Two giant resort hotels a mile apart explain everything about French Lick. Around the turn of the twentieth century, wealthy visitors came by train to these Indiana hills to drink and bathe in the sulphurous mineral springs, and the French Lick Springs Hotel and the West Baden Springs Hotel competed for them with ever more lavish buildings. West Baden's great domed atrium was, when it opened in 1902, among the largest free-span domes in the world, and people called it the eighth wonder of the world. Both hotels have been restored and are open again, with a casino now drawing the crowds the springs once did.
The springs also gave the world Pluto Water, a laxative bottled here and sold nationwide with a little red devil on the label and the slogan "When Nature won't, Pluto will." French Lick has another claim to fame: Larry Bird, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, grew up here, and the town still loves him. The name of the town comes from the French traders who passed through and the salt licks that attracted animals.
For motorcycles, this is the finest corner of southern Indiana. The town sits in a valley in the Hoosier National Forest, surrounded by hills cut by creeks and covered in oak and hickory. State routes 56, 145 and 37 run through them with plenty of curves, climbs and drops, and the traffic is light outside resort weekends. Route 145 south toward Patoka Lake is especially good, rolling through forest and around the lake with long sweepers and some tighter bends. The surfaces are generally good, with the usual deer and gravel caveats.
French Lick and West Baden together have fuel, restaurants, coffee and plenty of places to stay, from the grand hotels to simple motels. Paoli, about thirteen kilometres east, is another small town with services, and Jasper, the nearest larger city, is about half an hour south. Even if you do not stay, walk into the West Baden atrium for a look at the dome, which is free and genuinely astonishing. The forest colour in October is excellent, and spring brings redbud and dogwood to the hillsides.