Nature Awed

Clear Creek State Nature Preserve

Fairfield and Hocking counties, Ohio · 12 trail miles in ODNR's guide

Our take written by Nature Awed

The preserve at Clear Creek, named for Allen F. Beck, covers 4,769 acres of the valley inside Clear Creek Metro Park, where glacial meltwater cut a gorge through Black Hand sandstone.

ODNR records over 800 vascular plant species from the preserve, including great rhododendron, mountain laurel and eastern hemlock, and it reports 18 or more warbler species nesting within Clear Creek Valley. Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks owns and manages it, with over 12 miles of hiking trails.

Our plain-language reading of the ODNR text quoted on this page. It adds no facts of its own.

Verify current visiting hours and access restrictions with ODNR's page for this preserve and ODNR's permit page before relying on this summary.

What ODNR says about it

The Clear Creek Valley is a special scientific, scenic and geologic area. Centuries of flooding by glacial meltwater have cut the present gorge area through Black Hand sandstone, leaving behind scenic cliffs and rugged formations overlooking Clear Creek. This preserve honors former Columbus businessman, Allen F. Beck, who in the 1920s recognized the area's intrinsic values and began acquiring and nurturing these lands.
ODNR: Clear Creek State Nature Preserve · our check found this text on October 14
Later, the lands were donated to the Columbus/Franklin County Metro Parks to become the nucleus of this large natural resource conservation area. More than 800 vascular plant species have been recorded from the preserve including great rhododendron, mountain laurel, trailing arbutus, creeping phlox and eastern hemlock, in a close relationship with the typical oak-hickory forest of this region. At least 18 species of warblers are reported to nest within Clear Creek Valley.
ODNR: Clear Creek State Nature Preserve · our check found this text on October 14
The 4,769-acre Allen F. Beck State Nature Preserve is part of Clear Creek Metro Park which is owned and managed by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks.
ODNR: Clear Creek State Nature Preserve · our check found this text on October 14

Trails

ODNR's trail notes
  • Over 12 miles of hiking trails.
ODNR: Clear Creek State Nature Preserve · our check found this text on October 14

In ODNR's preserve guide

Our table of the guide's row for Clear Creek (Hocking County). The row as printed is quoted below.
Address185 Clear Creek Rd, Rockbridge, 43149
Trails (miles)12
Visitor informationClear Creek Metro Park • metroparks.net • Owned and managed by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks
The guide's row
Clear Creek Hocking 185 Clear Creek Rd Rockbridge, 43149 12 Clear Creek Metro Park • metroparks.net • Owned and managed by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks
ODNR: Ohio State Nature Preserves & Natural Areas Guide (PDF) · our check found this text on October 14

Access permit

Clear Creek State Nature Preserve is not on ODNR's list of preserves that require an access permit, and its ODNR page as quoted here doesn't call for one. ODNR also says: An access permit is required to leave trails within a state nature preserve. (ODNR: State Nature Preserves Access Permit).

The land on ODNR's map

Field values as ODNR's GIS lands layer returns them (one row per mapped feature; our checker found them on October 14).
LANDS_NAMECOUNTYPROP_TYPESUM_CALC_ACRESMANAGING_AGENCY
Clear Creek State Nature PreserveFAIRFIELDDedicated Nature Preserve1670.28Metro Parks
Clear Creek State Nature PreserveHOCKINGDedicated Nature Preserve3279.31Metro Parks
Our calculations from those features, re-computed at each check.
Mapped acres4,949.59 (our sum of the parcels ODNR's GIS layer maps under this name)
Access permitNo whole-preserve permit requirement identified in the sources we check; named-area or activity permits may still apply
Centre of mapped land39.5920, -82.6026 (our calculation; not an entrance or parking lot)

Statewide rules

Ohio Administrative Code chapter 1501:17 sets rules for nature preserves and natural areas under ODNR's supervision or its designated custodian, on pets, drones, picnics, collecting and more. Can I…? quotes them rule by rule, with their exceptions.

Pets are prohibited at all state nature preserves, except Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve where leashed pets are only allowed on the multipurpose paved trail.
ODNR: Ohio State Nature Preserves & Natural Areas Guide page · our check found this text on October 14

Check before you go. Verify current hours, access and trail information on ODNR: Clear Creek State Nature Preserve and ODNR: State Nature Preserves Access Permit; our checker last found the quoted words there on October 14.

Nearest other preserves

Straight-line miles between the centres of mapped land (our calculation), not driving distance.