Friends of Clifty Falls State Park

Geology and The Falls

Black = watershed boundaries, blue = creeks (north is up). All the rainwater that falls onto that area heads to to the park - with all it carries. Note that area of the watershed on the east side is by far the largest.

Some Basic Geology

Glacial meltwater helped formed streams such as Big Clifty Creek. Its path probably began with a waterfall near and above the Ohio River and, over time, moved upstream as the waterfall’s erosive power carved out the Big Clifty Creek canyon, creating the area that is now Clifty Falls State Park.

Big Clifty Creek, with its Big Clifty Falls at the park’s north end, is the main stream that cuts the canyon north-to-south and drains into the Ohio River. The river bed is home to many fossils.

The important east-side tributaries are Little Clifty Creek (Little Clifty Falls), Deans Branch (Tunnel Falls), and an unnamed creek (Hoffman Falls). Smaller tribs have cut smaller falls that can sometimes be seen from the trails.

The major waterfalls all run over a harder rock layer called the Saluda Formation. The water in the image of Big Clifty Falls above is running over that formation.

The west side of the park is very different. The overall geology and landform here tilts to the west, so rainfall easily cuts the landscape on the “downhill” from east side into the canyon; but on the west, there are fewer east-flowing streams and those are short and close to the rim. Most noteworthy is the small unnamed creek that produces Wallace Falls.

If you do a rim-to-rim hike, the structural differences between the west side of the canyon and the east side become more clear through your feet.

Little Crooked Creek runs along the road up from the south entrance, on the west side of the road. At the bridge over the creek are two falls – informally called Redbud Falls on the left and Dogwood Falls on the right. Little Crooked Creek drains into Crooked Creek (emerging from the city of Madison), then onto the Ohio River, separate from Big Clifty Creek.

map showing locations of waterfalls in Clifty Falls State Park

The Waterfalls

The Park contains numerous waterfalls - one on the main stem, five on tributary streams, and several smaller ones down the canyon walls.

The largest waterfalls in the park are Big Clifty Falls - sometimes referred to as just "Clifty Falls" (on Big Clifty Cr.) and Little Clifty Falls (on Little Clifty Cr.). Both are at the north end (to see, start at north parking area).

Tunnel Falls (on Deans Branch Cr.) and Hoffman Falls (on Hoffman Cr.) are located along the east side (to see, start at their respective parking areas).

Two waterfalls are on Little Crooked Cr. at the south entrance to the park - Redbud Falls and Dogwood Falls (note: the names are reversed in the image due to software glitch).

There are numerous other small runoff-related falls throughout the park along the canyon walls, including the named Wallace Falls (to see, park at Oak Grove Shelter and take Trail 5 down to the left, then down to Trail 2) on the west side. Others are displayed in this map as yellow/black dots.

All of the falls are primarily runoff-fed and so the most impressive flows (as seen below) come after large rainfall events. But flows are sustained even after these events at the largest falls .