Sharon Woods Gorge State Nature Preserve
Hamilton County, Ohio · 0.8 trail miles in ODNR's guide
Our take written by Nature Awed
Sharon Woods Gorge in Hamilton County has a 90-foot cliff along Sharon Creek that exposes Ordovician fossils from an inland sea, with ripple marks still visible on the creek bed.
The forest above is mainly beech, maple and ash. The preserve is part of Sharon Woods Park, owned and managed by Great Parks of Hamilton County, and the guide gives 0.8 miles of trail.
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 90-foot cliff of the gorge of Sharon Creek found in this preserve has been known to professional and amateur paleontologists and geologists for many years as an excellent exposure of Ordovician fossils. More than 450 million years ago, this region of Ohio was covered by a vast inland sea.
The fossilized remains of the marine creatures which inhabited this sea have been revealed by the eroding force of Sharon Creek during the formation of the gorge. The floor of the creek bed still shows the wave or ripple marks formed when the present-day rock was the mud floor of the ancient sea. The forest above the gorge is mainly beech, maple and ash with scattered tulip-poplar, oaks, walnuts, hickories and many shrub species.
The preserve is part of Sharon Woods Park and owned and managed by Great Parks of Hamilton County.
In ODNR's preserve guide
| Address | 11450 Lebanon Rd, Cincinnati, 45241 |
|---|---|
| Trails (miles) | 0.8 |
| Visitor information | Owned and managed by Great Parks of Hamilton County • greatparks.org |
Sharon Woods Gorge Hamilton 11450 Lebanon Rd Cincinnati, 45241 0.8 Owned and managed by Great Parks of Hamilton County • greatparks.org
Access permit
Sharon Woods Gorge 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
| LANDS_NAME | COUNTY | PROP_TYPE | SUM_CALC_ACRES | MANAGING_AGENCY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Woods Gorge State Nature Preserve | HAMILTON | Dedicated Nature Preserve | 18.82 | Great Parks of Hamilton County |
| Mapped acres | 18.82 (our sum of the parcels ODNR's GIS layer maps under this name) |
|---|---|
| Access permit | No whole-preserve permit requirement identified in the sources we check; named-area or activity permits may still apply |
| Centre of mapped land | 39.2800, -84.3944 (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.
Check before you go. Verify current hours, access and trail information on ODNR: Sharon Woods Gorge 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.
- Trillium Trails State Nature Preserve · Hamilton County · about 5.1 miles
- Spring Beauty Dell State Nature Preserve · Hamilton County · about 6.2 miles
- Greenbelt State Nature Preserve · Hamilton County · about 7.2 miles
- Newberry Wildlife Sanctuary State Nature Preserve · Hamilton County · about 12 miles
- Halls Creek Woods State Nature Preserve · Warren County · about 14 miles