A Day in Yellow Springs – Ohio’s Hippie Enclave
The counterculture movement is alive and well in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
This hippie-minded village in Southwest Ohio has always sort of fascinated me, ever since I first visited during my college years. It's colorful — often to the point of garishness — exterior drew me in, and its liberal undertones kept me interested.
What can I say? I think I'm a hippie at heart.
Yellow Springs was founded in 1825 by about 100 families who were followers of Welsh social reformer Robert Owen. Their goal was to turn Yellow Springs into the sort of utopian community already in place in New Harmony, Indiana. (However, internal conflicts between the families tore any dreams of utopia apart.)
In 1846, the Little Miami Railway was completed, bringing more business, inhabitants and tourism to Yellow Springs. And so the town began to emerge in a different fashion than intended.
Despite the whole utopian thing not working out, Yellow Springs has always been a bit artsy, and more than a bit open-minded. The town was one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad, and has a long history of racial tolerance. And, in 1979, Yellow Springs was the smallest municipality in the U.S. to pass legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Yellow Springs' free-spirited history is reflected in its many store fronts, eateries and inhabitants. Bright colors adorn most buildings. Many cafes serve only locally-grown food. And don't be surprised to see a barefooted busker or two out on the sidewalks.
Some of my favorite things about Yellow Springs?
The sweaters that telephone poles and trees wear year-round:
All the colorful doors:
The comic shop/used book store where books are organized haphazardly on shelves and the floor with hand-written signs:
Salt water taffy — lots of it:
Specialty stores like the tie-dye shop, or the import stores that sell items from far-off places like Tibet and Peru:
The Winds Cafe and Bakery, which only uses fresh, locally-grown ingredients:
So what exactly is there to DO in Yellow Springs? Well, other than simply wandering around the colorful downtown area and popping in and out of shops and galleries, you can:
- Visit one of two nearby nature preserves (Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and Glen Helen Nature Preserve) and one state park (John Bryan State Park).
- Rent a bike and hit the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
- Check out Young’s Jersey Dairy, which is a working dairy farm but also has lots of family-friendly activities.
Yes, Yellow Springs is a special place. (So special, in fact, that Dave Chappelle even calls it home.) And it's definitely worth visiting if ever you find yourself in Southwest Ohio.
Where to stay in Yellow Springs
There aren't any chain hotels in Yellow Springs, but there are a few B&Bs and inns to choose from. Check out:
- Jailhouse Suites (which, yes, is housed in a former jail!)
- Mills Park Hotel
- Arthur Morgan House Bed & Breakfast
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Have you ever been to Yellow Springs, or to any similar hippie-infused town around the world?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
Hope you don’t mind Amanda but I’m just going to jump into your photos…LOVE the look of that place! Looks like a rainbow in a town =)
Haha, I don’t mind at all, Toni! Wouldn’t it be great if I could go all “Mary Poppins” with these photos so you really could jump into them?
I have never heard of Yellow Springs but now that you’ve introduced us it does look quite nice. Reminds me of San Francisco and a lot of the beach communities in Northern California! If I get back that way I will definitely drop by.
Yellow Springs may not be close to the ocean, but yes, it does kind of have that vibe. Definitely work it into your plan if ever you’re in this part of Ohio!
Thanks for featuring our wonderful little village. It’s a fabulous place to visit and even more fabulous place to live! Can’t imagine living anywhere else!
My pleasure, Johanna! I’ve actually wanted to visit again for a while now so that I could blog about it, and I’m so glad I finally was able to!
Yellow Springs has been in my life ever since I started to drive. Love the Village itself and all of it’s surroundings. Have had many wonderful adventures there. My daughter also attended Antioch College. What an eye opening experience that was!!!!!!!!
Yes, I’m sure going to Antioch would be really interesting!! It’s great to see so many others sharing their love for Yellow Springs. 🙂
Antioch is not merely interesting. The college and the village are inextricably linked. Antioch was first in several important contributions to higher education and has indeed an illustrious history centered in authentic progressive and humane values and commitment to preparing compassionate thinking human beings committed not to profit but to our common good. I am glad people enjoy the village – very glad, but don’t miss that that along with Glen Helen, these values are the very heart of Antioch and YSO. Without them, it’s all window dressing. If you go please enter the glen with a spirit of reverence. You are in the home of the beings who live there. Please stay on trails, and I implore you to carry out every, every speck of garbage you might generate and every cigarette butt. When I was a student, we would never have seen garbage of any kind or cigarette butts in the glen. Please enjoy, open yourself to wonder and leave no trace.
I love the telephone pole sweaters. I have been to New Harmony, Indiana, and I was not a big fan. This town looks much more interesting.
I just found out the sweaters are part of a movement called “yarnbombing” – how cool is that?? Lol.
And I don’t know much about New Harmony… but it’s good to know that Yellow Springs looks more interesting! You should check it out someday if you ever have the chance.
I love Yellow Springs so much that 2 months ago, I packed up my husband and baby and moved from Los Angeles!
Wow! Yes, you must really love it! That’s awesome though. I hope it’s living up to all your expectations!
My husbands family is from here. We now live in NC, but go visit family yearly. Yellow Springs is so laid back friendly. You just get a good vibe being there. Also there is Glen Helen. Where the natural springs can be found along with trails and waterfalls. Its beautiful.
I agree that you just get a good vibe from Yellow Springs – it’s so true! It’s such a laid-back, happy town from what I’ve experienced.
I really need to make it to Glen Helen next time – I’ve heard so many great things, but have never been beyond downtown YS.
My family and I are from Cincinnati and started visiting Yellow Springs about a year ago. Every time we visit we love it more, and have decided we are aiming to call it home. I was astonished to find such a warm welcoming open place in Ohio. I have lived in Cincinnati all of my life and only a little more than an hour away is the dream community I have been trying to find. We visit so often it’s a joke among my friends, and I’m planning my 50th Birthday celebration guess where, Yellow Springs during the October Street Fair. Hopefully we will be able to move there within a year or so. I can’t wait, to be part of this community!
That’s so great that you’re planning a move there! I think it would be a fun place to call home. And it’s great that it’s so small, yet close to many big cities! Perfect.
“Astonished to find a warm welcoming place in Ohio“? Ouch!
I love Yellow Springs. Many years ago, my family went there for my birthday. We ate at Winds, and then I think we went to Young’s Dairy (pretty sure that’s close by) for some ice cream.
The Winds was sooooo good. And yes, Youngs Dairy is indeed close by. We had actually talked about going there, but then we decided to get dessert at Winds instead. So tasty!
It looks like such a cool place, and I never really thought I would say that about Ohio (but I’ve never been there so how can I know?).
I love the colors. And, thanks to my Mom, I’m totally a hippie at heart too!
Haha, yes, Ohio can actually be cool once in a while! 😉
The colors are so fun there. I was snapping photos every few feet. Hopefully my friend didn’t mind! And, I blame my mother for my hippie tendencies, too…. 😉
Went to school in Dayton for several years and never made it over here even though I constantly heard about it. So, I finally got to see what it looks like, thanks!
Bummer that you never made it out there! It’s such a fun place to roam around for an afternoon. I actually could have stayed much longer, but all the shops closed up at 6 p.m., so my friend and I had to cut our adventure short.
I didn’t know Ohio and a cute, artsy hippie village! It looks adorable. I have to ask, what is that object on the toast in your food photo? Is it eggs benedict, with all but the yolk cut out of the egg? Or butter? I’m intrigued!
Yes, Ohio does in fact have a cute, artsy hippie village! And I kind of love it. Lol.
And that stuff on the toast is actually cheese! It’s called d’Affinois triple cream cheese, and it spread almost like butter on that toasted bread. Mmmm.
I simply adore quaint, hippie towns! This one definitely seems worth a visit, if not for the sweater-clad telephone poles alone.
I got really excited every time I saw something wearing a “sweater.” Haha. Telephone poles, trees, stop signs… these crocheted wonders were everywhere! I really should try to figure out why they’re there…
But yes, if you enjoy little hippie towns, you’d love this one!
Our website yarnbombing page explains why there is all the yarnbombing. The photo you took of the telegraph pole is by jafalass Karen and she calls it Karma Corner 🙂 Just recently several people in Yellow Springs participated in international yarnbombing day july 11th 🙂
Oh that’s so great! Yarnbombing” – what a perfect name for it! Thanks for sharing the site!
Ahhhh, LOVE Yellow Springs. I’m lucky enough to live about 40 minutes east of it. There was no mention of Glen Helen, the park in Yellow Springs which is absolutely GORGEOUS. Plus HaHa Pizza is wonderful. OH. And no mention of the fact that Dave Chappelle lives there?! Still a wonderful article. Yellow Springs is lovely.
Hey Kensean, thanks for reading!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t cover everything in this post; I just concentrated on the 2 main streets in town. And I’ve never tried HaHa Pizza, though I’ve heard it’s delicious! Maybe next time. 🙂 The Winds was great, though!
Maybe I’ll find a way to work Dave Chappelle in… 😉
I love hippie towns! Flagstaff in Arizona was really cute for the same reasons, but had a real old time feel and a little less color.
Australia is full of them too. Did you make it to Byron Bay while you were here? Or Nimbin or Bellingen? Great hippie towns!
Kuranda up near Cairns probably takes the cake on the Aussie front though.
P.S. That lunch looks amazing!
Ooo, good to know about Flagstaff. I’ll be there soon!
And no, sadly I only made it to Sydney and Perth when I was in OZ (my uncle lives in Perth, so I went to visit him for about a week). But I hope to go back someday, and maybe visit a few of those towns you listed! They sound awesome.
P.S. – The food was amazing!
Can’t believe you left out The Old Trail Tavern, but I guess when you’re looking for “hippies” you might not notice the Tavern. Go back to YSO and have a Stroh’s at the Tavern.
Yes! The oldest bar in Ohio! So many wonderful memories. Rod Sterling (Twilight Zone) was a waiter there when he went to Antioch.