessed with many natural areas to play around at. Although many do not make the town the main trip, it is a great complementary destination to stop for a visit or take a break to get back to civilization for a while. You can get some candy, watch a movie, grab a beer, take a hike, and get one of the best tenderloins in all of the state all at once.
And they have a fire tower here too
by Michael Tomko
find The Indiana Tenderloin Chronicles on Facebook at