Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
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  • 117parks & forests
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Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

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State parks & forests117 places, with cabins, campsites and trails117 places Waterfalls34 falls, with trail notes34 falls Mounds & earthworks64 ancient sites, from Serpent Mound to Newark64 ancient sites Caves & caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters12 caves Lake Erie beaches20 public beaches, Conneaut to Toledo20 beaches Historic sites40 places, from the frontier to the Civil War40 places Road trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail33 drives Oddities19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops19 roadside stops The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile loop, all 26 sections1,444 miles

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Six places to start

One from every corner of the state, each with its full story inside.

01Old Man's CaveHocking Hills · SoutheastA gorge of waterfalls and recess caves where a hermit is said to have lived, with the park's visitor center. 02Great Serpent MoundAdams County · SouthwestA gigantic earthen snake on a hilltop over Ohio Brush Creek, built by a people whose name is still argued over. 03Brandywine FallsCuyahoga Valley · NortheastThe tallest waterfall in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, reached by an easy boardwalk with an accessible upper overlook. 04Marblehead LighthouseMarblehead · Lake ErieThe oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, lit since 1821, on nine acres of limestone shoreline. 05Zoar VillageTuscarawas County · EasternA well-preserved communal village founded by German separatists in 1817, on the Ohio & Erie Canal. 06Longaberger Basket BuildingNewark · CentralA seven-story office building shaped like a picnic basket, with handles that are heated in winter.

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Parks, forests & wildlife areas

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117 parks in 7 regions

The Cascades at Glen Helen

Yellow Springs · Greene County
A small tiered cascade over limestone in a wooded ravine near the preserve's namesake Yellow Spring
10 ftheight
Moderatehike
Directions →Official source →

A small limestone cascade in the roughly 1,000 acre Glen Helen Nature Preserve, near the iron rich Yellow Spring that gave the village its name.

Height
About 10 feet
Trail
About 1 mile round trip from the Corry Street lot
Managed by
Glen Helen Association, with Antioch College
Best time
Spring and after rain; the spring keeps some flow year round
Size
About 1,000 acres of forest and gorge
Fee
Free

When it flows

Runs year round since it is partly spring fed, but is fullest after rain and snowmelt; can slow to a light trickle during dry late summer stretches.

The story

Glen Helen sits in a limestone gorge cut by Birch Creek, part of the same Silurian bedrock exposed downstream at Clifton Gorge. The preserve's namesake Yellow Spring, an iron rich mineral spring, stains the rock and soil around it orange and gave both the village and an early health resort here their name.

Native American groups used the spring and gorge for generations before European settlement, and in the 1800s the mineral spring drew visitors to a resort hotel. Antioch College alumnus Hugh Taylor Birch donated the roughly 1,000 acre glen to the college in 1929 as a memorial to his daughter, Helen Birch Bartlett, and it became one of Ohio's first educational forests. Antioch College owned and ran Glen Helen for nearly a century until financial strain, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, led the college to sell it in 2020 to the newly formed nonprofit Glen Helen Association, which still manages the preserve today alongside the college's Glen Helen Raptor Center.

Detailed current rules on dogs were not found in the sources checked; contact the Glen Helen Association for the latest pet policy.

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.

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
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
Approximate — boundary or exact point not confirmed
Approximate location, use the address or 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.

Getting to the falls

About a 1 mile round trip from the Corry Street parking area, heading downhill toward Birch Creek and then uphill to the Cascades on dirt paths; the trail network is not always clearly marked, so bringing a map is recommended.

Status
Open to the public
Hours
Dawn to dusk
Cost
Free
Phone
937-767-1286
Managed by
Glen Helen Association, in partnership with Antioch College
Please note
Stay on marked trails, since the network can be confusing; No swimming in the creek.
Address
405 Corry Street, Yellow Springs, OH 45387
Official page →DirectionsShow on the map

The pin on the map is approximate; use the address or the park's own directions to find the trailhead.

Trails close for repairs, ice and high water. Check the official page before a long drive.

More falls nearby

Clifton Gorge (Amphitheater Falls and the Blue Hole)
About 3 miles · 25 ft
Open
Cedar Cliff Falls
About 6 miles · 25 ft
Open
Charleston Falls
About 16 miles · 37 ft
Open
Englewood MetroPark Falls (Martindale, Patty, and Oak Falls)
About 22 miles · Low falls
Open

Parks nearby

Glen Helen Nature Preserve
The falls is inside this park
Open
John Bryan State Park
About 2 miles · State park along the same stretch of river
Open
Clifton Gorge – John L. Rich State Nature Preserve
About 3 miles · Adjoining dolomite gorge on the Little Miami River
Open
Buck Creek State Park
About 14 miles · State park near Springfield
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

Know a place that belongs here, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@fieldnotesohio.com.