About Lanterman’s Falls
Lantermans Falls (I’ve also seen it referred to as Lanterman’s Falls) seemed to give me Sleepy Hollow vibes for some strange reason.
Perhaps its appearance right next to the historic Lanterman’s Mill with an attractive covered bridge further upstream made this place seem like it ought to be associated with some kind of lore or legend.
At the same time, I keep thinking that the name of this waterfall was Lanternman’s Falls so the “lantern man” misnomer got me thinking about the Headless Horseman himself!
I couldn’t help but envision this place during twilight or in the evening hours with the mill illuminating just enough to see the silhouette of the Headless Horseman riding through the covered bridge.
Indeed, this place could pass for Sleepy Hollow
In any case, as you can see in the photo above, this waterfall had a scenic allure that combines all of these heritage elements with a pleasing 20ft waterfall to boot.
Experiencing Lantermans Falls
From the signposted parking area for Mill Creek Park or Lanterman’s Mill (see directions below), we followed a well-defined trail towards the road bridge.
The trail followed alongside Mill Creek (part of the East Gorge Walk) beneath the road bridge (Canfield Road) before we immediately started to get our views of the mill and waterfall once we emerged on the other side of the bridge.
A few paces further, we reached a junction where we had the option of going up the stairs to the bridge spanning Mill Creek on Canfield Road or continuing to descend to Lanterman’s Mill.
Going up to Canfield Road, we were able to peer down at the Lanterman’s Mill and Falls from various angles.
Perhaps the most satisfying angle was towards the far end of the bridge where we also got to see the covered bridge immediately upstream from the mill and falls (see picture at the top of this page).
It was a little bit nerve wracking up at the bridge due to the quantity of cars whizzing by at the same time there was a sheer drop right down into the gorge on the other side of us.
Still, I figured that this was the best spot for photographs.
Going down the steps all the way to the bottom brought us face-to-face with the entrance to Lanterman’s Mill.
There were a few display items showing some grinding stones or wheels outside, but we had to pay $2 to tour the inside of the mill itself.
The mill was said to still be in operation like it had been back when it was first built in 1845-1846 by German Lanterman and Samuel Kimberly.
The mill used the power of Mill Creek to grind corn, wheat, and buckwheat.
There was a trail going further downstream towards the Canfield Rd bridge where it dead-ended at yet another lookout peering back towards Lantermans Falls and Mill at an angle near the creek level.
There were also some gorge walls here hinting at the geological forces allowing for this waterfall to exist.
Walking further upstream to the left of the mill, there was a restroom facility as well as a viewing area adjacent to the mill allowing us to view Lantermans Falls from its brink.
As we continued a little further upstream, that was where we saw the attractive covered bridge spanning Mill Creek.
The trails continued both further downstream as well as across the creek, but the bridge was our turnaround point.
Nevertheless, we saw many locals on their morning jogs so I’d imagine this was a popular park for Youngstown residents looking to chill or for a bit of exercise.
Overall, we spent about 50 minutes away from the car.
Authorities
Lantermans Falls resides by the Lanerman’s Mill near Youngstown in Mahoning County, Ohio. It is administered by Mill Creek Metroparks. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
We based ourselves in Cleveland, which seemed to be a pretty central location to do a mix of city stuff as well as the waterfalling excursions in its surroundings.
Driving from Cleveland to Lanterman’s Mill
If we were to drive to Lantermans Falls directly from Cleveland, we would go south on the I-77 for about 17 miles to the I-80 (Ohio Turnpike toll road) heading east.
We would then drive about 52 miles east on the I-80 eventually merging onto the I-680 south.
Next, we would follow the I-680 south for a little over the next 5 miles before leaving the freeway on exit 5 to High Street.
We would then continue on High Street for about 0.3 miles to Glenwood Ave.
Turning left onto Glenwood Ave, we would drive south for about 2 miles before turning right onto Canfield Rd (Route 625).
After another 0.5 miles on Canfield Rd, we would then turn right onto Cohasset Dr (there’s a sign here indicating Lanterman’s Mill and Covered Bridge), where after some 400ft, we would see the parking area for Lanterman’s Mill.
Driving from Paine Falls to Lanterman’s Mill
We actually drove to Mill Creek Park from Paine Falls.
The route we took from the Paine Falls Metropark followed Paine Rd south for just under 4 miles (becoming Brakeman Rd along the way) before we turned left onto Route 86 (Painesville-Warren Rd).
Then, we followed the Route 86 for a little over 15 miles before making another left onto the US Highway 322.
Next, we followed the Hwy 322 east for about 11.5 miles to the Ohio State Hwy 11.
We then drove south on the Hwy 11 for about 26 miles before transitioning onto the Hwy 711.
After about 3.3 miles on the Hwy 711, we then interchanged onto the I-680, where we then drove for about 2 miles to the exit 5 onto High Street.
Once we got onto High Street, we then followed the directions as stated above to reach the Mill Creek Park.
Overall, our drive between Paine Falls and Lantermans Falls took about an hour and 15 minutes.
I’m sure this drive would be comparable in duration for the route straight from Cleveland to Youngstown then to the waterfall.
For some additional geographical context, Cleveland, Ohio was 39 miles (under an hour drive) north of Akron, Ohio, 169 miles (over 2.5 hours drive) south and east of Detroit, Michigan, 133 miles (over 2 hours drive) northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and 142 miles (over 2 hours drive) north of Columbus, Ohio.
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Upstream to downstream sweep of the brink of Lanterman's Falls before showing the context of the lookout ending at Lanterman's Mill
Movie showing all the different ways we were able to view the falls from its front starting at the road bridge then working my way down to the lowermost overlook from beneath the road bridge itself
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