Fallsville Falls

A series of small shelves provides aquatic punctuation to Clear Creek in Highland County. This small stream (not to be confused with the much better known Clear Creek in Hocking County - or any of the other Clear Creeks in Ohio) flows through the 1,400 acre Fallsville Wildlife Area. Just downstream from where I made this photo is the namesake of the (former) local town, and wildlife area.

I basically turned 180 degrees to make this shot. Clear Creek cascades off a 15-20 cliff, and into a small limestone box canyon. For waterfall photographers, this is a place that you want to visit hard on the heels of lots of rain. The stream fairly quickly recedes to a comparative trickle, and seeing these falls with lots of water gushing over the precipice is the way to go.

We had just had a few days of intermittent heavy rains, but that had ceased by the time I visited on Saturday morning. The creek was still high and the effect was spectacular. I've seen most of the notable falls in Ohio, but this one had eluded me until now. It was well worth the visit, and I look forward to a later visit when its green and leafy. Or, better yet, with lots of autumn color AND high water.

The falls is quite easy to access from a small parking lot on Careytown Road not far south of the area headquarters. They even have a sign, "Falls", marking the lot. From there, it's an easy one-half mile hike.

Here's a view looking upstream from below the falls. Architecturally ornate limestone shelves line the banks in places.

The slope on the right side of this image was awash in scores of snow trillium, Trillium nivale, in peak bloom. A botanical perk, to be sure!

Fallsville Falls rendered in black and white. While March is usually a great month for shooting waterfalls with good flow rates, the surrounding woodlands usually look somewhat blah and orangish. Not in monochrome! I hope to return here in about a month, when plants are leafing out, and hopefully some flowering redbud trees provide colorful punctuation!