Ed-Air Airport

Indiana's first state capital and the site of the most important Revolutionary War battle in the west. In 1779, George Rogers Clark marched 180 miles through flooded wilderness to surprise the British garrison here, effectively winning the Northwest Territory for the United States. The massive granite memorial (the largest outside Washington D.C.) is visible from the air along the Wabash River. Vincennes University (1801) is the oldest in Indiana.

When it was completed in 1902, this 200-foot free-span dome was the largest in the world — bigger than the Pantheon in Rome, bigger than St. Peter's Basilica. It held the record until the Houston Astrodome in 1965. Called the 'Eighth Wonder of the World,' the hotel fell into disrepair but was restored in 2007. The circular dome is clearly visible from 3000ft. The dome is most photogenic from the south, with the valley's forested hills as backdrop.

The limestone quarried around Bedford and Bloomington built a startling share of monumental America — the Empire State Building, the Pentagon, the National Cathedral, and some 35 state capitols. The Empire Quarry is the most famous: the pit that yielded 18,630 tons of stone for the Empire State Building. The belt between the two towns is pocked with these workings, active and abandoned, their sheer pale walls dropping to floors of still blue water.

Indiana's largest waterfall by volume — upper and lower falls in a sandstone gorge on Mill Creek. Not dramatic by Niagara standards, but the gorge itself is striking from the air, cutting a dark seam through otherwise gentle terrain. A covered bridge (one of Parke County's neighbors) sits near the upper falls. Best after heavy spring rains when the falls are running full.