Waterfalls in Ohio

Ohio's waterfalls, from Hocking Hills to the Cuyahoga Valley

Only 26 named waterfalls break up Ohio's mostly flat, farmed landscape, most of them where a river found a resistant cap rock instead of the soft till around it. Around Logan in the southeast, Hocking Hills' cliffs and gorges are cut into Black Hand Sandstone. In the northeast, a cap of Berea Sandstone over softer shale lets Brandywine Creek and the Chagrin River drop cleanly into the Cuyahoga Valley and through a village that took the waterfall's name. The rest are spread one or two to a county, across 11 counties in all.

Where the waterfalls are

Hocking County holds the largest cluster, 7 listings around Hocking Hills State Park: Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, Conkles Hollow and the more remote Big Spring Hollow Falls in the adjoining state forest. Cuyahoga County has 6 listings and neighboring Summit County has 3, split between Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Cleveland Metroparks, home to Bridal Veil Falls and Mill Creek Falls. Miami County has 3 falls on small western creeks, including Ludlow Falls; Ashland County has one in Mohican State Park; and Adams County's listing drops over limestone in the Edge of Appalachia preserve. Single falls round out Highland, Knox, Lake, Geauga and Tuscarawas counties. Beyond these, Clifton Gorge on the Little Miami River in Greene County has the 40-foot Amphitheater Falls in neighboring John Bryan State Park.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Ash Cave Falls, 83 feet, drops into a horseshoe-shaped shelter with a 700-foot rim, reached by a paved, wheelchair-accessible quarter-mile trail.
• Cedar Falls, 50 feet, carries more water than any other fall in Hocking County and is often named Ohio's most-photographed waterfall.
• Upper Falls, 15 feet, opens the Old Man's Cave gorge trail, an accessible paved walk of over half a mile from the visitor center; the loop continues past Middle Falls to the 25-foot Lower Falls over about 1 to 1.5 miles.
• Big Spring Hollow Falls, 120 feet by state lidar survey, is Ohio's tallest confirmed waterfall, reached by a 1.2-mile trail off Big Pine Road in Hocking State Forest and running only after heavy rain or snowmelt.
• Brandywine Falls, 55 feet, drops inside Cuyahoga Valley National Park; a boardwalk reaches an accessible upper view, about 80 steps lead to a lower deck, and the 90-space lot often fills by 10 a.m. on weekends.
• Blue Hen Falls, 12 feet, is a 3-mile round trip with 580 feet of climbing from the Boston Trailhead.
• Chagrin Falls, 20 feet, drops through the village that took its name, once the site of nine mills.

When to go

Spring is the reliable season: Old Man's Cave runs strongest from late April through mid-May and can be down to a trickle by late July, and the smaller Cedar Falls in the Edge of Appalachia preserve follows the same pattern. Big Spring Hollow Falls flows only after heavy rain or snowmelt, and Ash Cave forms an ice dome in January and February. At Brandywine Falls, heavier flow follows storms while a thinner flow shows off its veil pattern best, and ice can close the boardwalk in winter. Hocking Hills' trails stay open dawn to dusk all year.

Admission and closures

Hocking Hills State Park charges no admission at Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, Old Man's Cave or Conkles Hollow. Cuyahoga Valley National Park also has no entrance fee, with 2026 fee-free days including February 16 and July 3-5; the park bans entry within 50 feet of Brandywine Falls and bans climbing there and at Blue Hen Falls. Buttermilk Falls, also in Summit County, is posted private property closed to the public: follow the postings. The Edge of Appalachia preserve is free but bans pets, bikes, camping and swimming on its Cedar Falls trail. Chagrin Falls bans swimming and diving from the riverfront, and its stairway rebuild, begun in October 2025, has left the viewing steps only partly open.

Safety

Cuyahoga Valley's rules point to real hazards: wet rock at the top and bottom of Brandywine Falls, and a steep, rocky trail to Blue Hen Falls. Hocking Hills' trail map tells visitors to stay on marked paths, bans swimming and wading, and warns that steps and ledges ice over in winter. Below Cedar Falls in the Edge of Appalachia preserve, cliffs above the gorge run up to 70 feet, and hikers must stay on the trail.