Charleston Falls Preserve — Attraction in Vandalia

This place is absolutely gorgeous! We went with our 3 year old and 1 year old and because I thought I had seen a review that said it was mostly stroller friendly, we brought the stroller. It is not stroller friendly! I repeat: NOT stroller friendly! At least not if you want to go down to the falls, which is kind of the whole point. There are several flights of stairs to go down and then back up across a bridge, then a path upwards that has large rocks in the path that cannot be traversed with a stroller. We ended up folding it up and carrying it until we got to the top and smooth sailing (pebble gravel). Without the stroller, my 3 year old would have had a hard time going as far as we did though, so there were pros and cons to it.

When we got to the top of the trail after the falls, the path to the left, which goes down steeply, took us to a little spot where we put our feet in and threw some rocks. Not sure if we were supposed to be in the water, but there weren't any signs saying not to... And it was the highlight of our trip! My son lives for throwing rocks into water and this was better than any amusement...

Located about 15 miles Northeast Of Dayton just above Huber Heights, OH FREE to visit about 1 1/2 mile trek from parking lot to falls area. We were there on Saturday, Sept 14th, water was barely a trickle.

Going to give it a four stars only because the water was not running over the falls and we have to go back to get the full experience.. The location was easy to find with my GPS on my phone, but without that I would have gotten lost big time.

The park is nice and the trail is wide. Nice restrooms and lots of parking spaces. There was some people sit up near the trail entrance with pamphlets on their religion which I had to admit made me a little nervous. There wasn't an event scheduled so it felt a little imposing of sorts but I just walked through the grass around them. There are plenty of signs. We were able to walk out the trail with benches to the fall overlook but again it was dry. We went down the stairs to the lower overlook and then out the trail to the cave opening.

Definitely going back after some rain. A little depressing without the water running but it was lovely and quiet, the quiet was...

I’m surprised by the reviews I read. We went yesterday (January 11th), and it was the most majestic thing I’ve ever seen. My son turned 10 today, and despite getting gifts and going to Great Wolf Lodge later in the day, his favorite part was the preserve.

The trails are very nice, well taken care of. The scenery is beautiful. I would’ve liked some additional hand rails once up on the higher parts, but trekking poles make it an easy hike. Some of the steps, especially down by the falls, and very high. Again, I would suggest trekking poles. The rocks are beautiful, the creeks, and the falls ... WOW. When we went, the birch trees were in the background, and then ice was all over the falls. There were icicles all over, and the bottom of the falls was completely covered ice.

The steps, boardwalk, etc are very well maintained. When we were there, there was a ranger and he told us all about it. I strongly urge you to go see the falls in the winter. It’s not muddy, and there’s hardly anyone else there. Definitely a must see. Make sure to bring poles and to have tons of time to...