An avid horseback rider, Rogers encountered Mill Creek Gorge during a jaunt through Youngstown Township in 1890. He was so impressed with its natural beauty that he took steps to preserve the gorge, which was then becoming a locus of timber production and the site of numerous stone quarries. An account published after Rogers' death describes the scene as follows: "Already, the sound of sawmill buzz saws could be heard in the distance, and Volney Rogers resolved to secure Mill Creek for a park for Youngstown for then, for now, and for the evercoming future".