Waterfalls in Indiana are somewhat scattered throughout the state. You’ll find a few in one area, a few in another, making it kind of difficult to coordinate seeing a number of them at once. In northern Indiana, you’ll find a number of small yet interesting waterfalls within a few miles of each other. This waterfall is found at the Hathaway Preserve at Ross Run, while the other are found in nearby Salamonie River State Forest and Kokiwanee Nature Preserve.

I visited in May and I believe it had rained just the day before. (It was beautifully sunny when I was hiking to see the falls.) Many of the falls that wouldn’t normally be there were showing up. At the same time, this meant that some of the trails were very muddy and in some cases impassible. I did a lot of hiking up slippery slopes. Ross Run Falls definitely qualifies as the easier of the waterfalls to find, with relatively flat hiking terrain.

You might notice that the water looks very, very cloudy. Runoff from the rain definitely made the water opaque. It was fascinating to see the water in such a state. While this waterfall isn’t particularly tall, it was fun to find waterfalls in an area of the state that you might not otherwise expect waterfalls.

Directions:

1. There are a number of ways to get to the preserve, either from the cities of Wabash or Lagro, or from the other two preserves. It might be easiest to explain directions from Lagro.
2. From Lagro, head south on IN-524.
3. IN-524 will head south, veer east for a short ways, and then head south again. Make sure to stay on IN-524.
4. After maybe a mile, you’ll come to E Baumbauer Road on your right. Turn right here.
5. After approximately 1.5 miles, you’ll come to Hathaway Preserve. It will be a circular gravel parking area on your right (assuming you’re heading west).
6. From the parking area, the hike to the falls isn’t particularly difficult.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 6′
Length of Hike: 0.7 miles round-trip

Ross Run Falls in May 2017

Where in the World is Ross Run Falls?