We enjoyed Glen Helen so much that we decided to take another walk at Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve, about two miles away. The scenery here was more dramatic, with cliffs and waterfalls and rapids where the Little Miami River cuts through the hills. We stayed about an hour, wandered slowly and enjoyed the view and the weather. By the time we left, the trails were getting somewhat crowded.
Blue Hole, below the rapids. Painter Robert Scott Duncanson painted a rather dramaticized view of this scene in 1851,
The light was brilliant and made each bud on every tree glow. I tried to capture it with my camera, but this is only a vague idea of what it was like.
Legend has it that a friend of Daniel Boone’s jumped across the narrow section of the gorge while escaping from Indians. He didn’t quite make it, but was able to grab a tree growing out of the wall and pull himself up.