Yellow Springs, Ohio

Yellow Springs is the home of Antioch University. The 1960's hippie culture is still alive and well in Yellow Springs. If you're not wearing a tie-died shirt, bellbottoms and sandals, you must be a tourist. The 78-mile-long (and still growing) scenic Little Miami River asphalt bikeway is just east of downtown. Bike 10 miles south to the town of Xenia. The three-story resurrected train station in downtown Xenia is the hub of 5 paved bike paths radiating in all directions through rural southwest Ohio. The village of Yellow Springs takes its name from a natural spring located in nearby Glen Helen Preserve which is rich in iron ore, leaving a yellowish-orange coloring on the rocks.
While in Yellow Springs, visit the nearby town of Clifton. Feast on frisbee-size pancakes at the Historic Clifton Mill. Eat your flapjacks made from grain that has been stone ground from the adjacent mill. The food is a little pricey by Midwest standards, but the proportions would humble even Paul Bunyan. After your meal, walk 1/2 mile south and enter the world of seclusion and tranquility in Clifton Gorge State Park. For those truly calorie-guilty, hike the entire length of Clifton Gorge and Glen Helen parks that completely connect the towns of Clifton and Yellow Springs. Clifton is the birthplace of Woody Hayes. Is that something to be proud of?