For our August adventure day in Ohio, we went to Hemlock Falls.  Tom and I picked up Mom and Bev Shepherd and set out to find the remaining historical markers in Richland County.  We had already gotten all the ones in Mansfield and there were just two outside the city.  Hemlock Falls was described on one of the markers.

Part of the fun of finding the historical markers is finding places that I never knew about before.  Despite living in Richland County for close to 15 years and spending lots of time at Mohican State Park, I had never been to Hemlock Falls.  Mom and Bev have lived in Richland County even longer and neither of them had ever been there or even heard of it.

We found the historical marker with Hemlock Falls on one side and Groveport River, a prehistoric river from 200 million years ago.  In driving to the historic marker, we found the small trailhead for the falls and we returned to it after reading the marker.  The few things I found online about Hemlock Falls all indicated that it was a short walk to the falls.  All of us decided to hit the trail and find the falls.

Although Hemlock Falls is owned and administered by the Richland County Park District, the trail to the falls goes through private property.  There were signs on each side of the trail that told us to stay on the trail.  When we came to a place where the bridge over a creek had been washed away, we paused.  Although they had time to place the intact bridge across the creek downstream, the steps and railing were in a pile at the bottom of the hill.  We had been walking about 1/2 mile by then and decided to let Tom scope out the trail ahead to see how far it was to the falls.

Tom reported that it was only 200 steps to Hemlock Falls, once we got over the creek.  With our help, Mom and Bev both made it safely across the creek and up the other side.  From there, it really was only 200 steps to the falls.

Hemlock Falls is really two waterfalls. One is 80 feet tall and the other is two shorter falls.  Because of all the rain, there was plenty of water coming over the falls and they were absolutely gorgeous.  Mom, Bev, and I stayed close to the first fall, enjoying the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves high overhead.  The Black Hand sandstone rose in towering cliffs above us.  We watched some people playing in the water and sliding on the large boulders in the creek.  The cliffs reminded me of Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park.

Tom clambered up the rocks in search of the second waterfall and brought us back a wonderful picture.  Although it looked beautiful, we decided the path was too challenging for the rest of us.  After enjoying the scenery for a while, we headed back to the car.

After visiting Hemlock Falls, we went to Mt. Jeez for the view, and then found the historical marker at Malabar Farm.  Our final historical marker in Richland County was back in Mansfield and had been dedicated just the week before.

All of us enjoyed our adventure to Hemlock Falls.  The hidden gem is located close to Mohican State Park and the trailhead can be found on Bunkerhill Road near Butler, Ohio.  Check it out if you are in the area.