Lake Erie is the second smallest of the Great Lakes, and unfortunately has a bad reputation due to pollution and industry. In the lake's industrial heyday a few of its tributaries caught fire, most notably the Cuyahoga in the 50's and 60's. Since then great efforts have been made to clean the lake up. There is still natural beauty to be found around the lake, and surprisingly there are waterfalls.

The waterfalls are almost exclusively found along the southern shore of Lake Erie. On the north side of the lake all the waterfalls, with one exception, fall over the Niagara Escarpment away from Lake Erie. A waterfall tour around Lake Erie would start in Elyria, 30 miles west of Cleveland, where you can find West Falls and East Falls. A little farther east is Berea Falls.

Just south of Cleveland is Cuyahoga Valley National Park, one of the newest National Parks, where you will find Brandywine Falls, Blue Hen Falls, and Buttermilk Falls. There are also miles of hiking and biking paths and old canal locks to look at.

Closer to Cleveland you will find the Great Falls of Tinker's Creek. The Tinker's Creek Gorge is quite impressive and contains a number of cascades, small waterfalls and seasonal waterfalls. In Cleveland proper you can find Mill Creek Falls.

East of Cleveland is Chagrin Falls, Paine Creek Falls and Chair Factory Falls. Pennsylvania owns 50 miles of the Lake Erie shoreline. Howard Falls is a private waterfall in Franklin Township in Erie County.

In New York there are a fair number of waterfalls that empty into Lake Erie. Many of these are smaller waterfalls. In Zoar Valley you can find the 10' Zoar Falls and several other waterfalls. Several small waterfalls can be found near Arkwright. Eternal Flame Falls features a natural gas source that can be lit.

Your tour of Lake Erie Waterfalls would end at Niagara Falls by which Lake Erie empties into Lake Ontario. Technically this is not in the Lake Erie watershed, but it is a mighty impressive waterfall.

This map shows the location of some of the significant waterfalls around Lake Erie.