Clifton Gorge 🍃
2381 State Route 343 Yellow Springs
After your visit to Young’s Jersey Dairy, you need to check out the waterfalls and scenery at Clifton Gorge. I felt like I was in Japan. My girls enjoy any adventure, but hiking is starting to rank higher on their list. And us nature loving hiking parents are pretty happy about it!
⛔️The trails are very rocky and the cliffs are very close to parts of the trails. I recommend a hand per child.
To access this trail follow main trail from parking lot past benches in clearing, turn left and head down the steps.
Also, John Bryan State Park has a great playground and lots of great places to picnic. 5 minutes from Clifton Gorge.
Preserving 268 acres in Greene County
This 268-acre preserve protects one of the most spectacular dolomite and limestone gorges in the state. Registered as a National Natural Landmark in 1968, Clifton Gorge encompasses a 2-mile stretch of the Little Miami State and National Scenic River, just east of John Bryan State Park.
Geologically, it is an outstanding example of interglacial and post-glacial canyon cutting. At one point, the river funnels through a deep, narrow channel, which was apparently formed by the enlarging and connecting of a series of potholes in the resistant Silurian dolomite bedrock. In other sections of the gorge, cliff overhangs have broken off forming massive slump blocks scattered along the valley floor.
The shaded, north-facing slopes provide a cool, moist environment for northern species including hemlock, red baneberry, Canada yew, arbor-vitae and mountain maple. This is one of the most spectacular sites in the state for viewing spring wildflowers including the rare snow trillium.
