Cool off with a hike at Clinton Gorge Nature Preserve
Step into Ohio’s tumultuous geological past and out of the demands of everyday life. This 2.7-mile hike travels through impressive overlooks of the raging Little Miami River, slump-block caves, and a bevy of wildflowers in the spring. The best times to visit are in the spring, summer, and fall.
This bottomland area is very cool and humid, which allows for a variety of mosses and succulents to grow in the nooks and crannies of the dolomite.
American beech, cottonwood, and sycamore trees provide additional shade.
In spring look for Jack-in-the-pulpit, spring beauties, snow trillium, bloodroot, and hepaticas.
In 1851, the African-American artist Robert Duncanson painted a picture of the Blue Hole of the Little Miami River. The painting is on display at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Explore the slump-block cave which was formed when water dissolved softer rock and instead of a block of rock falling away from the cliff, the block fell towards the cliff creating a cave.
The cave is several feet deep, wet, a little creepy, and fun with kids.
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