Clear Creek Flooding

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STEVEN KINSER
Clear Creek Park Manager

Flooding off Starner Road on July 1, and comparison three weeks later after waters had receded. Photos Steven Kinser

Clear Creek experienced several storms with heavy rain towards the end of June. On the evening of June 30, we received several inches of rainfall which caused the creek to rise above normal pool. The following morning it rained like I had never seen in my 10 years at Clear Creek. We received roughly 3.5 inches of rain in about 45 minutes. This caused the ditches and valleys to look like rivers and caused Clear Creek to rise to 12.5 feet above normal levels.

At one point, we had trees down on powerlines on all major roads coming in and out of the park. We could only go to Creekside Meadows and back. Luckily, we didn’t have any visitors trapped at the Fern Picnic Area. But, it was still after 7pm before AEP was able to get Clear Creek Road open at US33, so staff members could leave.

A sea of mud. The junction of Clear Creek Road and Starner Road on July 1. Photo Steven Kinser

The waters continued to spill over the banks of Clear Creek, covering the road and Creekside Meadows. At one point in the evening Creekside Meadows was under roughly 2 feet of water. The next morning Clear Creek had receded but left downed trees, lots of mud and debris everywhere.

Creekside Meadows, largely under water, on July 1. Photo Steven Kinse

We began assessing the damage. Most of the trails were severely eroded but passable. A culvert failed on the Cemetery Ridge Trail, which caused a 13-foot-deep sink hole to form on the trail edge. The pet trail needed to be moved in several spots where the stream bank had collapsed, causing portions of the trail to fall into the creek. A foot bridge that was built by Eagle Scouts was destroyed by flood waters and will need to be completely rebuilt. So, we still have a long road ahead of us. We still have trees falling almost on a daily basis due to the ground being saturated. We’ve cleared close to 30 trees on Clear Creek Road and on the trails since the storm.

An Eagle Scout foot bridge was destroyed by the flooding and will need to be rebuilt. The excessive rain also caused this, and other, temporary waterfalls down rock faces. Photos Steven Kinser

The staff at Clear Creek were heroic in their efforts to clean up the park, and we also had great assistance from the Metro Parks Roving Crew and Resource Management staff. Thanks to all their effort, we were able to get Clear Creek Road and most of the park’s trails back open before the July 4th holiday weekend.

2 thoughts on “Clear Creek Flooding”

  1. I’m so sorry to hear about the damage to Clear Creek Park. It is one of my favorite places to hike and I fish there all year long.

  2. I was sad to see the damage to Clear Creek Park. It is one of my favorite places in Ohio, especially during the spring avian migration. The park employees are to complimented for their efforts to clean up the park and make it available to the public.

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