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117 parks in 7 regions

Great Falls of Tinkers Creek

Bedford · Cuyahoga County

Wide ledge falls over a sandstone shelf spanning the width of Tinkers Creek

15 to 20 ftheight

Moderatehike

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.

A wide sandstone ledge waterfall in Viaduct Park, set among the ruins of old mills, a dam, and a 19th century railroad arch.

Height: Reported as 15 to 20 feet
Crest width: About 50 to 80 feet depending on water level
Managed by: Cleveland Metroparks
Best time: After heavy rain for full width; year round baseflow
Fee: Free
Nearby: The Arch, an 1865 stone railroad viaduct, and mill ruins

When it flows

Tinkers Creek drains a fairly large watershed, so the falls usually has some flow year round, but it narrows to a fraction of its width in dry summer weather and widens dramatically after heavy rain; ice forms along the edges in winter.

The story

The falls drop over a resistant sandstone ledge in the Tinkers Creek gorge, one of the deepest stream valleys in northern Ohio, carved as meltwater from retreating glaciers cut down through the area's shale and sandstone layers. The gorge's depth and steep walls made this stretch of Tinkers Creek an unusually good source of water power for its size.

Through the 1800s the site was a real industrial hub: records show a sawmill, a gristmill, and later an electric power plant operating here, along with a viaduct built in 1865 to carry trains over the creek on a stone arch known locally as The Arch. When water power and rail traffic declined in the early 1900s the settlement here was largely abandoned, leaving exposed foundations, old mill races, and a small cemetery with burials into the 1920s that are still visible along the trails today. Cleveland Metroparks took over management of this stretch of the reservation and reopened it to the public as Viaduct Park in 2002, with interpretive signs connecting the ruins to their industrial past.

Height is reported differently across sources, from about 15 feet to about 20 feet; the width at the crest also varies a lot with rainfall.

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

Reached from Viaduct Park or by a rim trail from the Egbert Picnic Area through Bedford Reservation; the route includes a spur that descends to and crosses over a stone arch bridge known as The Arch before climbing back out of the gorge.

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 marked trails and behind railings near the gorge rim, no swimming, dogs must be leashed