Chasing Fall and Discovering Ohio’s Natural Beauty Along the Way

“Not all who wander are lost.”

The old cliché has a lot of truth to it. But for those of us who wander intentionally, we understand the quote to be far less encapsulating than the whole truth. We know that wanders are often those who become discoverers.

I have never given Ohio much credit in the natural beauty category. Living in Northwest Ohio for more than half a decade, my main experience has been corn, soybeans, and corn, and soybeans, and not much else. And while I always knew that Ohio has had some views to offer, I chalked up the state as one of farmland and little else beyond the few larger cities that dot the map.

Recently, I have tripled down on developing my photography craft. The experience has brought me back to the feeling of learning something new all over again. Each trip filled me with that fresh excitement you get with a new hobby - learning new tips and tricks that instantly level up your skills at a video-game-like pace, your growth at a full sprint, knowing all too well that it won’t last forever so you may as well catch lightning in a bottle while you still can.

As a nature photographer, part of the excitement of practicing your craft is getting to explore new locations as you seek out new opportunities for landscapes, wildlife, and even magical scenes for macro photography. This type of exploration captured the vast majority of my time away from my 9-5 for most of the last two months, as I chased the fall colors across the state of Ohio. Getting to roam across three corners of the state, I was fortunate enough to bask in some absolutely magical moments and, in the process, was able to discover the true natural beauty of Ohio.

Tinkers Falls – Viaduct Park

Though I initially entered the fall with a focus on bird photography, it was just a weekend-long trip through Ohio in mid-October that shifted my focus to the hunt for the fiery colors of autumn. While the greater Cleveland area is littered with many more waterfalls than one might imagine, it was the first falls on this trip that really captured me.

Before even reaching the falls, we found a group of ducks to observe in the river, watching them feed, and splash, and race around for a good 15-20 minutes before they left the range of my 300mm lens. Down river, however, is where the magic lies in the landforms. With a bit of scrambling, we were able to get up close and personal with the falls, even winding up in the spray zone. It was easy to quickly forget that we were essentially in Cleveland, with the water rushing over the ledge towards us in three large falls. Downstream just a short way was the viaduct itself. I immediately gravitated towards the abyss within the tunnel, capturing an image that I felt serves as an ominous sandbox for whatever dark story the viewer wants to build in their mind.

Cascades Park – West Cascade Falls

Another Cleveland Metropark, Cascades Park is where I finally caught the beautiful fall colors in full swing.

We were greeted by a huge wave of burgundies, coppers, and golds from the parking lot, but it was the West Falls that was our gem on this trip. The 30-plus-foot falls were roaring down just above us as we scrambled to the edge of the Black River. Above the falls sits a stone bridge, that combined with the raging waters, leaves of fire, and overcast sky, allowed me to capture an absolutely fantastical scene. As we left the park, I noticed an artist capturing the wave of colors we walked into in his own way, and was able to snap a shot with him, and the amazing scene he was capturing.

Yellow Springs – Glen Helen, John Bryan State Park, Clifton Gorge

Home to Dave Chappelle, the small town of Yellow Springs is like a Hippie Haven in the Southeastern Ohio hills. But that’s a topic for another day. Rather, it’s the beauty of each of the three public parks, and the unique ways they captured me over multiple trips.

Clifton Gorge is a beautiful, mossy scene, with the cliffs flanked by stoic pines and a fiery set of red and orange-leaved deciduous trees. The gorge itself is violently steep and narrow, and though I couldn’t capture it in an image, I was mesmerized from not only the sound, but the feeling of the rushing water beneath my feet.

Though shorter-lived than I’d hoped, my time at John Bryan was punctuated by observing a blue heron along the river’s edge. At the intersection of a handful of trails is a bridge over the Little Miami River, under which I was able to capture a few photos, and easily my favorite video, of the fall.

Glen Helen is the peak of these preserved lands, with the most captivating scene for me being the beaver pond. Flanked by a sea of golden leaves and birch trees, my imagination ran rampant as we hiked along the boardwalk that kissed the water’s surface, finding evidence of the beaver’s work all over. Of course, one would be remiss not to stop and see the namesake Yellow Spring – a sight that immediately invokes serenity for the troubled mind.

Mohican State Park/State Forest

I had made an earlier trip to Mohican in the fall just as the first glimpses of yellow began to show. That trip did not prepare me for what I was to find in my return.

Following the edge of the river’s gorge, the roads that lead to the Mohican Covered Bridge of the park weave and wind through an electric display of red, orange, and yellow leaves, flanked by the royal green of pines. Walking along these roads dropped me into a world of fairytales and fantasies. I tried my best to capture these scenes in a way that provides that sandbox-like playground – a setting in which the viewer can create a vast, intricate story of their own.

Toledo Botanical Gardens

Admittedly, mid-late fall is not the ideal time to visit the Gardens. The flowers that make this park were obviously no longer in bloom, but a sunny, later afternoon stroll gave me a glimpse of what this park has to offer, and even offered up a fun ethereal moment as well.

The gardens at the park’s northern entrance were plentiful and dense. Though the blossoms were long gone, we took a few moments to sit among the winding paths, imagining the vibrant colors of spring. After passing through the herb garden – which excited my inner culinary-gardener greatly – we found our way across from Crosby Lake in a collection of gardens that took on a very strong feel of English/European countryside estates found in classic literature, with large shrub barriers, rusted gates and windows set in stone walls, and marble statues standing in their glory. Not to be left entirely to imagination, the park did reveal a mystical spot among a stand of bald cypress trees, with the late afternoon sun poking in through the soft greens, yellows, and oranges of their needle-like leaves.

Ohio has so much more to explore, and this intro is barely even a start to exploring the state. But regardless of whether you’re in Ohio or anywhere else in the world, I hope this list can serve the same purpose for you as it does for me – that with a little bit of travel, there’s sure to be something exciting to discover not far from your own backyard.

- Collin

PS – If you want to keep up with these travels across Ohio and beyond, follow my new photography account on Instagram – collinsphotowerks!