Laughery Creek Fishing Spot

• Elevation: 450'
• Last Modified By: vinny60 on 09/10/09 11:47 AM
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From its source in northern Ripley County, Laughery Creek flows ninety some-odd miles through scenic southeastern Indiana hill country and Versailles State Park, then forms the boundary between Ohio and Dearborn Counties, and finally empties into the Ohio River between Aurora and Rising Sun. Most of the watershed and creek corridor is wooded with some bottomland farming. Catfish, carp, blue gill, shad, small-mouth and large-mouth, as well as rock bass are all found in the stream. Crayfish and fresh water mussels are also common. North of Versailles State Park, the creek is gorge-like and winds hard on its way to the lake. First one bank steeply encroaches, forcing the stream bed one way, then the opposite bank rises steeply pinching it back. This characteristic has kept development in the creek corridor to a minimum and helped to preserve a wilderness flavor in the valley. South of Versailles dam, Laughery is considered on of the premier fly fishing streams in the tri-state area. Camp Laughery, our little piece of heaven in the valley, offers a number of amenities to our guests. Cold Ass Creek Campground offers half a dozen tent sites, and a half dozen more are available in Foggy Bottoms Campground with picnic tables. An authentic plains-style Indian Tipi also offers sleeping accommodations for up to 6 campers. Outhouse and shower facilities are centrally located.

The Laughery Creek Bridge is an abandoned truss bridge on the border of Dearborn County, Indiana and Ohio County, Indiana. It crosses Laughery Creek. This bridge was built in 1878. The Wrought Iron Bridge Company, a prolific late 1800s bridge company, constructed the bridge. The bridge is seated on stone abutments. The deck surface is not original and is currently concrete. The bridge, nearly 300 feet in length, is a single span pin connected triple intersection Pratt through truss, and is the only example in the world of this truss type. The name bridge's nickname, "Triple Whipple Bridge" is a play on words. The double-intersection Pratt, which was called the Whipple truss configuration, was a far more common variation of the standard Pratt configuration. Since the Laughery Creek Bridge's members have three intersections instead of two, this gives rise to the "Triple Whipple" name. This bridge is currently on the National Register of Historic Places.