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.
Popular:
  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

Explore by type

What are you in the mood for?

See every place →
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

New to the guide?

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.

Plan a trip

Open the mapAll 365 places on one map. Filter by cabins, campsites, hunting, beaches and more.Explore the map → Browse by countyPick any of Ohio's 88 counties and see its parks, mounds, waterfalls and historic sites.Find your county → Build a tripSave places as you browse, then line them up into a weekend. Kept in your browser, nothing to sign up for.Start a trip →

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

Parks, forests & wildlife areas

Find a park

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
Directions →Official source →

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.

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.

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
Address
Viaduct Park, corner of Willis Street and Taylor Road, Bedford, OH 44146 (Bedford Reservation)
Official page →DirectionsShow on the map

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

More falls nearby

Bridal Veil Falls
About 1 mile · 20 ft
Open
Brandywine Falls
About 8 miles · 60 to 65 ft
Open
Chagrin Falls
About 8 miles · 20 ft
Open
Blue Hen Falls
About 9 miles · 15 ft
Open

Parks nearby

Bedford Reservation
The falls is inside this park
Open
South Chagrin Reservation
About 6 miles · Cleveland Metroparks reservation
Open
Brecksville Reservation
About 7 miles · Cleveland Metroparks reservation
Open
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
About 9 miles · Adjoining national park
Open
Tinkers Creek State Park
About 11 miles · Nearby nature preserve
Open
North Chagrin Reservation
About 13 miles · Cleveland Metroparks reservation
Open

Buckeye Trail

Bedford Section
On or near the Buckeye Trail
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.