Hiking Hocking Hills State Park (Ohio)

Hocking Hills is the crown jewel of the Ohio State Park system. A trusted friend and fellow outdoorsman said " Hocking Hills is more beautiful than Gatlinburg." There is a lot to see including waterfalls, a cave, recess caves including the largest recess cave in the eastern US., rock formations, gorges, overlooks, and towering hemlocks. There are 7 hiking areas. All these areas are concentrated in 2000 acres. We are going to hike through the Grandma Gatewood trail which is 6 miles long. There are spur trails which add on additional miles.

spur trail: Broken Rock Falls 1/2 mile
Whispering Cave 1 mile
Cedar Falls 1 mile
Ash Cave 9/10 mile
Total Miles 9.4 miles

The plan is to do two of these spurs Friday Night. We'll meet at Ash cave parking lot at 6:00 pm May 16th. We'll see both Ash Cave and Cedar Falls Friday night. If we see these two spurs on Friday night, the hike distance is 7.5 miles on Saturday.

Saturday: Meet at Ash Cave parking lot at 6:30 in the morning. Leave half the cars here at Ash Cave and shuttle the remaining cars to Old Man's cave/Visitors Center parking lot. Start on the trail by 7:00 am Saturday morning. Bring a sack lunch and at least three flasks of water.
Go through Old Man's cave and go through Whispering Cave and be on the way out of whispering Cave by 11:00 AM. Parking lots start filling up at 10:30 am. There is no parking at Whispering Cave. So anyone visiting Whispering Cave must walk from either Old Man Cave or Cedar Falls. Most trails are one way, but a ranger told me this is a guideline and not a rule or law. We'll need to backtrack on the same trail used to get to Whispering Cave from the Grandma Gatewood Trail. We'll Hike the remainder of the Grandma Gatewood Trail until we reach the Ash Cave Parking Lot. I was told the Grandma Gatewood Trail is little used. Take our time and finish by 4:00 pm. Eat back at our cabins or a restaurant on the way back.

Sunday: We have time to go to at least two of the three hiking areas which remain. Bring a sack lunch with at least two flasks of water.

Conkles Hollow: 25 miles from Lake Hope on OH-374 East. Address is 24858 Big Pine Road, Rockbridge Ohio 43149. Hike is .5 miles bottom of gorge and 1.9 miles along the rim of the gorge.

Rock House: State Route OH-374, Logan, Ohio. Rockhouse is 29.9 miles from Lake Hope State Park. Gorge Trail is 1 mile. Rim Trail is also 1 mile.
If enough time, Cantwell Cliffs: Gorge trail and Rim trail start at the parking lot. 1-1.5 miles.

Cantwell Cliffs is 30.9 miles from Lake Logan State Park. The address is OH-374 Rockbridge, OH. We are going to stop at 1:30 at the latest.

Hocking Hills is 3 hours and 30 minutes from Lexington and 179 miles.
Hocking Hills State Park is 19852 St. Route 644 South Logan, OH 43138.
Ash Cave is State Route 56, Logan, OH. 43138.
I'm staying at Lake Hope state park. Lake Hope is 25 minutes from Hocking Hills. Lake Hope has both cabins and campsites. Hocking Hills has campsites. There are Airbnbs in the area. For State Park reservations phone 1-866-644-6727 or www.reserveohio.com. Lake Hope phone number is 1-740-596-4938. Information on Hocking Hills is explorehockinghills.com.

WIFI is only available at the park lodges, gift shops, or restaurants. Lake Hope restaurant is open from 11:00 am until 8:00 pm. Hocking Hills has a restaurant. There are a number of area restaurants. See explorehockinghills. There is a Walmart about 25 minutes from Lake Hope State Park. The closer we get to the start date the more quickly accomodations will fill up. For extra energy on Saturday morning backpacking meals are calorie dense. Hocking Hills is consistently rated as a top ten state park out of all state parks in America.

Questions ?