Hocking Hills State Park

Hocking Hills State park is about an hour South East of Columbus... home to over 12 parks this place in the outdoorsy people paradise! Full of waterfalls, caves, cliffs, and ravines this is an amazing place to hike and spend the day, or even the night. There is even a Zip line tour! The region is full of camp grounds, cabins, hotels, and spa's. We didn't get to spend the night, THIS time... but I see a weekend retreat in my future! :)

We made it to only 2 of the 12 attractions, my husband had a bum ankle and a 3 year old without a nap don't make the best combination for an all day hiking excursion.

Ash Cave

I'll warn you right now the pictures do NOT do the place justice. It's impossible to capture the grand scale and beauty with a little old camera. This is one of those places that you walk into and are immediately humbled. The power of mother nature is amazing.

You couldn't dream this stuff up! It's a straight shot from the parking lot to the cave, no up hill climbing or torturous terrain. It'd be wheelchair and stroller accessible (But I'd recommend a carrier for the littlest ones so you can hike up the side and explore around the cave as well. But if you do travel up the stair case at the far end of the cave remember that if you go to the left you'll be ABOVE the cave and therefore there is a 90 foot drop so keep your kids close! There is a posted warning sign that I recommend you read allowed to the kids and threaten them with catastrophic results if they don't listen and stay close. Yes I have a 9 year old boy can you tell?!?!

(Luckily we had no problems and went up the stairs and to the right and it wound back down to the parking lot)

Ash Cave is 700 feet from end to end and 90 feet high.

Just Amazing! This cave has A LOT of history. If you go to the website for hocking hills they have alot of stories about each park and the history of each place.

http://www.hockinghills.com/parks.html

I had not read anything before we went and just happened to come across thisPeople have carved their names and the dates into the rear of the cave and I thought it was pretty cool to capture this little piece of history... 1903 seems SO long ago to me.... if the walls of the cave could talk... I can only imagine what it's seen! While we were hiking we talked alot about the Indians that lived in the area and what it must have been like to live here. We talked about how they got their food, where they slept and how they took baths... we also talked about how they hollered for one another.... you know the one I'm talking about....Yes I had to capture them doing an Indian War cry! :)

Cedar falls.

I have NO idea why it wont let me flip this picture, but it's GORGEOUS!!! It's a down hill hike to the falls from the parking lots. (Lots of Stairs) so NO wheel chairs or strollers down here! It's a short hike down to the falls. When we got there, several people we wading in the water, some even had swim suits. So I let the kids take off their shoes and of course it didn't take them long to be completely soaked.

A "local" was at the falls and she had warned him that the rocks leading up to the falls were and I quote "Slicker than snot" (lovely). As you can see my 9 year old was only knee deep so it's not very deep! The kids had a blast

The littlest one wanted to give an "Indian bath" a try.Luckily the water isn't muddy so they were able to make do with just a change of clothes but that was unfortunately the end of our time there ... we didn't even make it to Old mans cave... but I found out that there is a 3 mile hiking trail that connects Old Mans Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave... that would be doable with the kids. There are also several picnic areas (pack a lunch). and restrooms (porta-potties) along the way.

This last picture is just because I thought it was beautiful. I can only imagine how beautiful this place is in the fall when all the leaves are changing!

Getting there

I'm not going to even try to give directions to Hocking Hills...

http://www.hockinghills.com/driving_directions.html.

I STRONGLY suggest you go to their website and research where you'd like to visit, read a little of the history and then if you want to turn it into an over night trip you can find cabins or campsites on their website as well! This truly is a MUST see ...MUST do trip!!!

***Fill the Gas tank before you leave, bring a change of clothes and drinking water with you!***