As much as I love cities and all things urban, I have always enjoyed a nice Sunday drive.  Today we decided to drive our new 50 mpg vehicle up to Yellow Springs.  I had been their once before but this time I wanted to focus on John Bryan State Park and Clifton Gorge.  To get there you head northeast on I-71 and eventually exist on route 68 where the big RL Carriers trucking company is off the interstate.  Route 68 will run you through Xenia known as the Tornado capital of Ohio where you will see a depressing downtown that decided to rebuild in the form of strip malls after several tornados leveled the city.  If you stay on 68 past Xenia, it will run you through Yellow Springs and you will see signs for John Bryan State Park.  

I will start off by saying that I had no idea this park was this impressive.  From a topography standpoint, it is breathtaking.  Now I have heard from several coworkers and friends that it was a nice park but what continues to amaze me is that Ohio has all these fantastic treasures and yet the state does such a miserable job promoting them.  I have several photos in my private collection of my daughter where if you were to guess her location you would think it was somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and not in the Midwest.  

I will say that we hit the jackpot of Sunday drives.  The key is beautiful weather and it also helps when you are breaking in a new vehicle but overall this hike through John Bryan State Park was one of my favorite hikes.  I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been.  The gorge was breathtaking and while it might not have been as stunning as the Partnach Gorge I visited in the Alps, it is definitely worthy in its own right.  After our nice but exhausting hike, we eventually made our way to Young’s Dairy.  While Graeters is legendary in Cincinnati, Young’s Dairy offers some of the best custard/ice cream in the Dayton region.  Coming from a custard city like St. Louis, I have had my fair share of custard and Young’s can hold their own with the best of them.  Young’s offers a great experience for children.  My daughter and her friend spent over an hour at the petting area of the farm.  I personally think the concept is brilliant.  Here you have a farm that you pay money (10 cents per handful) to feed their animals.  Overall it made for a great day with a nice range of activities.

To keep things simple I created a Yellow Springs gallery that includes the photos taken at Clifton Mill, Clifton Gorge and the rest of John Bryan State Park, Young’s Dairy and downtown Yellow Springs.