The state museum at the western end of White River State Park covers the natural, cultural, and scientific history of Indiana. The galleries cycle from the Ice Age and mastodons through the indigenous Mississippian mound cultures, French exploration, statehood, and into the 20th-century industrial era — including the inevitable Indy 500 and basketball wings.
The IMAX theatre on site (the largest screen in Indiana) often runs alongside special exhibitions. Plan two to three hours for the permanent collection. The building itself is worth a look — it uses 92 different Indiana materials, one for each county.