Field Notes Ohio

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117 parks in 7 regions

Buttermilk Falls (North Chagrin Reservation)

Willoughby Hills · Cuyahoga County

Stepped cascade over exposed Chagrin shale

10 to 15 ftheight

Easywalk

Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed: September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source: Official page
Location confidence: Verified property location
Published coordinates for the falls or its trailhead
Check current conditions: Official conditions or closures

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

An easy, family friendly cascade in North Chagrin Reservation, with a wooded overlook deck that highlights the exposed shale geology.

Height: Multi tier cascade, no official single height published
Trail: Short, easy walk with some steps
Managed by: Cleveland Metroparks
Best time: After modest rain; can thin in late summer
Fee: Free
Geology: Chagrin shale, formed over 365 million years ago

When it flows

A small, shale bedded stream that stays attractive even after modest rain, according to park sources, though like most small Cleveland Metroparks streams it can thin out during an extended summer dry spell and forms ice in winter.

The story

An interpretive sign at the overlook notes that the exposed rock here is made of compressed organic sediment laid down more than 365 million years ago, part of the Chagrin shale that underlies much of northeastern Ohio. Over a very long span of time, running water gradually eroded the softer shale layers, carving the small gorge and stepped falls seen today, and the site is used by Cleveland Metroparks as an accessible example of the region's bedrock geology.

North Chagrin Reservation was assembled by Cleveland Metroparks in the early to mid 20th century as part of the system's ring of reservations around the city, an era when the park district was also building rustic stone and timber structures nearby, including the well known Squire's Castle folly a short drive away. Buttermilk Falls and its scenic overlook have long been one of the reservation's most visited, easiest to reach natural features.

No source gives a single official height figure for this falls; the estimate here is a visual approximation, not a measured value. This is a distinct waterfall from Buttermilk Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, listed separately in this dataset.

Stay behind railings and on marked trails. Wet rock at the top and base of a falls is slick in every season, and most Ohio falls do not allow swimming, wading or climbing. Flow depends on rain: many falls are a trickle in late summer and at their best after a wet spell, in spring, or frozen in a hard winter.

Getting to the falls

A short, fairly easy walk from the Buttermilk Falls trailhead with some steps to the falls, and a separate short walk across Buttermilk Falls Parkway to a wooded scenic overlook deck.

Status

Open

Hours

6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

Cost

Free

Phone

216-635-3200

Managed by

Cleveland Metroparks

Please note

Stay on the trail and boardwalk, no swimming, dogs must be leashed