Clear Creek Metro Park: 5,470 Acres of Hidden Biodiversity

Twenty-five minutes north of Old Man's Cave, a park that most Hocking Hills visitors never hear about contains more documented biodiversity than any comparable site in Ohio. Clear Creek Metro Park spans 5,470 acres across Hocking and Fairfield Counties and harbors 2,200+ documented species of plants and animals — including species found nowhere else in the state.

Ohio's Largest State Nature Preserve

Within Clear Creek's boundaries lies the Allen F. Beck State Nature Preserve — at 4,729 acres, it is Ohio's largest state nature preserve. The preserve protects a landscape of sandstone gorges, hemlock ravines, prairie openings, and mixed mesophytic forest that together create the habitat diversity responsible for the park's extraordinary species count.

The headline residents are Ohio's last remaining rhododendron colonies — great rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) clinging to the sandstone gorge walls in dense, evergreen thickets. These are Appalachian plants at the extreme northwestern edge of their range, surviving in Clear Creek's sheltered gorges the same way eastern hemlocks persist in Hocking Hills — as glacial relicts in protected microclimates.

The Trails

Clear Creek offers approximately 14–15 miles of trails ranging from easy to strenuous:

Prairie Warbler Trail (0.6 miles, easy): A short loop through grassland habitat that supports the park's namesake warbler species. Good for birding in spring and summer.

Hemlock Trail (moderate): Descends into a hemlock-lined gorge that produces some of the best breeding warbler habitat in southern Ohio. Canada Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Hermit Thrush nest here — species rare this far south.

Chestnut Ridge Trail (2.5 miles, strenuous): Climbs through sandstone formations and ridge-top forest. The most physically demanding trail in the park but rewarding for wildflowers and geology.

Benua Loop Trail (opened 2021): A newer trail providing access to the historic Benua property — one of the park's more recent acquisitions.

Creekside Meadows Trail (1 mile): The only trail in the park where dogs are allowed. Located west of Starner Road. All other trails prohibit pets.

A Birding Destination of State Significance

Clear Creek is an Audubon-designated Important Bird Area with over 160 documented species and 100+ nesting species annually. The park's combination of hemlock gorges, mixed hardwood forest, prairie openings, and stream corridors creates habitat for an unusually dense concentration of breeding warblers — an estimated 18–20 species nest here each year.

Key breeding species include Cerulean Warbler (globally significant — Clear Creek harbors part of southern Ohio's core breeding population), Black-throated Green Warbler, Canada Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush. The annual Birds in the Hills festival, organized by Rural Action and the Ohio Ornithological Society, uses Clear Creek as a primary birding site.

Comparison to Hocking Hills State Park

Clear Creek and Hocking Hills complement each other perfectly. Hocking Hills has the dramatic geological features — the recess caves, the named waterfalls, the deep gorges. Clear Creek has the biodiversity — more species in a single park than most Ohio counties contain. Hocking Hills draws 4+ million visitors annually; Clear Creek is comparatively quiet even on weekends. For visitors staying more than one day, combining both parks provides a far richer experience than either one alone.

Clear Creek is managed by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks — a different agency than ODNR, which manages Hocking Hills State Park. The park is free with no entrance fee. Hours are dawn to dusk. The main entrance is off OH-33 between Lancaster and Logan.