Winter is awesome and you should learn to love it instead of just tolerating it for a few months.
I know that opinion is different from most people that live in northeast Ohio and I’ll confess that for the longest time I was one of those “I hate winter” people. But we got a husky/golden retriever mix back in 2009 and he LOVED the cold and snow and so I was forced to walk him in those abysmal conditions.
We started hiking together around here in all seasons and I discovered the beauty of our local parks, both Cleveland Metro Parks and Summit Metro Parks, not to mention a lot of local community parks. And while nothing compares to the beauty of fall in the CLE, snowy scenes around here are a close second!
One of my favorite winter scenes is a snowy waterfall, especially if the snow is very fresh and the tree branches are snow-covered. There are basically two states of waterfalls around here in the winter: frozen or free-flowing. While I appreciate the beauty of certain frozen waterfalls in the area, I definitely prefer the free flowing ones in a snowy situation.
Some of my favorite spots include Quarry Rock Falls in the South Chagrin Reservation, the Great Falls of Tinkers Creek in Viaduct Park, Sulphur Springs, also in South Chagrin, and the Hemlock Creek Picnic Area in the Bedford Reservation. Here are a few recent pics from those areas, you can see I’m obsessed with visiting and photographing the dozens of waterfalls in the area!
If you want to go out and explore some snowy, winter waterfalls there might still be an opportunity to do so even though we’re late in the season. I think we all know we’ll get AT LEAST one more good snowfall before spring arrives. Here’s a little more information on each of those spots listed above.
Quarry Rock Falls is located in the Quarry Rock Picnic Area of the South Chagrin Reservation. The falls are viewable from above from an observation platform that’s just about 50′ from a small parking lot; you can also take a very short, slightly downhill walk to get below the falls for a different view. The river is very shallow so the flow of the falls is subject to reasonably wet conditions in the area. In other words, July and August are probably NOT good times for a visit.
Viaduct Park in Bedford hosts the Great Falls of Tinkers Creek, my favorite local waterfall. It’s incredibly scenic and offers a beautiful view at almost any time of the year (except summer, unless we get a heavy rain). Finding the falls is simple, a paved path from the parking lot leads directly to an observation deck above the falls; probably a quarter-mile or so. And you can also take a rustic path to get down below the falls or explore a bit along Tinkers Creek downstream to the viaduct tunnel (known historically as “the Arch”) constructed in 1901.
Sulphur Springs is a fairly short body of water that travels through the South Chagrin Reservation before terminating in the Chagrin River. Though short and shallow, the creek boasts 6-7 waterfalls along its short path! The first is in the Sulphur Springs Picnic Area and the rest are spread out along the route. The one shown here is a little ways down the creek and findable from a trail that originates from a small parking area and travels above the small gorge. You’ll need to go slightly off trail closer to the gorge to catch sight of these falls.
And finally, Hemlock Creek is a small brook that terminates into Tinkers Creek at the Hemlock Creek Picnic Area in the Beford Reservation. These little falls are extremely variable related to the season and the weather. They don’t ever dry up but oftentimes the flow is fairly low; in the right conditions, they’re stunning. These falls are located directly adjacent to the parking area with great viewing locations beside the falls or from the roadway leading into the park.
Spring is imminent but we may still get some snow, so if you want to experience something different, go check out one or more of these beautiful spots with the next snowfall!
